The Internet not only makes researching a book easier, but it brings the real world to me as I sit in a corner of my house creating a fake one. Because of a friend’s Facebook like, I learned about Easton Friedel. He was my introduction to the rare disease of epidermolysis bullosa (EB) and Butterfly Children. I knew I needed a medical disaster in my story that my hero couldn’t fix, and after a few months of crying over the trials of these children’s families while I was hugely pregnant (therefore I was plenty emotional already!), I realized they were my answer. Writing the nameless baby Hampden would be my small way of increasing awareness of “the worst disease you’ve never heard of.”
Imagine yourself in their bandages; imagine having a newborn afflicted with EB you couldn’t cuddle in your arms. Would you take a few minutes to learn about EB from http://irefuseeb.org/ or http://www.debra.org/; pray God gives these families grace, endurance, and a cure; and donate your time or money to help these families?