zeroing in on recovery

Remember how I said you could win your very own copy of Dead Zero?

I was not joking:

Three brand-spanking new copies of Stephen Hunter’s newest book, and it is not exactly like I need all of them… So what do you need to do to snag one of your own?

1. Donate directly to Ramon Castillo’s recovery fund,
– OR –
Purchase from one of my sponsored links listed below.

2. Email a screencapture or other copy of the receipt from your donation or purchase to “linoge (at) wallsofthecity (dot) net”.

3. Wait until 1800 on 30JAN10, when I will hold a random number drawing for the recipients of the two books.

And it is that simple. I will number the emails as they come in, and I see no reason why one could not enter multiple times, though I will limit you all to a single donation, or a single purchase at each retailer, total – no donating $1 one hundred times or anything.

Aside from that, a quick recap: Ramon Castillo successfully fought off three armed attackers while defending himself, his wife, and his place of business, but sustained multiple gunshot wounds in the process, and had to undergo some pretty serious surgery, the pricetags of which I am sure you can guess at. To try to defray some of those medical expenses, his family has organized the aforementioned donation page, and I have been working to try to raise some money for it – in short, any money I make by way of advertisements or affiliate links this month will go straight to that fund… I will not see a penny of it, and I will be happy to post screencaps of the revenue reports to prove that.

As of this afternoon, I have been able to collect $15.19, and I would certainly love to see that number increase.

In case you missed them before, my affiliate links are:

– Lucky Gunner
– Ballistic Reload
– Brownells
– PoliceStore.com
– Sinclair International
– Amazon.com
– The Philosophy of Jayne
– People of the Gun

… or just use any of the banners or other advertisements you see around this webpage.

Even if you do not participate in the fund drive, I would definitely appreciate a link or two to spread the word around… And, likewise, if you happen to have any contacts at Lucky Gunner or Brownells (or, really, any other company that might be interested), I would appreciate that information – I tried emailing both (using their generic web forms) to inquire about potential sponsorship of my little project, and have heard nary a word in response. Such is life.

At any rate, here is the most-recent report from the Castillos:

Our dad had his first appt this week & all looks well. He will need to return for surgery in about 6-9 months like they previously thought. He will be having to go to the Dr. every 2 wks. to make sure his wounds are healing & closing well. My mom has been his “nurse” & she is very proud of the job she is doing in cleaning his wounds & so were the Dr.’s. Thank all of you for your continued support & prayers we really appreciate them. Thank you & God Bless, Laura Castillo

For someone who was shot multiple times all over his body, I dare say the verdict is a hell of a lot better than it could be!

(A special thanks to Jessica, my contact at Simon and Schuster, for sending me these copies… I will read one and post something approximating a review just as soon as I finish up the copy of The Gun they sent me as well.)