Peter David, writer of stuff and host of this site, suffered a stroke on December 29. Here’s how you can help.
To recap: Peter had a stroke while vacationing with his family in Florida. He’s currently recuperating in a facility in Jacksonville until he’s well enough to travel home. Even though Peter has health insurance, there are co-pays and the like, and since this stroke fell at the end of the year, there are all new co-pays to deal with, and there are things that the insurance company just won’t cover. So we are at the beginning of what is going to be a very expensive year.
Many people have asked how you can help. First: THANK YOU. Here’s how.
The most direct way is to buy his e-books from Crazy 8 Press (via ComicMix) or from Amazon or Barnes and Noble websites. These are books that he gets the money from directly and the most per book. The quickest and most money is buying the EPub versions from ComicMix, by the way. The more we sell of these books, the easier it will be for us to pay the bills as they start to pour in. All the books are in the sidebar.
Buying his other books does help– especially the Marvel graphic novels he has written. The Crazy 8 books are the most immediate help but all his writings do help the family and the family’s ability to pay bills. If you buy via Amazon, please use this link
Buy X-Factor. Put it on your pull list at your local comic book store. Encourage others to do the same. Peter is still writing it and will continue to write it. Issue 250 ships on Jan 15th, 2012 (today) and is a great jumping on point for both X-factor and something Peter has been working on in the Marvel Universe since his Hulk days.
If you’d like to donate directly, we’re working with the Hero Initiative to collecting donations on behalf of Peter for medical/recovery expenses. Any money above and beyond these expenses will be donated to Hero Initiative in Peter’s name. All your donations made through this button will be earmarked to help Peter out, and are tax-deductible.
And of course, you can still help us a lot by getting word out all over the Internet about how they can help Peter. We are asking every blogger and people who have access to an audience to spread the word. Feel free to use the sharing buttons at the bottom of this post.
We’ll continue to post on Peter’s progress on the weblog, so come back often or subscribe. We’re also working with Crazy 8 Press on speeding up the process of making Peter’s backlist available for sale, check back as we add more items that have been long out of print.
There will also be some auction announcements which will be added to this post closer to the time that they are ready to go.
Peter and I really appreciate the support and help that you all have been. We have talked a number of times about how this outpouring of admiration and appreciation has given us solace in some pretty dark times.
I am asking again to help us get the word out so I can help Peter get home and back to his new normal life whatever that might be.
Thank you all,
Kath
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Does purchasing X-Factor through comiXology help too?
Yes, it will
The Reddit community of r/comicbooks is now informed!
For what it’s worth, I’ve started a blog taking a retrospective look at X-Factor. One of its goals is to help orient new readers to the book. I’ve also added links to this post and the Crazy 8 books to try to spread the word. Hope it brings you some more readers!
Keeping your whole family in my prayers.
Two questions, Glenn: Does the Crazy 8 site have any of Peter’s books that aren’t electronic? I can’t afford an iPad at present. Also, would you happen to know what percentage he might get from sales of his Sir Apropos hardcover? I know Robin doesn’t receive anything, but Peter owns the character.
Many of the Crazy 8 Press books are also available in paperback (links on the sidebar). The actual amount Peter will get from those is about the same, although it’s a much smaller percentage of the total purchase price. So, bang for your buck, e-book.
I’m not privy to what Peter would get from Apropos royalties, either in prose or for the series done with Robin for IDW.
Done – I’ve bought the epub versions from ComicMix. This addresses all the technical problems that I’ve had in the past, i.e. they work fine with my Sony Reader and I can buy them from the UK. I’ll put up reviews when I’ve read them, which will hopefully spread the word to a few other people.
You may have thought about it, but did you contact ign.com, which is popular among comic-book readers ? To help you make publicity about Peter’s problem ? Maybe you can organize something like the “HUmble ebook Bundle” (http://blog.humblebundle.com/post/33237485887/introducing-the-humble-ebook-bundle) to help raise funds ? I don’t know if it’s a good idea or how Crazy 8 can organize something like this, but it may help you raise funds… (Sorry for my bad english, I’m a french fan…)
Peter has been one of my favorite writers for many years. It would be my pleasure to help. Please get well soon.
To whatever degree it helps, I posted a blog entry about PAD’s stroke last week and included a link to the “How you can help Peter” thread. I also bought both parts of “Pulling Up Stakes” which I finished reading the other day.
Glad to hear he seems to be making progress in his recovery.
Rick
Just checked in here for the first time since the holidays, and learned about everything that has happened in the past 3 weeks. Please send my best to Peter for a quick and easy recovery as possible.
I’ve happily ordered 3 Dark Tower hardcovers from the amazon link above I’d been meaning to catch up on forever!
Mr David, I’ve been reading your comics for a long, long time. I wish you the very best and hope your recovery will be speedy. 🙂
Just bought the first part of “Pulling Up Stakes” for Kindle. It costs $0.99 for the copy. Everyone should go and buy it NOW! Part 2 costs $2.99. I will buy it as soon as I get some cash. I know this is not a lot, but I will keep trying.
Dear Peter and Kath,
George Takei on his Facebook page just wrote about what happened. Very shocked! David, you have my prayers for a full recovery! And Kath, you hang in there! In the mean time, I’m heading to Amazon.com. My favorite book by David is IMZADI. I already own a hardcover (from first printing way back when), but I’m going to buy the e-book, as well as the audio book. Best I can do right now, but I sincerely hope it helps.
Bless you both!
R JAY PEARSON
Are all of Mr. David’s latest books, such as the Pulling Up Stakes series, only in digital form? Sorry, I still like the feel of paper in my hand. If not, I will purchase the e-books.
My thoughts and prayers are with you, Mr. David.
Please, please, PLEASE get well, and soon.
Pulling Up Stakes will be available in paper shortly. Camelot Papers, Darkness Of The Light, and Height Of The Depths are already available in paper. Links are on the sidebar.
Will the print version of Pulling Up Stakes be in one volume or two?
Mr. David has given me so much joy over his long career. So very sorry to learn about this. I wish him all the best and am confident that he will prevail. I made a donation as I already own a great deal of his work and do not have an e-device. Get well, sir!
Phew! Finally had a few bucks to spare to donate, no sense in purchasing ebooks, since I have no reader for them, but I’ll definitely put X-Factor on my pull list again.
The book is still the best X-book left, I only dropped it to save money.
I hope Peter continues to recover quickly and totally.
All my best wishes for you and your family.
Today was the second time I came to the site, and Firefox had it listed as a dangerous attack site. Weird
I hope he makes a full recovery. I remember talking to him at comic con briefly one year, he kept the conversation short, probably sensing I was a fanboy and not wanting to engage in niceties with a regular Joe. I asked him how we went about crafting his writing, and he said something like “I used wordperfect.” His advise on the last column on Comics Buyer’s Guide was a bit more fleshed out.
Don’t know if anyone else is having this problem, but occasionally Chrome isn’t letting me come to the site, saying there’s a security risk. Just thought you should know.
Hope Mr. David is getting better. His Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man series is what helped me get into Marvel comics.
We know. We’ve been dealing with malware for a few days now, we think we’ve gotten it all.
The security filters at my office are still blocking Crazy 8 for whatever malware-related reason. Just thought you’d like the heads up. You must still be on a blacklist somewhere.
Hello, I am not certain as to how appropriate this question is or if Peter’s health would even allow it, but I’ll ask anyway. I am a reporter in Peter’s hometown up in New Jersey. We’ve been doing a series on residents and natives who have gone on to do incredible things with their lives and I believe Peter most certainly fits that mold.
When I heard of his condition, I wanted to wait a few weeks before asking, but is it in anyway possible to interview Peter over the phone? I, from reading these posts, realize that bills are piling up. I figured that, maybe, the story could both highlight Peter’s career as well as rally a few of us in New Jersey to help.
I am writing about Peter in my latest blog on the website, Kath. I will link to this.
Rx
I had the honour of meeting you in person when you were a guest at Toronto Fan Expo in 2008. I’ve been a long-time reader of your blog, your Star Trek novels, and X-Factor. I don’t post much but have been following your ordeal and my thoughts have been with you throughout, hoping for a swift recovery.
It was my pleasure to purchase Camelot Papers E-Pub through Comicmix (advantage; I learned how to get E-Pub files on my Canadian Kobo E-Reader so I am no longer bound through the Kobo website!) and to make a donation to the Hero Initiative on your behalf.
Please know that we are all thinking of you during this time and look forward to the days when you will be travelling again to meet with your fans.
Jocelyn
Donation made! I only wish it could be more. I wish Peter the very best and know at least a little about what he’s going through, as my mother-in-law is also recovering from a stroke. Hang in there, man!
how can I get the ebook copies in paperback? i would like to purchase Pulling up Stakes 1 & 2. unless it does not contribute to the benefit…thanks
An old fan here… my best wishes for a speedy recovery to Peter. So glad he’s doing okay. Tell him to rest, not write! 🙂
Will go buy some more books/ebooks.
Wrote about you today:
Peter David, writer of stuff, had a stroke recently. He is the author of myriad titles produced by Marvel, DC, Dark Horse Comics and others, as well as a number of Star Trek novels, as well as his own books, Howling Mad and Knight Life.
I met with Peter at a convention during his storied stint on writing The Incredible Hulk. I had him sign a number of books as well as getting an autograph on Howling Mad. That is a fun book – give it a try! We talked for a bit, then he asked that I do something for him. He asked that I find James Fry, an artist he worked with – the comic was Blasters, a one-shot produced by DC from their Alien Allience series – and that when I found him, to rub his head.
Hmm…sounds harmless, I guess.
So, I finished my conversation with Peter, and went on my way to find more books and to get more signatures and autographs. While I did so, I kept thinking to myself…will I rub James Fry’s head if I see him? What if he has some issue with his head that I don’t know about? What if he goes off and has me tackled at this comic book convention? That would be a hëll of a way to spend a weekend.
Well…I found James. I had the Blasters book that Peter had signed not too long ago, along with some other books. We talked a bit.
As he was signing…I rubbed his head. A head full of dreads.
James looked up at me. He gave me quite a look.
I then told him that Peter asked that I do so.
That was the end of that. At least, I never heard anything else about that.
I saw James again at another convention. James – I don’t think I ever properly thanked you for that portrait of the Hulk that you drew for me – if you don’t remember, it said, “Hulk strike pose!”
I heard today that Peter is recovering; he is able to utilize text-to-speech software to turn in scripts. I’m gladdened to hear that. My best to you, Peter.
I’m thinking of you Mr. David. As a fellow writer I wish you well, a speedy recovery so you can get back to writing one of Marvel’s kick-ášš comics.
Just paid a visit to the site to catch up on Peter’s progress. As a Brit I am thankful every day for the free healthcare provided by NHS. The USA’s backwards attitude to healthcare continues to astonish me: How it can be right that you get slapped with a massive medical bill, just when you need help, when you’re dealing with a catastrophic and life changing event that is likely to affect your earning potential, is beyond me. It’s just a bit crazy.
So I have subscribed to X-Factor. I’ll download the ebooks when I get home to my iPad and I’ll encourage my mates and twitter followers to do the same. PAD rocks, as does his amazing family.
Hi, Peter and family, I’m a reader from Argentina. Perhaps this info can help you: in Argentina, Cuba and (maybe) Spain we had a free medical system of an excelent quality. In Argentina it’s completely free even for foreigners, althought Cuba is nearer (and even better than ours), but I don’t know if you are allowed to go there being from the USA.
Again, I expect it helps you. Bye.
Good luck! I work with folk that have had strokes as,what in the UK, is called a speech and language therapist. You guys are still near the start of a long road, and yes, you will need to find a new normal. But different can be good. Improvement can go on for years, and love endures.
Our thoughts are with Peter and family in hoping for a successful recovery. To help Peter’s morale, we would like to bring your attention to the following: You may know that researchers discovered 2 new satellites to Pluto. You can vote at http://www.plutorocks.com/home/ for the names you would like the satellites to have as the researchers have decided to ask the public before they make their recommendations. As Peter already named in one of his books (Before Dishonor) the 4th satellite of Pluto “Elysium”, I ( and likely many others) suggested Elysium be added to the ballot list. Mission accomplished! So now fans of Peter can vote for this idea. Be aware that William Shatner also suggested Vulcan as a name, which has already reached #1 on the votes. But there’s room for 2 names, so please vote and repost the idea everywhere you see fit!
Get well soon! X-factor is a standout book and without a doubt something that showcases your talent for creating human, three dimensional characters in a Marvel universe often full of just big bangs and spectacle. Get well soon! As long as you keep writing I’ll keep reading. Oh and agree with UK comments above. You guys seriously need free healthcare. Hope you pull through financially too.