Why are people dumping ice water on their heads!?

Unless you have been living under a rock, you have been seeing all these people, famous and not-so-famous, dumping buckets of ice water on their heads. You may be wondering why? Simple, it is to raise money and awareness for ALS. For those not exactly sure what that is (c'mon, admit it...there are a few of you {me} who did not know exactly what ALS is besides just some disease), I have provided you with that information below.

From Wikipedia: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)—also referred to as motor neurone disease (MND), Charcot disease, and, in the United States, Lou Gehrig's disease—is a neurodegenerative disease with various causes. ALS is characterised by muscle spasticity, rapidly progressive weakness due to muscle atrophy, and difficulty in speaking (dysarthria), swallowing (dysphagia), and breathing (dyspnea). ALS is the most common of the five motor neuron diseases.

In the U.S., more than 5,600 are diagnosed every year, and up to 30,000 Americans are currently affected. ALS is responsible for 2 deaths per 100,000 people.^[1]

Median survival time from onset to death is 39 months, and only 4% survive longer than 10 years, although rare cases survive 50 years or more. Most die from respiratory failure, usually within three to five years from onset of symptoms.

Now, for what you came to see...

However, in addition to the challenge, I have also sent my own donation of $100 and ask that each of you reading this send just $5. If you do so, and then email me at twbrown.maydecpub@gmail.com, I will give you the choice of any of my audible titles OR the epub or MOBI (depending on your ereader device) in my library. Yep, I will be taking you at your word.

Also, wish me luck. Saturday I will be running in a half-marathon (13+ mile obstacle course that starts with a half mile swim) called Inferno. This is my longest distance to date.

A temporary absence...

Greetings to one and all... Hard to believe that the year is almost two-thirds over. I have been busier than at any time in my life. (That includes my time in a US Navy Soviet Acoustical Analysis course with the second highest fail rate next to their nuclear power program.) The upcoming year will signal some wonderful changes...including the planned reunion with my daughter, Ronni. But I must keep my focus on the here and now, because things have really taken some amazing turns for the better.

I am taking a break from Dead: Siege & Survival to write this post, but for those interested, I am over 45,000 words in and it is providing me no end of enjoyment as it really shifts to full-on survival mode where the zombies have really become the least of people's problems.

I am happy to say that, for those of you who did not notice, we reached the goal I set for the NaNoWriMo fund raiser. You are all wonderful people. To all who contributed, your e-copy of the DEAD special edition will be sent this week.

On Wednesday, Laurie Boris will be my guest, and on Friday, it will be Alex Laybourne. Pay them a visit and see what they have to say. That brings me to the following announcement. Due to a VERY busy next couple of months, posts will probably only be three times a week. I honestly don't have enough to say to merit posting daily, and I want the guest interviews to have time to be seen by all.

In one final note, I have my first ever book signing on the horizon. Special thanks to Laurie's Paperback Exchange at the top of the hill in Oregon City. It will be noon to 4PM on Saturday, October 27th, and it will be highlighting the release of Zomblog: Snoe BEFORE it is available anywhere else (official release date October 31st). How exciting is that? There will be free stuff and a chance to just say "hi" if you are so inclined. So, until later...