HELP ME USE LITERARY ARTS TO HELP KIDS.

For two days I have been mulling over how to honor my long-time friend Danny Mitchell who will be laid to rest tomorrow. Danny was such a strong supporter of education and a true community leader who gave of his time and money to many causes. To honor Danny, I have decided to take a leading role in raising money to support two programs that use the literary arts to help both at-risk kids and high school students.

Two programs of the Alabama Writers Forum are making the world a better place by using the literary arts to help kids grow into better adults. Writing Our Stories is a national model program developed for adjudicated youth that takes place year round at the Department of Youth Services in three programs at two campuses where our students are incarcerated. We hire and put writing teachers into positions to teach these young people creative writing, then we publish anthologies each year of their work. The program is being spread to public schools and other states as a model of how to help these young people help themselves by gaining communications skills and learning that their voices matter. This program saves and improves lives, helping these students reenter society and become productive.

Another program that is needs our support is the High School Literary Arts Awards. I am personally funding a scholarship in my mother's name to honor her and recognize excellence in student writing, helping encourage a new generation of writers.

Please join the new Century Club that I am starting to get 100 concerned people to help with these educational ventures. To join is simple and requires only two things, just pledge to raise or donate $100 this year and agree to post your involvement in social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or other social media. Thanks all, and will get us 20% of this year's goal.

Of course, we won't raise the $50,000 needed this year or the $100,000 needed next year with small donations alone, so please pledge larger amounts if you find yourself in a position to do so. But if you have other charities and causes that are your primary interest, even a $35 membership will help enormously and I will be very grateful for any amount donated.

We are running the campaign through Razoo to make it easy. Please join the Century Club of the AWF or just donate what you feel you can:

1. Click on this link to see how to donate quickly and easily and whatever amount makes sense to you. http://www.razoo.com/story/Alabama-Writers-Forum
2. Post on your social media.

That's all it takes to make a tremendous difference and impact real lives.

Thanks so very much for helping me support this great cause and improve or even save lives, while honoring a person who truly made a difference in the world.

Philip

Author appearances for book clubs

Would your book club like an author appearance or Skype talk? Let me know if you might. Here's a recent article where I was interviewed about what books are on my nightstand that tells a bit about what I read in addition to what I write.My nightstand books

Alabama book signing road trip Aug. 16 for The White Lie

I'll make an Alabama road trip to sign The White Lie this weekend in Cullman at Deb's Book Store on Saturday morning, 9-11. Then hurry on to Birmingham area to sign at Little Professor in Homewood 1-3. Hope to see lots of friends.

Soap star Antonio Sabato Jr picks up The White Lie

A friend sent me this picture from a recent party where Antonio Sabato Jr, star of such great soaps as General Hospital and Melrose Place, picked up a copy of The White Lie.  He was in town shooting an episode of his new show on home improvement called "Fix It and Finish It." See this You Tube clip.

Bay St. Louis, Miss. Book Signing on Aug. 9

Hope to see you at the great Second Saturday event in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, on Saturday August 9, 2014, at Bay Books starting at 5 p.m.. I'll be signing The White Lie and perhaps on of the few remaining first editions of Oh Don't You Cry for Me.

On My Nightstand article from al.com

A new series based on interviews with authors about what they are reading has been launched on al.com, created by Jessica Sawyer Rigby. I was fortunate to be selected for the first article:

http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/07/on_my_nightstand_with_author_p.html 

TWL makes top sellers listing

The White Lie made it to number three on the "Mississippi Reads" listing in The Clarion-Ledger on Sunday,  July 20, behind Greg Iles' Natchez Burning and Lisa Howorth's Flying Shoes.