Great Read for a Great Cause

Oh Goddess by Gwen Hayes
Read An Excerpt Online
Genre: Paranormal Romance

ISBN: 978-1-60504-367-8
Length: Short Story
Price: 2.50
Publication Date: January 27, 2009
Cover art by Tuesday Dube

Born to protect women’s hearts, her own beats longingly for a mortal. Oops…

Ondina, one thousand years a goddess, doesn’t think much of mortal men. Probably because her sole purpose in life is to protect the hearts of women who don’t want to fall in love. And now one of those blasted men—Jack—has shattered her sacred chalice, trapping her in a mortal body.

Jackson Nichols, on the partner track at his law firm, is the first to admit he always follows his head. Never his heart. Dina is infuriating, messy, condescending, sexy, beautiful and…well, just about everything that doesn’t fit into his meticulously planned life.

Neither expects to find many redeeming qualities in the other. But when push comes to love, which will Dina choose? Her newly human heart…or one thousand years of duty?

*All author and editor proceeds from the sale of Oh Goddess will be donated to the Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis. You can find out more about the foundation at www.coalitionforpf.org.

Warning: Recent studies show that consuming beverages while reading this story can cause damage to computer monitors, clothing, and sometimes nearby walls. Reader agrees to hold both Samhain Publishing Ltd. and Gwen Hayes harmless in case of accidental spewing caused by laughter.
Read An Excerpt Online

Agence France Reports New PF Treatment Looms

Australian researchers Monday said they had developed a drug which could potentially spell an end to a life-threatening condition caused by diabetes, heart disease and fibrotic illnesses.

Scientists from the University of Melbourne and the city's St Vincent's Hospital said the drug had been shown in animal trials to prevent fibrosis, the build-up of irreversible scarring on internal organs.

There are currently no treatments on the market for fibrosis and the new drug, called FT-11, could be as important a discovery as blood pressure drugs if effective, said Professor Darren Kelly of the University of Melbourne.

"It would be an enormous blockbuster drug with an initial market of around 2.0 billion dollars," he said.

Kelly said while the drug would not prevent diabetes -- a chronic illness in which the body fails to produce enough of the hormone insulin to process sugar -- it could prevent complications such as kidney or heart disease.

"We are hoping to delay or prevent those complications which would basically keep those patients off dialysis -- which would have a huge benefit for their lifestyle," Kelly told AFP.

The drug, expected to be tested in clinical trials within 12 months, could be used to prevent diabetic kidney disease, heart disease and potentially other health problems such as liver and lung fibrosis, he said.

Speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Kelly said about 45 percent of diseases in the developed world could be associated with some sort of pathological fibrosis.

"We know at the moment in rat studies that our compound inhibited the development of fibrosis, and the interesting thing in the future would be to see whether we can actually reverse fibrosis," he said.

-- Monday, August 18th; Agence France Presse.

Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness

September 22nd through the 29th is National Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Week. Pulmonary Fibrosis is a debilitating disease marked by progressive scarring of the lungs that gradually interferes with a person's ability to breathe. There is no cure, and currently there is NO FDA approved treatment. The disease is fatal, within 5 to 7 years of diagnosis. Approximately 128,000 people in the United States have IPF, and an estimated 48,000 new cases develop each year. You can learn more about PF at The Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis' website.

The Coalition for PF takes donations via check, credit card, even PayPal. You can donate by clicking the link below: