Good morning!
As many of you have heard (but many others have not), our beloved friend and bard S.J. "Sooj" Tucker has been in the hospital. At the moment, the cause of her distress remains uncertain, but appendicitis is the current diagnosis. In any case, her treatment has already been expensive, and will probably become much more so, especially if surgery becomes necessary. Like many independent artists, Sooj has no medical insurance. And like most Americans without medical insurance, this leaves her utterly screwed without significant help from friends, fans and loved ones.
And so, we're spreading the word about "A Healthy Dose of Sooj" - a fund-raising effort to secure treatment and security for our ailing friend. As the site reveals, this isn't a charity effort. Although donations are welcome, Sooj and her partner/ manager K are offering CDs, downloads, podcasts and other goodies in exchange for contributions. This way, you can help one of the country's brightest and hardest-working young artists survive a traumatic illness and you'll also get some kick-ass music for your own collection. Or - if you already have all of Sooj's albums - you can help spread the word and give the gift of Sooj to other folks. After all, Tucker is a grass-roots artist who spits in the eye of "The Big-Box Music Biz(TM." And that, my friends, is certainly worth supporting!
To that end, I'm also offering some of my own work as well. I haven't mentioned this until now, but I've been working with artist Bryan Syme on an urban fantasy webcomic entitled String Theory. Inspired, in part, by Sooj herself, String Theory follows a young bard named Meghan Susan Green as she discovers just how strange her world - and her talents - truly are. Bryan and I have been writing and drawing this project for months, and plan to go live with it as soon as we have 30 episodes ready to post. That goal is still somewhat in the future. Folks who contribute to Sooj's medical fund, however, can enjoy the following "sneak peeks" at this project-in-progress:
* Sponsors who contribute $15 to help Sooj will receive prints of five String Theory character modeling sketches, signed by Bryan. and I.
* Sponsors who contribute $25 to help Sooj will receive a signed print of an installment of String Theory, unlettered and signed by Bryan and I.
* Sponsors who contribute $50 will appear as characters within the strip, named and thanked at the bottom of the page when it appears. Those folks will also receive a print of that installment, signed by Bryan and I.
* For sponsors who contribute $100 or more, I'l create a fantasy version of you and make that character into a regular on the strip, with corresponding prints and credit (although rights to that character will remain attached to the String Theory property).
I'll be collecting donations via my PayPal account, then sending the funds to Sooj and K once I have the sponsor's address and so forth. Alternately, you could forward the funds to Sooj's own donations page, and then let me know what you contributed and where to send the prints. This adds a step, though, and may be harder to keep track of.
Either way, please help Save Our Sooj. In the absence of a working health-coverage system in our country, it falls to us to support one another - and, in sickness and in health, S.J. Tucker is one person worth supporting!
Thanks & Blessings!
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