Best Wishes for Blackpool

Today I want to welcome Marieke, from Write Dreams, to tell you about a cause she and her fellow writers have convinced me to take part in supporting.

Here is what she wrote when she first emailed me:

Donna's Dream House is a holiday home for children and teenagers with life-threatening or terminal illnesses, situated in the heart of Blackpool, UK. Run by volunteers, it has hosted and helped hundreds of families. Until just before Christmas, when arsonists broke into the Dream House, stole essential computer equipment, and started a fire that damaged the building so badly, it may have to be rebuilt completely.

And now I'm going to late her share her thoughts with you in a guest post:

I remember walking past a hospital room one day. The room appeared to be sealed off and its white walls and sterile smell didn’t fit in the otherwise colorful children’s hospital. The people inside wore gowns and gloves to keep the risk of infection to a bare minimum.

It looked like the scene from a thriller – Outbreak, or something.

Instead, what I saw were the effects of a bone marrow transplant. I remember staring at the room while the whole process flashed around in my head. A transplant meant harvesting marrow through a needle in your hip. It meant severe chemotherapy to destroy all the remaining marrow in your body. It meant not knowing what would happen next.

I don’t remember if the patient was a boy or a girl, I just remember standing there, aged 12, thinking it might be me.

Up to that point, I’d spent a lot of time in several hospitals; after that moment, I’d spent even more time in medical care because my immune system was doing everything it shouldn’t and nothing it should. Standing outside that room is one of many memories that would forever stay with me. The others? Going to a sea aquarium with other patients. Being allowed to wander around the off-limits section of a military airport (hey, I’m a geek!). Ice cream on an afternoon away from the hospital. Singing along on the top of my voice to Meat Loaf songs at the hospital school’s dance. The colors and laughter of a family room.

Because the only thing that outweighs not knowing if tomorrow is still there is living today to the fullest, together with family and friends. The charity Donna’s Dream House gives children and teens with life-threatening diseases the chance to make those memories and live those dreams. At least, it did. Until right before holidays, part of the main building was torched beyond repair.

They were forced to cancel Christmas for the families set to stay there.

Think about that for a moment.

And then hop over to Write Dreams, a kidlit auction to raise money for Donna’s Dream House. This week and next we have some amazing lots of signed books, critiques, ARCs, swag… not to mention a whole lot of UK authors chipping in too, so the perfect moment to try out some delish foreign books ;-) Hop over and please help us give Donna’s Dream House a better start of 2012.

Thank you <3

No, Marieke, thank you.

So please head over to Write Dreams, and check out some of the books and critiques up for auction. I'm giving something away, but for those of you who read this blog regularly, you should definitely check out everything that's available. If you do want to pay for my critique, for a good cause, you can find that post here, but don't tell me how much you paid, because I don't work well under pressure.

EDIT: Visit the Write Dreams How To Page, for details on how to bid, or even donate.