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Good morning all, and welcome to Radio Free Monday!

Ways to Give:

justice_turtle is currently homeless in Virginia. She needs about $100 to pay for bus fare to Michigan, where she's been offered a place to stay. You can read more here and donate via PayPal at the e-mail address in that post.

kukkaseksi linked to a fundraiser for Lex, a trans man who is raising $10,000 for his gender confirmation surgery. He's almost two thirds of the way there, and is on a push for the last $4000 or so. You can read more about him and donate here.

tesserae_ linked to a fundraiser for the family of Bob Casale (of Devo fame -- yes, Whip It, that Devo!). Casale recently died and his family are left in a hard financial position, so they've established a GoFundMe to help with expenses. You can read more and donate here.

jedilora's friends have been hand-building a replica tall ship from the early 1800s, and are now in the final stages. They're raising $2300 for canvas, ropes, and sealant; you can read more about their amazing project and donate here. (Because this confused the heck out of me, they are building an actual ship -- the model in the photo is just to show what it looks like.)

sumofparts linked to a post about youth sexual education and aid organization Scarleteen, who are planning a "strike" starting May first. They are low on funding and will be drastically cutting services unless they raise more funds. You can read more and support the site here.

Anon linked to a fundraiser for the Milford Archaeological Research Institute, to raise money for better housing for visiting professionals at an archaeological field school in Utah. The field school offers inexpensive access to the field for students from California, and better housing is needed to protect students from dust storms and other vagaries of the weather. You can read more about the field school here and support the project here.

norinoricat and their scrappy underdog Quidditch team at San Jose State in California are trying to raise $2500 to get a core group of players to South Carolina next month for the Quidditch World Cup. You can read more, check out cool perks, and donate here.

Events In Fandom:

holli is co-running a 'Geek Chic' fashion show in Washington DC in June, and is looking for models, stylists, and people to help with hair and makeup. You can read more about how to participate here.

holli is also tabling at Small Press Expo in September, and is looking for people with SF/F YA indie comics whose work she can feature. There is a tumblr up for Tesseract Comics, the potential future distributor, here.

Lillian linked to Sparkler Monthly, an online magazine published by Chromatic Press, which features serialized comics, prose, and audio dramas. It's based loosely on the Japanese manga magazine format, and they're looking to raise their profile, so they'd love for everyone to check them out!

Just For Fun:

I've been working this week with Flat Earth Theatre, writing an essay (which will go live on Tuesday!) about the future of the book, and I wanted to mention them here. They're currently in the final stages of production for What Once We Felt, a science-fiction exploration of the schisms in society and technology, which will be running in mid-March. If you're in Boston, you should check it out!

mycatsellsclues linked to an article about the Digital Comic Museum, which is offering 15,000 free golden age comics for download.

And this has been Radio Free Monday! Thank you for your time. You can always post items for my attention in comments here (or on any post) or email me at copperbadge at gmail dot com. If you're not sure how to proceed, here is a little more about what I do and how you can help (or ask for help!).

(no subject)

So, I got totally sidetracked from all other reading last week by Longbourn by Jo Baker.

Longbourn is a novel based on Pride and Prejudice, set in a Bennet household that is at once similar and radically different: it is the story of the staff who run the house at Longbourn. At first it seems as though it's going to be about the way the events of Pride and Prejudice impact the staff, but it ends up being very different: the story of scullion Polly, housemaid Sarah, cook and housekeeper Mrs. Hill, the butler Mr. Hill, and the new groom, James, as well as various servants of other households, nearly independent of the events of P&P.

( Longbourn, by Jo Baker )

Final Verdict: There's not a whole lot I can say without spoiling the major arc of the book, but it's a thoroughly enjoyable book with a strong, well-drawn cast of characters. The last quarter of the book (and especially the last few pages) feels a bit rushed, but it was still a really great read.