Courtney L. Mroch, author of Beneath the Morvan Moon and Cellfish Ways, was among the millions of Florida residents who endured six weeks of hurricane hell this summer. But residents weren’t the only ones hard hit. The American Red Cross, in its efforts to help all of the victims, found its resources taxed during the record-setting hurricane season. That’s what sparked the author’s decision to donate 20% of all of her future royalties to the Red Cross’s Disaster Relief Fund.
(PRWEB) November 17, 2004 -- Florida’s hurricane season started in August, when Tropical Storm Bonnie grazed the panhandle and northeast sections of the state. A day later, Charley hit the southeastern Gulf side, tearing across the center of the state before exiting in the Atlantic. A few weeks after that, Hurricane Frances landed, not far from where Charley had exited. Days after Frances ripped across the state, Ivan terrorized the panhandle. Finally, three weeks after Frances wreaked havoc on the Atlantic coast, Jeanne came ashore in almost the same spot.
“It was a crazy, scary, nerve-racking couple of months. We’d just get over one and have to focus on another. For us Frances did the worst damage. We’re on a well so without power we didn’t have any running water. It was a trying three and a half days. And all I could imagine was how much worse it was for those in the direct path. I didn’t really understand just how bad that was, though, until my husband and I went to Clermont, Florida, at the end of October. We went across the areas where Charley, Jeanne, and Frances had all hit. Everywhere we looked there were downed trees and billboards, battered buildings, and house after house with tarp-covered roof. It was unbelievably wicked devastation.”
Mroch keeps a jar of “found” change that she dubbed her BMK Fund. (She named it “BMK” after her pets: Budly, Murphy, and Kitty.) She had once read in a feng shui book that water represented money and that a person should never waste either. One day, as she was walking her dog, Budly, past the place where people in her apartment complex could wash cars, she noticed someone had left the hose on. She went to turn it off and noticed a pile of change.
“It was funny, how I’d just read about water representing money and I turn off the hose and see all this change. I knew someone had probably put it aside while they vacuumed their car, but I felt guilty profiting from their forgetfulness. It wasn’t a lot, only a few bucks, but I decided I’d save it and donate it to a good cause. After that, every time I found a penny on the sidewalk, or a couple of quarters in my husband’s work pants, I’d put it in the BMK jar. When it got full, I’d donate it somewhere, the Humane Society, Thanksgiving dinner for homeless people, that sort of thing. This time there was no question what the money would go to.”
But when she counted out her change, even though it was the most she’d saved yet ($27), it seemed measly. She rummaged through the house for the rest of the spare change and bumped up the total to $41.50. She donated that, but she wasn’t satisfied. She wanted to give more.
“Before we moved to Florida I had never lived anywhere a disaster struck. I’d never seen first hand what happens when people’s lives are viciously disrupted. Seeing people looking so lost as they stood in line for water or ice…it touched me in a way I still can’t explain. I wanted to do something, but I didn’t know what. When I saw the deficit the Red Cross was operating under, I had my answer. They were out there comforting and providing for thousands who suddenly found themselves homeless and in need. That’s when it hit me just what an important organization the Red Cross really is.”
Mroch, a recently published author, admits the percentage from her royalties won’t be much. In all likelihood it’ll be less than what she saved in spare change. But she hopes to accomplish something even bigger.
“We live in a country that’s truly blessed with so much. With Thanksgiving almost here, I realize how much me and mine have to be thankful for this year. And how we can give in return. I’m hoping others, whether they be authors or otherwise, will see this and help. Either by donating royalties of their own, buying one of my books, or by counting their spare change. When people put their minds to doing good, we really can do some amazing things!”
Copies of Beneath the Morvan Moon are available online at Amazon.com, BN.com, BooksaMillion.com, or from the publisher, PublishAmerica.com. It can also be ordered from local bookstores. Just give your bookseller the ISBN number: 1-4137-1178-2. For those with handhelds, an electronic book version is available from Writers Exchange Electronic Publishing, www.writers-exchange.com.
Cellfish Ways is available online from the publisher, www.echelonpress.com, for $1 in e-book format only. Or, for a special print version, log on to the author's website at www.courtneymroch.com for details on ordering one.
More about the author:
A member of the Mystery Writers of America and the Short Mystery Fiction Society, Courtney Mroch’s award-winning short stories have appeared in numerous zines. Her short story, “Skin Ish Ca,” ranked #2 in the 2003 Preditors & Editors Reader Poll. Her e-book, Cellfish Ways, published by Echelon Press, is the publisher’s year-to-date #2 best selling dollar download. To find out more, visit www.courtneymroch.com.
###
|
