The New Book of a Delightful Friend

Dear Readers,

Two blogging friends I met in August are next-door neighbors who support one another in all the events of their lives. The richer, poorer, in sickness and health of a marriage of the minds truly apply to them. Both are married—one to Phil and one to Cade. Both have children who can be both naughty and nice. And both are bloggers who share their stories with us and bring laughter into my life and the lives of all their readers.

            Who are these great friends? Melynda and Elisa.

            Now both are published writers. Elisa published first. Her book, The Golden Sky, is a poignant memoir of the brief life of her son Zeke and the aftermath of his death and how it affected her marriage.

            Now Melynda’s first book—Just Nonsense—has been published. That’s what I’d like to post about today. You see, Melynda is almost legally blind because of diabetes. In the past year she has had a number of expensive, but necessary, operations on her eyes. Tomorrow—Friday—she will undergo another long operation. It is painful, but yes, again, necessary.

            Why? Because if tomorrow’s operation is successful, she’ll be able to see blurs. That is, if there is a large obstacle in her path, she will be able to see that something is there. She won’t know what, but she can move aside and avoid it. Of course, she will be able to see that blur with only one eye. In the other, she has lost all her eyesight.

            These delicate operations have greatly depleted Melynda and Phil’s savings. That’s where I come in. And I’m hoping, you too. Here’s how we can do this: As a wonderful day-before-the-dreaded-operation surprise, Elisa has edited, formatted, and published Melynda’s first book. Beginning today, Just Nonsense is available on Amazon as a paper book and on Amazon and Smashwords as an e-book.

            Today, I ask you to consider purchasing Melynda’s books. All the proceeds that she earns will go toward her medical bills. This is a way for the blogging community—that stretches far and wee—to help someone who has shared such laughter with us. For Melynda has a great sense of the ridiculous. She has that uncanny ability to take sour lemons and make sweet and refreshing lemonade.

            Often, she’s lifted my spirits on a gloomy day. Despite her own problems, she has reached out to me whenever I needed a cheery hello or an encouraging word to help me in my writing. She has become in these few short months a dear friend.

            And so I’m reaching out to all of you reading this, and I’m encouraging you to support her as she’s supported so many others. By purchasing her book, we can all help raise money to help Melynda pay for medical expenses and other things she needs to cope with blindness. And perhaps you can reach out to your friends and fellow bloggers and tell them this story.

            Here is the blurb, written by her friend Elisa, from the back cover of Melynda’s first published book—Just Nonsense.

Whimsical blog posts from a very witty writer. From Mr. P (a wild little boy who loves animals) to Meaghan (a driving teenager) to Kyle (a young man who wants to visit Italy), Melynda's year starts with a bang. Phil, her husband, is a riotous addition, but Melynda herself is the one who keeps the laughs coming. Join her life from January to March 2011 and see what made her blog such a success!

            If you’d like to read Elisa’s initial posting about  what all of us are trying to do for Melynda, please click on If You Love Melynda.

            Today, Elisa has posted on Melynda’s blog. Click here to see her announcement to her friend about the publications of Just Nonsense. Also on that posting, you can pick up a “button” to show your support for Melynda and her book.

o   To purchase her paper book from Amazon, please click here.

o   To purchase her e-book for use on a Kindle, please click here.

o   To purchase her e-book from Smashwords for use on an Apple iPad. iBook, Sony Reader, Kobo, or Nook, please click here. (Smashwords gives the author a larger percentage of the book’s selling price than Kindle does.)

Thank you for considering the buying of Melynda’s book. I know her book will make you laugh, sometimes bring tears to your eyes, but always help you appreciate the deep-down goodness that remains strong and vibrant within humanity.

Peace.


PS: This posting for Melynda takes the place of my usual Saturday posting. I want to keep the information about Just Nonsense at the top of my posting column for several days so that all of you who visit this blog will learn about Melynda and her book and will consider helping her out by purchasing it. Next Tuesday and Saturday I'll be back with postings about two events that almost catapulted me into a nervous breakdown while in grad school.