Not A Fire Exit - A Novel

Hello all,

I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures from those who participated in the last book giveaway, and I hope you all enjoy it and pass it along per the contest rules after you're done reading it.

What the last few weeks have shown me is you can't put a price on making someone smile.  The kind notes and supportive statements I've gotten from many of you have been humbling and appreciated beyond words.  My wife and I are very blessed and thankful for each one you've sent, and we've come to a decision that I wanted to share with you all.

From this day forward, I've decided to make the book available for free for any SMA family that wants a copy or copies of it.  There's no catch, no strings attached, nothing - you can send me an e-mail at notafireexit@verizon.net at any time, for whatever reason, with your request and they'll be on their way. 

I'm not keeping a running tally of who asks and who doesn't - and honestly, I hope families come back multiple times asking for copies to give to friends, family, and anyone else they think it might be enjoyed by, or find useful at any fundraisers they may do.  Got a bake sale coming up and you want 10 copies to sell to raise additional funds?  No problem.  Got a new co-worker who's never heard of SMA?  Give them a copy.  Never read it yourself?  Done and done. 

In addition, I'm setting up a recurring donation of a dollar a day for both GSF and FSMA that I'll be doing every day until this disease is cured, and that's on top of any other donations or funds raised by book sales and I do personally and Milverstead Publishing does separately for every author.  I can't let a day go by any longer where I feel like I haven't done something to try and help.  I wish it was more, and if you can think of anything you'd like my help with to make even more of a difference, I will do whatever it takes.

And make sure you check in at the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation and Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy websites to see how you can help make a difference too.

Have a great weekend!

Chris

P.S - You should be hearing more about the movie adaptation of Not A Fire Exit in the coming weeks as there's more exciting news around that on the horizon!  :)

Hi all,

Wanted to do something fun to celebrate the Fourth of July, and I thought this would accomplish that.  And its a nice way to finish cleaning out my basement. 

I have 50 free signed copies of the book I'll be giving away to 50 people, but here's the thing -  Only the first person from each state who contacts me via e-mail at notafireexit@verizon.net and reposts this blog post on Facebook or Twitter will get a free copy of the book.  Once all fifty states have had at least one person e-mail, I'll donate $100 to the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation and send out the books.  I'll keep a running list of states that have had winners on this blog post, and cross them out throughout the day/week/month(?) until they're all gone.

Just a couple things.  If you're going to enter, I'd ask that you promise to do the following -

1.  Post a picture of you reading/holding the book, or just the book itself if you're camera-shy, in your state (or country, if the book has been re-sent to you outside the USA after the initial contest) on the message board on the Facebook Fan Page.  And be creative! 

Every picture that's posted on there doing just that is worth $1 to GSF between now and the end of the year.  If it makes my wife laugh, it's worth $2.  :)

2.  You agree once you're done to sign the title page and mark the date when you finished reading it and send it/give it to someone else under these same two conditions.

That's it - good luck, and I hope you enjoy the book and this silly contest.

Chris

P.S - If you already have a copy, you can still enter!  Just give the book as a gift to someone you think might enjoy it, and let them take it from there.

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Updated 7/12 AM - Bolded states have a winner

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming