We all get by with a little help from our friends--and Kickstarter

David Simkins gave me my first computer. It was a Mac Classic II and the sweetest little machine ever. I loved that computer because it was so user-friendly. I've known David since the Eighties when he was developing a movie at Silver Pictures. He and I pitched a television pilot together and were in a writer's group that included talented people like Robert Hewitt Wolfe, Kevin Messick, James McQuaide and Peter Lenkov. Everybody in the group wanted David to critique their scripts because his notes were so good and he was so generous with his time.

Simkins went on to work on  television shows as different as Charmed, The Dresden Files (with the aforementioned Robert Hewitt Wolfe), Angel, Lois & Clark, Warehouse 13 (and most recently) Grimm. He writes great characters and terrific dialogue and if you tune into a show he's written, you're guaranteed a good time. (And in case you're wondering, the heroine of my Misbegotten stories, Kira Simkins, is named for him.)

David Simkins is running a Kickstarter campaign for his new project Lily, and one of the premiums you can get for your contribution is a critique of a television script by him. Forget the project--those notes alone are worth the contribution.

I know you see a lot of pleas for Kickstarter campaigns, but this one is different. Really. The campaign is to fund a show called LILY, starring Lynn Ayala. It's a crime show but not like the cookie cutter crime shows the networks give us every pilot season. check out the campaign here, and let the creators tell you about it. There's a lot of talent involved and it's going to be something special. Wouldn't you like to be a part of that?  I know I do.

Ellen Datlow needs your help!

She's raising money for her next anthology, Fearful Symmetries, via a Kickstarter campaign. She wants to raise $25,000 and she's a little over a third of the way done with 13 days remaining. She's offering terrific rewards at all levels of the campaign, and you can support this project for as little as $5.
If you read short stories--particularly in the speculative fiction/science fiction/fantasy/horror genres--you have read  one or more of the anthologies edited by Datlow. Her birthday is next Monday (New Year's Eve), so why not give her an early birthday preesent and pledge a little cash?
Watch Datlow talk about the project here.

Empower an Entrepreneur

Writer/Artist Joanne Renaud sends word that Caoimhe Ora Snow's Kickstarter Campaign to fund a startup of her RPG fantasy game Wandering Monsters High School has stalled. She needs $200 more to reach her goal of $1000 before her time runs out in two weeks. Donations are as little as $1, so if you can help a sister out, go here.