Want to help someone in Japan?

I heard from a writer living in Japan, whose livelihood has been cut off due to the earthquake and tsunami. Charles Whipple needs to feed his family, if he can get food. He says:

People are queueing up at stores to buy supplies. Resupply is a problem. Fuel is a problem. Normal work is a problem, which in my case means a sudden drop in income. Belt-tightening in progress . . . At least my family and I are safe. Still, dark days ahead.

Charlie writes fiction as Chuck Tyrell, and the best way to get him out of a tight spot is to buy his books to bolster his income stream.

Here's a little info about Charlie:

Chuck Tyrell is the pen name for Charles T. Whipple, an international prize-winning author. Whipple was born and reared in Arizona’s White Mountain country only 19 miles from Fort Apache. He won his first writing award while in high school, and has won several since.

Raised on a ranch, Chuck brings his own experience into play when writing about the hardy people of 19th Century Arizona. Although he currently lives in Japan, he maintains close ties with the West through family, relatives, former schoolmates, and readers of his western fiction.

Whipple belongs to Western Fictioneers, Western Writers of America, Arizona Authors Association, American Society of Journalists and Authors, and Tauranga Writers Inc.

How about we do a good deed on a personal level and buy Charlie's books that are available online? The Snake Den is available for Kindle at Amazon.com. You know you can download the free Kindle software to your computer, right? Also to a variety of other places. I have no Kindle, but I can read Kindle e-books on my computer or on my iPod touch.

Vulture Gold is available both at Amazon, and for other formats at Smashwords.com. You can thus read it on your nook, Kobo reader, Sony Reader, iPad or iPhone, or your computer, as well as on the Kindle.

Folks, let's help out a human being in need. Please pass the word. Rescue a writer and his family. You'll get a couple of good-reading books in the bargain.