They say, “Charity begins at home.”
When I volunteered at my grown, daughter’s, Christmas tree lot, I wrote a blog about that adventure. That endeavor became the basis of two family based humor books as well as my first children’s picture book entitled Frasier the Fit is Forever Green. My grandkids and friends demanded more; so, I wrote three more books including one with my oldest grandchild or Thai Food for Thought. As a part of the S.H.E. Anthology, that co-authored ‘kidlit’ helps fund mental health agencies and charities that help children heal from PTSD such as those students from Sandy Hook Elementary school.
How does charity fit in with my writing?
Way before '6o Minutes' television show discovered we had hunger and homeless issues close to Disney’s Dream World in Florida, I wrote books each year with my students; one year it was The GNAW Project, that acronym stands for feed children nonperishables such as Granola, Nuts, And Water. In our small way, we helped feed the minds and tummies of our young population as well as our souls. Some of my students' other writing or anthologies are in retired books but their hunger never left my mind. As my daughters went on mission trips to places such as Africa, I kept mentioning to my girls that this country needed help, too. In response, my kids joined groups such as Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America. They listened to my guiding words.
Listening to myself,
I started donating some of my writing to charitable causes. For example, after the major Tsunami in Japan a few years back, I wrote a short story, fictional piece. After that, whenever invited, I submitted my pieces but mainly short stories or fiction. To my chagrin, many of those novel writing groups rejected my tales or hid them as the last story. That’s when I realized that I’m not a fiction based storyteller. I patiently waited a couple years before deciding that my best stories arrive when I scribe for God. In other words, my forte is nonfiction, inspirational tales. Even some of my fictions are based on true stories.
Just as I finished writing a novel idea into as a trilogy called 'Life's Crazy,’ I got a tap on my shoulder to help with a Boston Marathon Anthology. Having nearly lost my left arm at the shoulder, due to the true nature of the anthology, I quickly responded. Being a kindred soul, I spewed out a quick piece about recovering my arm that was nearly amputated after a freak accident. My charity and involvement grew from there. I helped the compiler, editor, and agent of that Boston book with my computer and publishing skills; I wound up formatting two anthologies for the same International Poet Group. In turn, they let me put my nonfiction prose into their anthology. After that good work, another charitable writing group willing to take the things I scribed from real life accepted two of my pieces for their upcoming books. Then, a third author site invited me to write a piece for the children in their country; that story is written at preschool age comprehension level and comes out in 2014. It is a part of their goal to help further reading as well as donate profits to charities that deal with illiteracy.
Just as I finished writing a novel idea into as a trilogy called 'Life's Crazy,’ I got a tap on my shoulder to help with a Boston Marathon Anthology. Having nearly lost my left arm at the shoulder, due to the true nature of the anthology, I quickly responded. Being a kindred soul, I spewed out a quick piece about recovering my arm that was nearly amputated after a freak accident. My charity and involvement grew from there. I helped the compiler, editor, and agent of that Boston book with my computer and publishing skills; I wound up formatting two anthologies for the same International Poet Group. In turn, they let me put my nonfiction prose into their anthology. After that good work, another charitable writing group willing to take the things I scribed from real life accepted two of my pieces for their upcoming books. Then, a third author site invited me to write a piece for the children in their country; that story is written at preschool age comprehension level and comes out in 2014. It is a part of their goal to help further reading as well as donate profits to charities that deal with illiteracy.
Twist of Fate
This book is by Indies In Action, which is a Facebook group that writes for good causes. This anthology helps those hit by the unbelievable 2013 twister in Oklahoma. The paperback book and eBook can be found at
CREATESPACE
https://www.createspace.com/4310617
PAPERBACK on AMAZON
http://www.amazon.com/Twist-Fate-Various/dp/0989002683/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1373142971&sr=1-16
KINDLE
http://www.amazon.com/Twist-of-Fate-ebook/dp/B00DQ533QE/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373142747&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=twist+of+fate+by+Lori+Dilion
SMASHWORDS
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/326132
CREATESPACE
https://www.createspace.com/4310617
PAPERBACK on AMAZON
http://www.amazon.com/Twist-Fate-Various/dp/0989002683/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1373142971&sr=1-16
KINDLE
http://www.amazon.com/Twist-of-Fate-ebook/dp/B00DQ533QE/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373142747&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=twist+of+fate+by+Lori+Dilion
SMASHWORDS
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/326132
This anthology helps victims of the Boston Marathon Bombing
United We Stand by: Unified Literary Artists
The book contains heartfelt poetry and prose from around the world.
http://www.amazon.com/United-Stand-Unified-Literary-Artists/dp/1490306013/ref=sr_1_14?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370375324&sr=1-14&keywords=united+we+stand
or
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/321005
The book contains heartfelt poetry and prose from around the world.
http://www.amazon.com/United-Stand-Unified-Literary-Artists/dp/1490306013/ref=sr_1_14?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370375324&sr=1-14&keywords=united+we+stand
or
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/321005
This book helps Texans hurt in Factory Explosion:
April Rains by: Unified Literary Artists
The anthology contains heartfelt poetry and prose from around the world.
http://www.amazon.com/April-Rains-ebook/dp/B00D5D87CM/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370375354&sr=1-6&keywords=April+rains
or
http://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=April+Rains
The anthology contains heartfelt poetry and prose from around the world.
http://www.amazon.com/April-Rains-ebook/dp/B00D5D87CM/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370375354&sr=1-6&keywords=April+rains
or
http://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=April+Rains
Girls lead Sandy Hook Elementary to the Light at the end of Grief's Tunnel:
The S.H.E. Anthology
These are true stories of overcoming grief written by a group of young ladies.
Black & White paperback version
http://www.amazon.com/S-H-E-Anthology--In-Black-White/dp/1482076225/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&qid=1371042017&sr=8-22&keywords=mchanson714
Color paperback version
http://www.amazon.com/S-H-E-Anthology-Cynthia-Meyers-Hanson/dp/1481987100/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1371042041&sr=8-6&keywords=mchanson714
eBook version
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B6C4NQ8/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-6&qid=1371042041
These are true stories of overcoming grief written by a group of young ladies.
Black & White paperback version
http://www.amazon.com/S-H-E-Anthology--In-Black-White/dp/1482076225/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&qid=1371042017&sr=8-22&keywords=mchanson714
Color paperback version
http://www.amazon.com/S-H-E-Anthology-Cynthia-Meyers-Hanson/dp/1481987100/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1371042041&sr=8-6&keywords=mchanson714
eBook version
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B6C4NQ8/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-6&qid=1371042041
My students tried to help feed their classmates that live with hunger daily:
The GNAW Project
The acronym GNAW stands for giving their peers granola, nuts, and water because those items are nonperishables; and the kids wanted their neighbors to be nonperishable.
Paperback
http://www.amazon.com/The-GNAW-Project-Cynthia-Meyers-Hanson/dp/1463624298/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1371042458&sr=8-17&keywords=mchanson714
eBook version
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006G4X72C/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-17&qid=1371042458
The acronym GNAW stands for giving their peers granola, nuts, and water because those items are nonperishables; and the kids wanted their neighbors to be nonperishable.
Paperback
http://www.amazon.com/The-GNAW-Project-Cynthia-Meyers-Hanson/dp/1463624298/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1371042458&sr=8-17&keywords=mchanson714
eBook version
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006G4X72C/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-17&qid=1371042458
I will, soon, be in other charity books.
Some of my past Anthologies and charitable books are listed throughout this author site including the Anthologies page. Some of those books are out of print.