Sharkbait Writes

A Young Man’s Fight With Cancer

About a week ago my friend and fellow author Eden Baylee sent me an email about a young man who is battling Leukemia. His name is Joshua, son of Maxwell Cynn, author of .45 Caliber Jitterbug, The Collective and CybrGrrl. Joshua is a 21-year-old with three and a half years of a 4.0 GPA complete toward a degree in philosophy. Just recently Joshua was diagnosed with Acute T-cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia. The cancer has spread to every part of his body. Joshua is a fighter, though. In fact, when he was told about the course of chemotherapy, his first question to the oncologist was, “How will I go to class?”

Joshua will not be returning to school, which devastated the young philosophy major. Max, a proud father, states in his blog that Joshua is the most brilliant man that he has ever known. He insists that’s not just the words of a loving father, but his peers and professors agree. Joshua would have been the first member of Max’s family to graduate from college.

The day after Joshua started his chemotherapy a couple of weeks ago, his heart stopped. Thankfully, the doctors, nurses and technicians in the Intensive Care Unit were able to resuscitate him. Joshua’s diagnosis with Leukemia is by no doubt a life changer for him and his family. Even with insurance, the cost of treatment is very expensive. Joshua also has a college loan that needs to be paid, a loan for a college degree that he was worked hard at earning but may never have the opportunity to complete.

To help pay for Joshua’s treatment, Max is putting all the proceeds from his book sales into a fund to pay for Joshua’s treatment. He also has set up a donation link on all of his websites that will go to that fund. Any donations beyond the cost of Joshua’s treatment will go toward paying his student loans. Joshua has asked that anything beyond the cost of his treatment and college loan be donated for Leukemia research.

To read Max’s complete blog post regarding this devastating turn of events click on the link below:

Max’s Blog Post

Indie Authors Unite for Joshua

In an effort to support Joshua and his family, Eden Baylee, author of Fall Into Winter, started an Indie GoGo campaign to help fund the high cost of cancer treatment and to help with Joshua’s student loans.
The goal of this campaign is to raise $10,000 which will pay for some of the medical expenses not covered by insurance. By donating to this campaign, you will help reduce the cost of prolonged cancer treatment. As a thank you for donating, the IndieGoGo campaign is offering some amazing perks for your generosity. Not only will you get your choice of a copy of Maxwell Cynn’s book CybrrGrrl or The Collective, but depending on your donation you will also get your choice of many other books and/or services that have been donated toward this cause.

For full details on how you can join us in helping a young man win his fight against cancer and also help a fellow author, click on the campaign image.

My Commitment to This Campaign

Many of us, if not all of us, have been affected by cancer in one way or another, whether it’s through a family member, friend or battling cancer ourselves. I watched the horrible effects of cancer when my grandmother passed away a couple of years ago and a friend and co-worker’s son has also had to endure the difficult fight against cancer. Cancer research has always been important to me, which is why I try to donate to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Center when I can to help find a cure for cancer. So, naturally when Eden asked me if I wanted to donate anything towards the IndieGoGo campaign she was organizing, I told her I would be more than happy to join the army of indie writers to help support Max’s son Joshua.

I have donated two copies of Pursuit of a Dream and five author spotlight interviews. Furthermore, I have decided to donate 100% of all proceeds from sales of Pursuit of a Dream that are purchased between now and the end of the campaign.

What You Can Do To Help

If you would like to help out there are a number of ways you can do so. You can either purchase one of Maxwell Cynn’s books, The Collective or CybrGrrl or you can visit Joshua’s IndieGoGo campaign site and donate there.

As a thank you for your generous donation at the end of the campaign you will receive special perks from a number of books and services that indie authors have donated (including myself) to help Joshua in this time of need.

For full details on this IndieGoGo campaign, please visit Indies Unite for Joshua. As of this post, we have already raised $1,384 of our $10,000 goal, which is awesome! Thank you for everyone who has already helped out, including those authors who have donated books and services.

(Update: We reached the $10,000 goal on Memorial Day, and as of May 30 we have raised $10,320 for Joshua!)

Thank you for those who have contributed and considering helping Joshua out. God bless you all!