Bonnie Vanak's Blog, page 24

New contest in April

April, ah April, month of my birthday! To celebrate, I'm going to hold a new contest and give away one of my backlist Nocturne books.

I'm thinking it just may be IMMORTAL WOLF. This contest will be a little different.

To enter, you'll post a comment on my Facebook fan page. Click here to access.

I am trying to get more FB people to "like" my fan page.

If you are not on Facebook, it's okay. I'll be running the contest here on my blogl

And all you need to do is leave a comment. The contest will start April 1 and run through the entire month. I will be posting that blog for contest entries soon. Have a great weekend!

Photos from Honduras

A little about our journey there... this is the second most dangerous airport in the world to land , according to the History Channel's program, Most Extreme Airports. Tegucipgalpa, Honduras. One runway, surrounded by mountains, and a very short runway. To land, the pilot does a corkscrew, dips and suddenly drops. There had been a plane crash there just a few weeks before we arrived. It's an "interesting" landing...




This is a fruit stand we stopped at on the way back from San Lorenzo to Tegus. There's a certain type of mango that grows in that area that is very popular.









This is a shop wall in Valle de Angeles, a tourist destination. We stopped there on the way back to Tegus, since we could not make it into the city. There was a teacher's strike in the city that turned violent. One person was killed. It was only later, when the military came in, that we were able to make it back to the hotel.





This is a happy dad with his son, who lives in one of the houses we built in Valle de Angeles. The people there love their new homes. The houses are built on the side of a mountain and the climate is cooler up there.


The restaurant where the team ate lunch. We seldom eat lunch while working in the field, as it takes up too much time. Our usual method is to get on the road around 7 - 7:30 and work through lunch. We bring snacks in the car and eat in the field. So lunch is a rare treat.





This is the boat we took to cross the Gulf of Fonseca to get to Anapola island. The Gulf is surrounded by El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras.







Fishermen in the gulf.








El Tigre island, Amapala. Very pretty, and quite poor. Population of about 2,400, they see about 200 cases of malnutrition a month.

Honduras trip

Still in Honduras. It's been a successful trip, with good stories and very sad cases, like this child here, whose parents had a cup of rice in the house to eat for the week.




Yesterday we went to an island to see some cases and how we can get food there, as there is a high rate of malnutrition. It was a lovely boat ride across the Gulf of Fonseca, a bay shared with El Salvador and Nicaragua. The turquoise water sparkled, the sun beat down hot as a breeze from the Pacific rippled across the waters.


And on the island, I got sick. Oh boy. Not fun.
I'm a little better, taking it easy and not eating during the day just in case. Being sick on an island in the middle of nowhere when the only nearby bano is a latrine is not fun...
We also met this mother, who could not stop crying because her little girl, whom she is holding, is very malnourished and ill. She needs an operation to save her as she keeps losing weight, but she's been on a waiting list for free surgery from the state since she was born. In the meantime, she keeps getting thinner and thinner and her mother keeps crying and praying.

There were some uplifting moments as well, such as seeing Naomi again. We met her last year when she was 2 months old and in danger of starving to death. We got her enro lled in a nutritional program, got her milk and this is Naomi today, nice and chubby! I didn't even recognize her! It was quite gratifying to see her and her mom so happy.


All week we have been south in San Lorenzo and Choluteca. Today we headed back to Tegucigalpa to fly out tomorrow, but there was another strike by cab drivers and this one started turning violent. They were throwing rocks at cars.Police advised people to avoid the area near our hotel.
So while the military was moving into place to quell the violence and open the roads, we spent part of the morning at Valle de Angels, which is a tourist spot. We did some shopping, had a lovely lunch (well, the rest of the team did!) of pizza. I took my slice of pizza, cut it up and fed one of the many stray dogs in town. I usually never do that, but today I just felt like it.
Now I am waiting for a ride by our guide's friend to the local church, where I am having a Mass said for my cousin, Margi. She was buried today and because of this trip, I didn't have a chance to attend the funeral. So I'm having a Mass said this afternoon for her. It was so sweet of our hostess, she made a few calls and the arrangements. It's a little comforting for me since I couldn't be at Margi's funeral Mass.
Flying back tomorrow, hopefully no more cab strikes and good weather and I'll be feeling better. Until then, adios!

How to donate to Japan

Many of you know I've worked for a large international charity for more than 17 years. I've seen my share of disasters, including the 2010 Haiti earthquake. My organization does not help Asia, but I wanted to share advice about donating to victims of the horrific Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

First, beware of scams. Many NGO's (non-governmental organizations) may claim to help Japan. Check to see if they are legit organizations by checking them out on these two websites:

Charity Navigator (their website is down at the time of this posting, but keep checking back)

Guidestar

These are two sites in which you can type a charity's name and see where they work, and how they are rated in donor efficiency.

Beware of phone calls from organizations purporting to be with a legit. charity. Ask for the name of the charity and call the charity's regular phone number to check and make sure it's not a scam. Also, I'd avoid giving to anyone collecting money on street corners. Yout cannot be sure where the money is going. If a friend or group is organizing a drive, that's different.

Here are some links on good articles on giving to Japan.

Boomer Consumer

How to avoid charity scams

How to help Japan

PART TWO: What's needed?

After a catastrophe such as an earthquake, victims need food, water, blankets, tents, generators, temporary shelters, tarps, medical assistance and much more. It's best to give to an organization that is either sending these items or better yet, is already on the ground and stands ready to help.

Do not give old clothing! It only clogs up the warehouses for the more important items needed by victims.

After the Haiti earthquake, I went to a large staging compound where many NGO's were forming teams to help. We had donated a 10,000 gallon water purification unit to The Red Cross and wanted to see how it was functioning. Teams were going out into various areas and assessing needs of victims. The strongest needs where at the time for clean water, medical help, food, and shelter. But larger items to AID these organizations were also needed... such as generators, gasoline, etc. These too, are important.

PART THREE: Whom to give to?

These are organizations that say they are helping. You may check them out on Guidestar or Charity Navigator.

AmeriCares

The Red Cross (you can text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 to relief efforts. The charge is added to your cell bill). Personally, I'd rather send in a check and write in the memo: JAPAN RELIEF ONLY because this earmarks the money. I like the Red Cross, I've seen what good they do in disasters, but they are a large organization helping many countries and you want your donation to help the afflicted country). Visit this link to donate online directly to Japan. You are giving to the American Red Cross, but they are saying they are in direct contact with the Japanese Red Cross to see how they can help.

Here is a link, translated, to the JAPANESE Red Cross , for anyone interested.

International Rescue Committee

Save the Children

One of my personal favs is Doctors without Borders (I saw the amazing work they did in Haiti). They have teams trying to reach the hardest-hit areas in Japan. Here is their Guidestar report; they come highly recommended.

I'm sure other charities are mobilizing and seeing how they can help. Again, check them out with Guidestar or Charity Navigator before donating.

Good luck and thanks for helping! I'm leaving for Honduras for the day job and will be offline, as we will be in very remote, very poor areas. Please keep the people of Japan in your thoughts and prayers.

New story alert!

I've been informed that Bitten by the Vampire , the first short story in my Ancients series, will be released in August by Nocturne. Woo hoo!

In other news, I'm busy trying to write a new proposal and getting ready to leave the country next week for the day job. I'll be in Honduras in remote areas without internet. Have a great week, all!

Primal Bonds releases tomorrow!

MMMMMM!!!!

Primal Bonds
by Jennifer Ashley
Berkley Sensation

When half-Fae, half-Shifter Andrea Gray flees an abusive would-be mate, the only way she is allowed to relocate to the Austin Shiftertown is if a Shifter there claims her as mate.

Sean Morrissey, the Guardian of his clan and all of Shiftertown has a tough job--to send the souls of deceased
Shifters into the afterworld. He volunteers to claim her, but doesn't realize that one look at the gray-eyed, dark-haired Andrea will stir the mating frenzy in him. Even though the mate-claim isn't finalized, Sean will do anything to get Andrea into his life and keep her there, forever.

To read an excerpt, click here.

Excerpt to THE SHADOW WOLF

Here's a sample of my next Nocturne, in bookstores August 25. This is Gabriel's story, THE SHADOW WOLF. (copyright 2011 by Bonnie Vanak)

"The roar of a powerful motorcycle drew her attention to the hotel entrance. A man parked the Harley, drew off a black helmet and swung a muscled leg over the saddle. Megan's heart raced. The rider's face was permanently stamped into memory from the photos circulated among Shadows of their worst enemies.

Black liquid sloshed as she slammed down her coffee cup. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for oxygen.

Gabriel Robichaux.

Oh God. She'd walked straight into a trap. Immobilized, she searched for an exit as he entered the garden's stone pathway leading to the terrace.

Megan looked around, desperate to escape, but it was too late. If they left now, surely he'd see them. She slid down her seat.

The power and raw charisma he exuded felt like a tornado as he ambled onto the terrace. Tight black leather pants hugged each inch of his rock hard thighs and taut buttocks. A Harley Davidson T-shirt and steel-toed scuffed boots gave him a dangerous air. Stubble shadowing his angular jaw contrasted with his classical good looks, like a biker with the face of an angel. Dark brown hair curled down to his wide shoulders. His mouth was sultry and mobile. Four women sitting at a nearby table gave him the twice-over.

If they only knew what exactly he was, they'd run away screaming. Draicon, like her. Only not like her. Not Shadow, outcast and shunned. He was an Enforcer, who returned escaped Shadow Wolves to their island prison. "

To read the entire excerpt, click here.

More photos from Haiti

From my trip last week. They include a mother living with her children in a tent in the Central Plateau, an area far from the earthquake's epicenter, a modern and sparkling two-story supermarket that had me nervous riding in the elevator after I saw what the earthquake did to the Caribbean Supermarket, where hundreds died, a destroyed building that still lingers like a painful scar in the capital city of Port-au-Prince...
A little girl holding a sapling that is part of a reforestation project, a typical street scene in the city, a child in a warehouse that now serves as a school after the school was destroyed, and a peaceful farming scene in an area where we will be helping farmers with irrigation during the dry season.

Just another cock on the beach...

See?

This is one of the more interesting sights I saw in Haiti last week. I've seen cocks in yards, cocks on the street, even saw a cock inside a tent, but never one on the beach.

This cock was strutting its stuff on the beach in Grande Saline, a very small town that the ocean is eating away. Once there were two streets where you see the ocean.
The ocean noshed on them, and took away the homes. The town is more like a ghost town, with the exception of poor souls who can't afford to move and who get flooded out every time the tide rises. My organization is going to build them new homes far from the ocean.

Now that I'm home, there's a lot going on that is claiming my attention. However, I did want to mention that I DID FINALLY UPDATE MY WEBSITE!

And no, there are no photos of the cocks I've seen in my travels. :-)

However, there is an updated book listing, and a new "What's New" page and best of all...

I posted an excerpt to Gabriel's story, The Shadow Wolf , out this September from HQ Nocturne.

To see all the fun updates on my website, including the excerpt, click here

Just another crazy day in Haiti...

We started out on the road at 7 a.m. Drove 3 hours north to Grande Saline, visited communities, a water project we installed to combat cholera, talked with families who will be receiving houses from us. One mother watched her house get swept away by last year's hurricane Thomas. Her entire house was swallowed by the ocean and now she lives in a tent.

Drove all over, visited the Central Plateau. We were on so many bad roads and bouncing up and down for so long that I joked that I felt like a pin ball. sprong, sprong, sprong!

That is the key to Haiti. A sense of humor. Haitians have it and use it to survive. And you do it as well when you are on the road, in the field, visiting families, seeing the suffering and the seemingly overwhelming problems. You have little light moments in which you laugh and joke because the work is so hard and the days are so long and you have to laugh. Especially when you return to your hotel 13 hours later and grab a late dinner, after eating nothing all day (when I know I will be on the road in remote areas I do not eat) only to find out the chicken resembles something that was run over by your 4x4 and the french fries are cold.

So you laugh, eat the cold, dead chicken and remember how grateful you are to live in the United States and have a job where you try, not always succeeding, but you try, to make life better for people who only want the same things everyone else has. A decent life, a job, a solid home in which to raise their children, enough to eat, education for their kids, and hope for the future.