* With no apologies to Abbie Hoffman.


Reading for Haunted: Eleven Tales of Ghostly Horror, Room of One's Own bookstore, October 2011. L to R: Georgia Beaverson, Monica Valentinelli, Jason Blair, Alex Bledsoe, Bill Bodden. Reading was well attended.

Occasionally, memes go by on Facebook or Twitter regarding ways to support authors. This does not necessarily mean every and all authors, mind you -- just ones whose work you enjoy. It has never been more important to do so now; with conventions cancelling and postposing their events because of conrona virus fears-- events that many authors were counting on as a source of income as a guest by or selling their books -- it's possibly more important than ever to help spread the word so your favorite authors can continue to eat and pay rent.

Let's start with some basic things (I'll recap in a numbered list a the end.) First: Buy their books, of course, but also READ them. We're losing reading for pleasure as a thing people want to do, and the negative feelings toward reading are reinforced by all the dreck we're forced to read in school by people who think those paper implements of torture are Important Books. Buying books isn't always possible due to financial issues; everyone's comfort level with their disposable income is different. If you can't buy books, request them from your local public library. They buy books too, and their purchases help just as much, plus...
To read the rest of this post, please visit:
http://billbodden.com/2020/03/09/dont...