Heifer International Archives

Doing good & doing well

May 12, 2010 by Laurie King 4 Comments

Q: What do these names have in common: Glen Miranker, David Scheiman, Richard Sosa, Chris Williams, and Alice Wright?

A: Each of these good folk has a doppelganger in the fiction of one Laurie R. King.

About once a book, I donate a character name to one charity or another. This year, the charity is Heifer International. On May 19, I’ll draw a name from a hat, based on people who have donated $60 to the Team LRK page since December.

You have until Sunday to catch your chance at a naming. Multiples of $60 will be entered multiple times. And every donor will win my thanks, and the warm feeling of helping people help themselves.

Deadlines & Passing on the Gift

April 9, 2010 by Laurie King Leave a Comment

Just a quick reminder to send your submissions for both the Fantasy Library Contest and the Beekeeper’s Gallery (any art that doesn’t fit within the frame of a Russellscape) to bees@laurierking.com by this coming Monday, April 12. Voting for the Beekeeper’s Gallery will begin that day, so come back next week and cast your vote for your favorite.

Also, April is Heifer International’s Pass on the Gift month, where people all over the world help to pass on the gift of livestock and training to families in need. If you haven’t done so already, please make your donation through the LRK Team Heifer page today! And remember, those who donate $60 or more to Heifer during the Twenty Weeks of Buzz will have a chance at the Grand Prize: your name in the next book.

Four women, one amazing conversation

January 7, 2010 by Laurie King 4 Comments

Next month, on February 16, four women will sit down in an Arizona ballroom and talk books. Of course, women talking books is hardly unusual, but in this case the women might be saying things that others would like to listen in on.

Barbara Peters is in charge. Barbara’s the queen bee of Poisoned Pen books and a woman at whose delicate and fashionably clad feet I have worshipped since I met her (even though she was not crazy about my first book. Although she did love the second.) She is witty and articulate and incredibly well read, and married to a man most of the publishing world would love to take home with them (men or women, straight or gay alike.)

Dana Stabenow is the reason for this tete-a-tete-a-tete-a-tete: A Night Too Dark, her seventeenth (!) Kate Shugak novel is out that day, so this is a party. (One where people bring cash, checks, or credit cards. Please.) We are currently discussing Dana’s fabulous first Kate novel, A Cold Day for Murder, over at the Virtual Book Club, where she will be joining us towards the end of January.

Diana Gabaldon is the third member of the criminous discussion. Creator of the Outlander series and the new(ish) An Echo in the Bone, Diana and Dana between them will cause seismic tremor to run through AZ.

And me. And I would say that I’ll be the one sitting on a small stool at the back with a look of mute adoration on my face, except that I know how these three women have a way of summoning excitement and wit from dead air, and they’ll drag me with them.

All this, and it’s free. You don’t even need to reserve a ticket, although if you want (might even be a good idea) you can reserve a book in advance through the Poisoned Pen (or email them.)

And if you want to make a day (or, night) of it, the Biltmore hotel is offering a special Poisoned Pen rate for the event.

Oh, this is going to be such fun.

And in other news, our Heifer International page just broke the $15,000 mark! (Thanks, I believe to a certain bohemian sculptress!) We’re gearing up that page for the spring efforts, with a newsletter announcement coming on the 27th–if you’re not getting the news, you might want to sign up here.)

Indies and other busy beez

June 29, 2009 by Laurie King 7 Comments

It’s Indie Week–spread the word, and let me know if your favorite Indie bookstore is doing something fun. Send us pictures, and we’ll post them!

As for other Good Causes, I apologize again for the delays and problems some of you have had with the Heifer International prizes that came (or, should have come) with your donations during the Fifteen Weeks. If you have not yet received them, please let me know in a comment here, and I’ll see what I can do. Those of you who donated more recently for the Holmes booklet, if you live in the US, you should have them, although overseas addresses are somewhat delayed.

This is the booklet, a very pretty publication from Heifer International collecting Sherlock Holmes’ remarks about beekeeping that appear in The Language of Bees. (signed, not by Holmes alas, but by me.) It’s a fundraiser for the Heifer beehive project, and if you want one (or several) you can donate online, or send me $10 per booklet (checks are fine) at PO Box 1152, Freedom, CA, 95019.

They sent me a whole box of these lovely things, and I’d really appreciate the chance to transfer some of them from my house to yours.