For anybody who didn’t catch my review of Variable Star almost a year and a half ago, I’m a big fan of Spider Robinson. Though I haven’t read as much of her work, Jeanne Robinson’s collaboration with Spider on the Stardance trilogy is also exceptional. Well, word is that Jeanne is fighting a rare form of cancer, and the couple is running low on cash. That link has several ways that you can help, but being the of-limited-resources types that we are, Kristen and I focused in on one: Amazon clickthroughs for their books.

Of course, I already have many of their books, so what to do with them? Give them away, natch! I have three books to give away (bought via Spider’s affiliate program): The Stardance Trilogy Omnibus (hardcover), Very Hard Choices (Spider’s new book released in August, paperback), and a hardcover of Variable Star signed by Spider! Note that the last is a used book which is supposed to be in very good condition, but if it arrives to me all beat up I will give the winner a choice of substituting my like-new hardcover of Variable Star which is (unfortunately) unsigned.

To enter, send an email to fantasycafe AT novomancy DOT org with the subject line “Spider and Jeanne” containing your mailing address. Mailing addresses will only be used for sending the books to the winners and emails will be deleted once the contest is closed on Sep 18th. That’s all it takes, though getting the word out about Jeanne’s post that I linked above would be much appreciated as well. Giveaway is open worldwide; you can enter no matter where you live.

One other note: Though it’s nice to buy their books, if you’re buying off Amazon anyway you can still make sure a bit of your purchase gets redirected to them. I made a bookmarklet that will turn any product page into one that shows up as coming from Spider Robinson’s affiliate account. To use it:

1. Drag this link to your bookmark bar (or right-click and add bookmark, depending on your browser): Robinsonize Amazon Page
2. Go to Amazon and find something you were going to buy anyway, then hit that bookmark before you add it to your cart.
3. The page should reload, but it now contains the code for Spider’s account.

I know that the book blogging community spends a ridiculous amount of money at Amazon, so if even a tiny portion of it can be redirected it would help.

Thanks, and good luck winning!