I love pollen. Mold and mildew make me smile. Dust covers every inch of my house. Allergy season is a greatly anticipated joy for me. The way my sinuses swell up like balloons, the way my head feels like a brick, it is glorious to behold.

I used to hate allergies. I used to rant and scream and compose tirades lashing out at this wonderful little mechanism of biology. Until the day I sneezed so violently the sniper’s bullet passed clean over my head. Allergies truly are the stuff of life. Is it any wonder I love them so much?

Unfortunately the laptop screen got broken in an accident a short time later and the machine, while still operational, is anchored to his desktop by a large and clunky monitor. No longer can he create on the go as the universe intended.

So I implore you, please help us get Jared’s laptop fixed. I found a company in California that will repair it for $250. I expect he’ll have to spend between $30 and $50 boxing it up to travel safely as well as for postage and insurance. So I’ve created the ChipIn.com fund for a total of $300 (less PayPal fees). [NOTE: I couldn't figure out how to have Chipin.com show our donation, so I lowered the original amount to reflect our gift.]

Anything you can spare would be a great help. Please consider give a few bucks to help him get his mobile mojo back in gear. Every $5 or $10 you can spare will get him closer to creating more wonderful things without being anchored to a monitor.

A free book? There’s no such thing as a free book! What’s the catch?

No catch. It’s free, click here to download it. But, Mur asks that if you like it you purchase it from Amazon.com on August 25. She’s making a run on Amazon and really needs us all to pitch in and help her get noticed. She, like so many others, has a book contract now. But podcasting novels are still a new medium for delivery and we need to show the publishing industry that this makes a difference.

Martha and I have read the PDF version multiple time. We help Mur by making the PDFs and doing layout and formatting. We also did a little editing. All of this was to help Mur make the best product possible. We bought the first version of Playing for Keeps when it was self-published on Lulu.com. And now we’re joining her for her run on Amazon and we’ll be buying multiple copies of Playing for Keeps as published by Swarm Press.

Mur has delivered countless hours of enjoyment and encouragement to the pod-o-sphere. She has also inspired and rallied people including me. It is not an exaggeration to say that if Mur wasn’t here I wouldn’t be either. I wonder how many other people to whom you listen, read, and watch are here because they were inspired by Mur Lafferty. I’m guessing the number is larger than you think.

So be ready to place your order from Amazon.com for Playing for Keeps on Monday August 25. Be there! Aloha.