Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic Does Anyone Know...

Does anyone know a [redacted]? She says she also goes by LorelaiSquared.

I got an email from her about a friend, Stacie Holeman (truelovepooh on LJ), with breast cancer, and a fundraiser for April -- as well as links for more information. However, I'm afraid to open the links for obvious reasons.

If it is genuine, then I don't want to ignore it. On the other hand, I don't go to links sent to me in emails unless I know the sender, and I don't know her.

Can anyone give me information?

Nan

I received an email from her too, and I don't know her or the author she says she's raising money for. I didn't follow the links because it felt a bit dubious to me too.

Haven't had an email - yet anyway - and can't say I've heard of either name.

ETA: Okay, I did a quick bit of Googling on the names and got lots of hits for LorelaiSquared which seem fan-based (though not for this fandom) - fanfics written and such-like. Course that needn't necessarily prove anything one way or another. It would be easy enough to snag a name off Google that wasn't yours and use it for a scam.

When I Google'd Stacie Holman, that did seem genuine. Most comprehensive result was here:

Help Stacie thread on fandom mbs

If I had to guess I'd say her friends are blanket mailing every fandom they can think of - which seems a little odd to me. But perhaps not that sinister.

Anyway, hope the info helps. I have to say that if it was me and I didn't know either of these women, even if it seemed genuine, I'd just delete the email to be on the safe side.

LabRat

Well, I got the mail this morning and checked out the site. I don't know any of these people either but on the "sign up" list I found WendyMR in the Dr. Who/Torchwood section.

Wendy?

Yes, the Support Stacie campaign is genuine. I've been involved in three auctions so far; I didn't write in the second one, but I did bid. I'm up for auction for two stories this time.

Of course, it's always difficult to verify the accuracy of these internet campaigns. All I can say is that I know the Support Stacie campaign is a genuine cause, one of the main organisers is on my LiveJournal friends list and many of my Doctor Who writer friends have offered their services this time and in the previous three auctions.

If anyone is interested in offering to be auctioned to write a story, signups close tonight.




ETA: fandoms involved include Doctor Who, Torchwood, Gilmour Girls, Harry Potter, Roswell, Smallville, Heroes - full list here .


Wendy

ETA again: I originally said here that the campaign was a registered charity. One of the organisers - Gioia, whom you'll see on the auction forums - let me know that this isn't the case: I misunderstood. They can't register as a charity (they tried). This is what she said:

Sorry for unintentionally misleading people. Gioia adds that in order to try to demonstrate their legitimacy they've given out lots of information about Stacie and some of the organisers - including Gioia herself - even give their phone numbers so people can check out their bona fides.

I got the email too...

It certainly seems like a worthy cause but given the way my life/muse has been going the last few weeks, I hate to commit to something...

Anyone else going to?

Labby, I have to say if it was one of my friends and we were doing something like this, I'd blanket email just about everyone too... Maybe find that Wendy was also an L/C author and go there and any other fandoms I could find with even the most tenuous connection so, assuming it really is all legit like it seems to be, that's exactly what I'd do [though I probably would have tailored it a bit more to say how I found you - like mentioning Wendy or something]. Anyway... /shrug/

Anyone else?
Carol

i got the email too... didn't really understand it very good.. thought just like nan, i didn't follow the links for obvious reasons. plus my muse is a diva (don't know why..) she only strikes at the worst times, so even if i did commit to signing up, i don't think i'll be able to finish it

I understand the reluctance to trust fickle muses in committing to something that has to be written within a month... though I'll say that most 'buyers' seem to be very understanding. Some fics from the December auction were only posted in the last few weeks.

Also, the shortest fic can be 2500 words, which is only about six pages in Times Roman 12.


Wendy

Well, blanket mailing fans in other fandoms makes more sense in this instance, given the connection with this author auction idea. If they're trying to get authors from all kinds of fandoms to participate, mailing fans in those fandoms seems obvious.

I'd also assumed that the emails were asking complete strangers directly for cash contributions. If they're not and are asking for fanfic contributions, the recipients make even more sense.


LabRat

Yeah - the author/fic thing makes much more sense than random solicitations .

Here's the email in case someone who didn't get one is interested [note the signup date - it's been extended from what Wendy mentioned apparently]:

Hello!

I’m writing you on behalf of a friend of mine (both in RL and in fandom), Stacie Holeman (truelovepooh on LJ). Stacie has been battle Stage III ovarian and breast cancer for two years without the benefit of medical insurance. As you can imagine, this has been a very difficult fight. Because of her lack of insurance and over $200,000.00 in medical bills she has no access to hospital treatment and is receiving only the bare-minimum of chemotherapy.

I’m one of her friends working within fandom to help raise money to pay for her treatment. Our group, “Support Stacie,” has a multi-fandom fundraiser taking place April 3rd-6th for which we need are in need of authors. I’m hoping you might be interested in participating.

The auction serves as a writing challenge to the authors who sign up. Should you decide to join us, you would be auctioned off to write a fic on demand, within the boundaries you dictate. So, for example, you might commit to writing a 2,500-word story that sticks to your OTP. The winning bidder would then be able to send you a fic challenge within the boundaries you dictate.

I don’t want to trouble you in this message with too many details, but you can find all the details by visiting these links:

Who Stacie is
Auction Info
Location of the auction
Update on Stacie\'s health
List of authors signed up so far

This is our third Author Auction and we’ve had enormous success with the previous two. The auctions require very little time commitment from the authors but have made an enormous difference in helping save Stacie’s life. So far we’ve raised approximately $12,000 which has enabled Stacie to increase her chemotherapy and receive treatment for pneumonia this winter.

I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have about Stacie’s situation, the Author Auction (http://supportstacie.net/?page_id=58), or SupportStacie in general. You can feel free to call me at [taking phone number out], email me at [taking email out], or message me back.

*Please note: The deadline for sign ups has been extended until Monday, March 30th, 2009*

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

All my best,
Hannah (LorelaiSquared)

[Took phone/email out but if anyone does want it for whatever reason let me know]

Ah, they've extended it? That's good

I really would encourage anyone who's interested to sign up. We know it's in a good cause, and the auction itself can be a lot of fun. There's plenty of friendly rivalry in the bidding threads, and many of the authors offer bidding incentives such as a drabble (a 100-word fic) to every new bidder. I do that, and I also offer to send a signed copy of the story to the winner.

I hope to see some of you in the auction forum between April 3-6 - and I've also been asked to do an hour-long author chat in the forums at some point over that weekend.


Wendy

I'd volunteer, except for the fact that I know very little about any of the categories. I'm not much of a tv watcher anymore -- too much RL taking up my time. Most of my free time is involved in writing for L&C and my own writing ventures. Otherwise I'd be more than happy to contribute to the auction.

Hopefully some of our wonderful authors here will allow their services to be auctioned off for Stacie's benefit.

Nan

Oh, you could volunteer to write an L&C fic, Nan! Just because L&C isn't there currently doesn't mean it can't be added - in fact, that's why people in this fandom were approached, I understand

No pressure on anyone, obviously, but if anyone feels like jumping in and offering up a story that would be fantastic.


Wendy