Members of Romancelandia are uniting once more (kind of, I mean, they’re always at it) to raise money for a good cause. This time, it’s to help relief and humanitarian efforts in Ukraine. Fifty best-selling romance authors came together and wrote brand new stories for the Nightingale anthology, with 100% of the proceeds going to charities helping Ukraine.
The authors involved include:
Katee Robert, Siobhan Davis, Robin Covington, Xio Axelrod, Vanessa Vale & Renee Rose, Terri E. Laine, Lucy Lennox, C. Hallman & J.L. Beck, Sara Ney, Willow Winters, Rebecca Yarros, Sienna Snow, Ana Huang, Willow Aster, Pepper Winters, Piper Rayne, Rebecca Zanetti, Honey Meyer, Alta Hensley & Livia Grant, Samantha Chase, Parker S. Huntington, T.K. Leigh, Kate Canterbary, Laura Thalassa, Carian Cole, Natasha Knight & Ashleigh Zavarelli, Rina Kent, Lauren Rowe, Rachel Van Dyken, Karla Sorenson, Claudia Burgoa, Kelsey Clayton, Helena Hunting, Aleatha Romig, K.A. Linde, Carly Phillips, Meredith Wild & Chelle Bliss, Kelly Elliott, Brenda Rothert, A.L. Jackson, Jenika Snow, Katie Ashley, Amo Jones, Susan Stoker, Harloe Rae, L.B. Dunbar, Gina L. Maxwell, Tijan, Amelia Wilde, Skye Warren, Penny Reid, Susannah Nix, Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti, Ilsa Madden-Mills, Dylan Allen, Kandi Steiner, Raine Miller, Toni Aleo, Natalie Wrye, Debra Anastasia, Brittney Sahin, Heidi McLaughlin, Melanie Moreland, Jay Crownover, Catherine Cowles, Roni Loren, Shantel Tessier, Aly Martinez, and Julia Kent.
Flower power and the meaning behind the cover
Most people know by now that the Ukrainian flag is blue and yellow. Still, there are other interesting elements to the anthology’s cover—and, probably, the inside illustrations—that we can’t see yet. First, sunflowers are very important to Ukraine’s culture and economy. Unfortunately, the Russian border with Ukraine, now overrun by Russian soldiers, yields the highest sunflower oil production for the country. Ukraine produces almost half of the world’s sunflower oil and saffron oil. Recently people came to know the sunflower’s importance to Ukrainians when this interaction went viral:
Because of the flower’s history and that brave elder, the sunflower reaffirmed itself globally as an image of Ukraine’s resistance to Russian imperialism. First Lady Dr. Jill Biden sported a mask with an embroidered sunflower the day before President Biden’s first State of the Union address. I’m a big fan of resistance plant imagery, from watermelons for Palestine to the daisies of the U.S. anti-War movement.
I’m not as familiar with the other flora and fauna. Still, the novel’s namesake (the nightingale) and bird in the center is an important symbol (and storytelling device) in various Slavic cultures. This includes many countries more directly involved, like Ukraine, Russia, Poland and Belarus.
Where can I get Nightingale?
Today’s book cover reveal comes at a critical time, since we learned that three million refugees had fled Ukraine as of late last week. The sooner the aid comes, the better, and in the case of this novel, the organizers are donating all proceeds raised. There’s been no formal announcement about which charities they will contribute towards. However, the authors made a point to say across the different purchase sites, “We aren’t affiliated or endorsed by these charities. We are simply authors who want to help.”
Set to release April 5 as an eBook, this is probably to get these much-needed funds for humanitarian efforts out as soon as possible. With a whopping 50 authors total, this book sits at about 750 pages, and the price across sites is $7.99 USD. There is no news of a physical copy, but authors note that this is a limited-time book.
You can pre-order and purchase the book via Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Google, !ndigo, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and (if you must because this is a crisis) Amazon.
(via Twitter, featured image: Book Beautiful and Alyssa Shotwell)
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