A request for help

I should perhaps title this another request for help, since I’ve already asked this before. I need to preface it with some not so relevant information and hope that maybe I can sway a few of you to go through with my request. Most of you should by now know that I have multiple sclerosis, and that my plaque scars are in my brain, resulting in mental instability even in the best of times. During unstable weather with wildly divergent high and low temperatures, that instability becomes more pronounced, causing me to go from manic happiness to crushing depression to deep paranoia that everyone is out to get me.

But I also am having “plumbing problems” downstairs, and I really need to fly back to Thailand to have my doctor correct these problems with more surgery. I also need to get new dentures. Just as my oral surgeon explained, the shape of my gums is changing, and my dentures no longer fit. The difference in the two is resulting in sore spots, and I have to either glue them down frequently or deal with pain even if my mouth isn’t moving. And considering that I talk to myself even when no one else is around, I’ve had to just not wear them to allow my gums to heal between meals.

I’m not asking for donations, and I’m not asking for contributors in an online campaign. I’m asking those of y’all who haven’t bought books to look over my collection in my bookstore and buy something. And if you do and finish the book, I’m asking you to leave a review. That can be on a site like Goodreads or your blog, if you have one. If you don’t, but you bought a book from me at Amazon, it could be a review left there. If you somehow decided to buy print and went to Lulu, you could leave a review there.

So, that’s it in a nutshell. I desperately need your help in convincing other readers to try out my stuff. I have a huge collection of titles in just about every flavor of speculative and genre fiction, and in theory, I should have something for everyone. I’m working as hard as I can to promote all my titles on Twitter, but I’m not making that many sales on my own, and certainly not enough to cover medical and travel expenses. Even if I saved up funds and didn’t give them to people like my editor, or to cover artists, a year of sales would not cover a plane ticket, much less my doctor’s constantly rising fees for surgery and a three-day stay in the hospital. Nor would I be able to afford a new set of dentures by saving up for a year.

I have received two sales on my store through Gumroad, both on the same day. Just those two sales alone gave me $9 in royalties. This is a good start, but I get paid quarterly, and I won’t see that money until the end of summer. And $9 by itself is meaningless for the kinds of problems I’m dealing with. I need a whole lot more to be able to help myself, and to do that, I need help from y’all. I need more sales, and I need more vocal support in the form of reviews. Yes, even if you decide to give me two stars and a bad review. Even if the review is just one sentence about it being a lousy book. Any publicity is better than no publicity.

I’ve been told for a few years now to just keep going, that my writing is good, and that I just need a lucky break somewhere to start the flood of sales. But so far, I haven’t found that lucky break, and mentally, emotionally, and physically, I’m running into walls and can’t just keep going anymore. That’s not your fault. As I get older, MS eats away at my energy reserves more and more. The plaque scars eat a little more of my brain and take with it more of my internal strength and self-control.

In other words, I’m losing the fight, and I’m sinking deep and deeper into quicksand. I’m screaming for help, and there’s still no rescue coming. So, I’m calling on you to help, and I hope you will at least consider making some small effort at a rescue.