Paul is running a marathon; I'm (maybe) doing pushups (if you'll come to my book signing)

First, a big shout out to Paul McCollom, who is running the Marine Corps marathon today to benefit the Fisher House Foundation.  As he says, he hopes the spectacle of his 61-year-old self hobbling across the finish line causes people to find out more about Fisher Houses, which provide housing for military families so they can be close to their wounded loved ones as they recover.  His fundraising page is here.

Second, a blanket invitation to all of you (and your friends) to come see me at the fabulous indie book store, Hooray for Books! in Alexandria, VA on Sunday, Nov. 8th at 1:00.  I'll be signing OPERATION YES, doing a reading, and perhaps demonstrating a few Miss Loupe style moves such as pushups. :)

For each book sold at this event, I'm donating $1.00 to Musicorps, which is another Fisher House program which helps wounded warriors recover through music.  I blogged about it at my Operation Yes site, beginning with:

How do you keep playing drums when the limb you use to operate the foot pedal is missing?  What if you have an artificial hand---can you learn to play the piano? If you were hit by a bomb and lost your leg, would you think to write a rap song for your son?  Read the rest of the post here.


If you want to support this great cause, but can't make it in person to the book signing, Hooray for Books will take your order over the phone: (703) 548-4092. Be sure to tell them how you'd like your copies personalized, and I'll sign them when I'm in the store on Nov. 8th. You can pick them up later in store (if you're local) or have Hooray for Books mail them to you for a flat fee.


Thank you so much for your support. We all lean on each other, and I'm grateful for each of you.