Children's Heart Foundation - Texas Debut Chapter Event

I am so excited to announce that I (Anna Jaworski) have been invited to speak at the Children's Heart Foundation - Texas Debut Chapter Event!

Here is a Facebook link to the Event:  https://www.facebook.com/events/138370826325119/

I hope all of my Texan heart friends will go to the event and support the Children's Heart Foundation.  Because of some of the dignitaries who will be present, you must RSVP to attend. Please let Sarah Berg or me know if you intend to come.

Some of you may not know about the Children's Heart Foundation. From their website I copied this: ". . . The Children’s Heart Foundation was incorporated in Illinois in June 1996.  Through 2012, the Children's Heart Foundation has contributed an astounding $5.3 million toward 52 revolutionary congenital heart defect (CHD) research studies. As the country's leading organization solely committed to CHD research funding, CHF dedicates itself to bringing health, hope and happiness to children and families impacted by a CHD."

Like Baby Hearts Press, The Children's Heart Foundation was started by parents in 1996.  Both Frank and I, and Betsy and Steve Peterson, had sons born with complex congenital heart defects.  Betsy and Steve lost their son, Sam, too soon due to complications from his complex heart defects. The fact that they were able to turn their tragedy into a vehicle for helping others is admirable. They have provided education (they produced a book), a website, a CD of music and, as noted above, an incredible amount of funding to help us better understand congenital heart defects and, hopefully, eventually eradicate them.

Here are the details for the event:

What?  Children's Heart Foundation - Texas Debut Chapter Event

When?  February 13, 2013 from 5:00pm until 7:30pm

Where?  MAX's Wine Dive ATX  207 San Jacinto, Austin, Texas 78701

Why?  To meet others in the Central Texas region who are also passionate about helping people with congenital heart defects, to have fun and to raise money for the Children's Heart Foundation-TX.   There will be a Silent Auction as well as appetizers & drinks.  

We always do everything bigger and better in Texas so bring your wallet and your desire to help this wonderful cause on Wednesday night!

It is an honor to be one of the speakers for this exciting event. I am also excited that, while Alexander (my son born with a single ventricle heart) cannot come since he's in college in New York, one of our friends, Katie Lynn Cataldo, will accompany me to the event! Katie and Alex became friends a little over a year ago when they met at another congenital heart defect fundraiser. Katie was born with hypoplastic right heart syndrome. Here are some photographs of Alex and Katie at her 18th birthday party. It's such a miracle that Alex and Katie are still with us. My heart aches for Betsy and Steve but, thanks to the Children's Heart Foundation, Sam will never be forgotten! Because of his precious life, many other children may be spared from dying too young due to their heart defects. All three of these children -- Alex, Katie and Sam -- are reminders of why we need to treasure each and every day and how one person can make a difference.

Hope to see some of you soon!

Anna

 

A New Year

One of my New Year's Resolutions for 2013 is to update my blog once a week. Thursday is a perfect day for me to do that because of my new friend, Mary Black, who I met at a Literary PR Boot Camp. Mary and I are now each others Accountability Coach! We're going to help each make the most out of 2013 and get our book projects and marketing projects off the back burner and into the real world! We are meeting on Wednesdays and that means I can't wait to come back home to work on the projects we've assigned each other! One of this week's projects was to write a blog post.

The Literary PR Boot Camp (this was sponsored by the Writers' League of Texas) taught me that I should have book trailers for all of my books -- even if they aren't new anymore. I didn't even know what a book trailer was before this workshop! I guess I was a little behind the times, but no more! Thanks to Jennifer Hill Robenalt I now understand how I can add video to my website and how I can let my readers know what my books are all about!

Probably the most exciting part of this process for me has been very personal. "My Brother Needs an Operation" is a book I wrote in honor of my older son Joey.  He inspired the book and he is the hero of the book. I wrote the book when Joey was a small child. Now Joey is 21! He and his girlfriend, Esther, are helping me create the book trailer. To add to the excitement, I asked friends on Facebook if they could send me photos of their children and they have! I still need more photos of someone reading the book "My Brother Needs an Operation" to children, but I'm so excited with the photos I've received already. (If you would like for me to consider adding your photo(s), please send me an email at anna@babyheartspress.com.)

My hope is that my next blog post will include a link to the book trailer so you, my faithful readers, can give me feedback. The hope is that the trailer will help people understand how this book can help them through the critical time a family goes through when they have a child in the hospital and siblings who are non-hospitalized.

I'm looking forward to this brand new year, helping Mary complete her first book and working with my son on revitalizing my website and helping people know more about what Baby Hearts Press has to offer. I am thankful to you, my faithful followers, and to my awesome webmistress, Sue Dove, who keeps Baby Hearts Press alive on the Internet.

I hope all of you have a wonderful New Year and check back here often!

Sincerely,

Anna Jaworski