Hello friends,

I’m sure most of you have heard about the devastating flooding in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. As of June 16, damage estimates have exceeded ONE BILLION ($1,000,000,000) dollars. In a town of only 120,000 people, this is beyond catastrophic.

Thousands of animals have been left homeless by the flood. The Cedar Rapids animal shelter has been completely destroyed. Many people had to abandon their pets when they evacuated their homes, and it is unclear when–if ever–they will be reunited.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

The independent artisan community is coming together with an exciting auction to benefit the “Friends of the Animal Shelter” fund via the Kirkwood Foundation (tax ID 23-7076632), which is the fundraising division of the college currently serving as the evacuation center for abandoned animals. There are several hundred dogs, even more cats, and other companion animals being housed there, and many, many more animals are still stranded in the thousands of abandoned homes in Cedar Rapids. This auction will take place from June 25-July 2, and further details are available at http://www.iowafloodreliefauction.com.

In the meantime, you can support the Friends of the Animal Foundation for the Iowa City animal shelter (also affected by the flood) by donating at:

http://www.networkforgood.org/pca/Badge.aspx?BadgeId=111927

Please forward this message to your friends and join me in supporting the needs of the displaced animals in Iowa. Together, we can raise awareness and much-needed resources for a community currently in a state of despair.

Bitten by books is very excited to host Mark Henry, author of Happy Hour of the Damned in our author spotlight next Monday, June 16th! You can read more about the event on our Author Spotlight page.

You WILL want to attend this event. The Mark will be giving away a Mark-ed up copy of his book during the course of the event! AND Bitten by Books will be giving away a $30.00 Amazon.com Gift Card to one lucky participant.

Would you like to earn some extra entries into the drawings for these great prizes BEFORE the event even starts? All you need to do between NOW and next Monday is post this event on as many of your blogs, facebook, myspace, ning, yahoo groups and websites as you can (where it is acceptable to do so). Then come back to THIS post and respond with the links to where you promoted the event. For every link you provide you will get another chance to win. Example: You post 5 links, you get 5 entries. Easy as pie and prizes don’t you think? Don’t worry, there will be a way to get extra entries on Monday as well.

Spread the word! This is going to be a another GREAT event!!

Bobbie Faye’s (kinda, sorta, not exactly) Family Jewels Contest! Introducing, Bobbie Faye–LOL funny, with a streak of bad luck a mile wide. Toni McGee Causey’s second in her uproariously funny Bobbie Faye series is available NOW! Get it at Amazon.com: http://tinyurl.com/4b8qlu or you can find it in the general fiction section of your local bookstore! But hey, you don’t have to wait to read the book to enter the contest! And you might win some seriously cool stuff if you’re willing to trip the blogtastic! In an effort to make up for trashing half of Louisiana, Bobbie Faye’s been offered a chance to right her wrongs by writing an advice column for her local paper. Michele Bardsley and I decided who could use advice more than our heroines, Nina from ACCIDENTALLY DEAD, and Patsy from BECAUSE YOUR VAMPIRE SAID SO? With that in mind, we thought a contest would be fun, fun, fun and so we sent off a letter to the very, er, helpful Bobbie Faye… So here’s what ya gotta do to enter– Read Nina’s cry from the lovelorn here: http://www.dakotacassidy.net/ Read Patsy’s plea here: http://www.michelebardsley.com/ Then hit Toni McGee Causey’s blog: http://www.tonimcgeecausey.com/blog.html We’re all giving away prizes, and you could be entered to win ‘em all! Just leave comments at each blog. Each author will choose a winner. And here’s what you could win if you come play with us! Author Dakota Cassidy is giving away a signed ARC of ACCIDENTALLY DEAD and an Amazon gift certificate for 15 smackers Author Michele Bardsley’s offered up an ARC of her November release WAIT TILL YOUR VAMPIRE GETS HOME and some Broken Heart goodies. Author Toni McGee is giving away a 15$ Barnes and Noble gift certificate and the most AWESOME T-shirt to ever hit RT: http://www.cafepress.com/bobbiefaye.245732603 And now those damned contest rules– Contest begins Sunday June 1, 2008 and ends Monday June 2, 2008 at midnight CST. One winner will be chosen from each blog–so go enter them all! All winners are chosen at random and must check back at each blog on Tuesday June 2, 2008 to see if they’ve won in order to claim their prize. Read Bobbie Faye’s answers to our poor heroine’s dilemmas, and get to know one of the freshest, funniest voices in humor today! And if you haven’t already, check BOBBIE FAYE’S (KINDA, SORTA, NOT EXACTLY) FAMILY JEWELS: Amazon.com: http://tinyurl.com/4b8qlu And don’t forget to pick up Bobbie Faye’s first adventure, BOBBIE FAYE’S VERY (VERY, VERY, VERY) BAD DAY! Amazon.com: http://tinyurl.com/4t5lw9