Very good news, I talked with Connie Brooks of Battenkill Books in Cambridge, one of the most wonderful independent bookstores in the world, and she said she is now accepting pre-orders for the new book “Tales Of The Mansion,” 15 short stories from the Mansion residents.

The book has 10 photographs of the writers by me and costs $10 (plus shipping). I’m order a first printing of 200 copies, and each of the residents and their family members will get one free. The rest will be sold by Battenkill Books you can pre-order as of now.)

Battenkill Books takes Paypal and all major credit cards and ships anywhere in the world. You can call them at 518 677-2515 or visit their website, www.battenkillbooks.com. Connie will put up a special page for the book this week, but you can call and pre-order anytime.

All of the proceeds from the book – every penny – will go towards paying for outings for the residents – to parks, lakes, cultural events and historical sites. You already provided the van,  I am providing the ice cream.

When I first mentioned the idea of telling their stories, two of the residents laughed, and said, “who wants to hear our stories?” I told them their stories were important, and needed to be told and would be heard. You are your stories are told them, and your stories are important.

I was impressed, and a bit surprised when I saw the outpouring of stories from the residents, it was a hard struggle for some of them. But they really wanted to do it.

When the books come out, we will have a reading at the Mansion, it will be open to the public. I realize that most of you live too far away to come, but I will be there to take photos, etc. No date has yet been chosen.

I hope this is the first Mansion book, and not the last. Stories are sacred to me.  (Please don’t forget to send photos of your favorite animals, yours or anybody else’s to 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y.. 12816. Three winners will be chosen, there will be prizes, perhaps a gift certificate to Battenkill Books. The residents want to give something back, deadline is  August 31.

I’m getting the final page proofs this week and once we look them over, we’ll go ahead and order the printing through CreateSpace, an online self-publishing site. There will not be a lot of books for sale, although we can order more if there’s a demand. Frankly, we are not looking for huge sales.

Thanks for your support for this project, the Army Of Good is very inspiring to me and many others.

I wanted to cry when I got the message below today, on my new blog comments, already a safe and comforting space. I got one snarky message out of many, and was delighted to send it to the trash. I hope every member of the Army gets to read this message:

From Bev, on the west coast of Canada: “Greetings! You and your Army of Good were mentioned recently at an inspirational Gospel Music concert. I look forward to your posts and have had occasion to share your site with others. Such timely topics, I often find myself nodding in agreement and challenging myself to live out my truth as situations arise. My guiding principle is to love God and love others.Thanks for your honesty and humility.”

Thanks for your love and generosity, Bev. Think of it, the AOG mentioned at an inspirational Gospel music concert far away. Oh, I so wish I could have been there, I love gospel music. I very much connect with the idea of living my truth as life requires. My guiding principle is to do good rather than argue about good.

The mystics wrote that God contemplated the good deeds of the righteous, and then drew light from within himself, and thus, the power to create was born. That is how I feel about the Army Of Good and its righteous deeds. The world, said the prophets, could only be created by virtue of the actions of the righteous.