A DREAM CALLED FIRE PETAL

Why don't the good causes ever get the help they need?
The little guys.
The underdog.
I like rooting for the underdog. I'd love to see an independent bookstore succeed. Picture Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan), in You've Got Mail, with her Shop Around the Corner. Weren't we all heart broken when she had to go out of business because of the big old Fox Books Superstore?

Here's our chance to help a Kathleen. Picture her, standing in the back corner of her store, holding her wouldn't-hurt-a-fly fists out in front of her (actual scene from the movie--and my favorite.) Ready to fight for her store. Ready to "go to the mattresses!"

Except reverse it. There's a book lover trying to OPEN her dream bookstore. A place where children, tweens, teens, adults, book clubs, writing groups, can gather or visit. Where wannabe authors can learn how to write! A place to buy books, read books, write books, discuss books...well, you get the picture.

The kind of place most of us writers would call a little slice of Heaven. AND for all you Utah folks (I know there are many of you) it really would be a shop around the corner. She's from Utah.

Fire Petal Books. One book lover's dream to open a shop where she can spread the joy of all things reading and writing. But she needs help. Go check out her website, watch the precious trailer, and then donate. I stumbled across Fire Petal when a literary agency tweeted about donating to her. When I went to check it out, I couldn't believe more people hadn't donated. She only has until MARCH 21ST to raise the minimum amount to keep the dream alive through Kickstarter. So go! Donate. Even if it's only $5. The more you donate the more fun stuff you can receive: a mug, discounts on orders, writing classes, critiques. It's amazing!

I don't know this woman. I've had no communication with her. She hasn't asked me to help spread the word. I simply believe in people following their dreams. This one moves me because it's all about books. And what's more worthy of donating than the love of books?

Please. Go. Donate. I'm getting my taxes done today just so I can see how much my refund will be. The higher my refund the more I'm going to donate. But we have to hurry. March 21st is Sunday. There isn't much time. If you want to help even more, tweet about Fire Petal. Post it on your own blog. Tell people on Facebook. I'll make it easy for you to post a link back to this post. Feel free to copy and paste this one: http://tiny.cc/fireP

I truly don't understand why so few have donated. How come more of us writers haven't heard about this?

Come on, for the love of books. For the love of people following their dreams. For the love of wanting to give back, to help kids through literature. For the love of Kathleen Kellys everywhere. Go donate. If for no other reason, we could all use a little good karma to help us achieve our own dreams. Good deeds comes back triple fold, people. Keep that in mind. ;)