A Request For Help, And A Bunch of Cool Stories You Can Read

1)  My good friend Kara is trying to start up a non-profit shelter for homeless LGBT youth in Atlanta.  Which is, I think, an awesome project to take on – but it also requires a lot of logistics as to how you best do it on the cheap, and knowledge of the legal issues you’re going to run into, and all sorts of other questions she needs answered.  And so I’ll ask that if any of you have any experience with such a thing, please contact her at her blog with whatever help you can offer. The number of valid online resources for this sort of service are thin on the ground, so anyone who can contribute expertise would be doing a good thing.
I’ll vouch to her strength and talent, if it’s any concern.
2) Those of you who are not authors probably pay little attention to the annual race for awards, but this one’s a little different.
One of the most exciting, and rarest, awards in sci-fi is the John Campbell Award For Best Writer.  You’re eligible for two years after your first professional story was published, as this is an award for new writers.  After that time passes, you can never be nominated again.  Not to dismiss the Nebula or the Hugo, but I’ve got many shots left at those awards, should I ever hope to win one; my Campbell days are past forever.
The Campbell is also an exciting time, because these are new authors, the best of this year’s crop, and you get a chance to see what they’re doing!  They’re just starting their career, and yet they’re filled with talent!  But unfortunately, the Campbell award is one of the lesser-voted awards, simply because there’s so many new authors published that it’s hard to keep track of who’s even eligible.
But lo!  If you’d like to read a bunch of the latest tales from new authors, Stupefying Stories has put together a free e-book with tons of Campbell-eligible people and their tales.  I know many of them, and can vouch for their work.  Some of them have even critted my tales.  As such, if you’re looking for a good free trove of stories, head on over now while it’s still available.