Editor's Note: Please note Mike Florio, a Bridgeport resident who created the Website Profootballtalk and works as an NFL analyst for NBC, wrote this is October. Take a read, and consider helping out an organization that does plenty of good in Harrison County - and get something great to read as well.

 

By MIKE FLORIO

 

As October begins, the launch of the Christmas season looms.

 

It used to start the day after Thanksgiving. It now starts the day after Halloween. (I don’t like it, either. But I’ve accepted it.)

 

This year, the day after Halloween includes the release of the Christmas book that debuted last year at PFT. Posted one chapter per day (or thereabouts) from Thanksgiving through Christmas, many of you read On Our Way Home. Some of you didn’t finish it before it was removed. So we put it back up until after the Super Bowl.

 

This year, here’s what we’re doing, in lieu of posting it here again. The book has been uploaded to Amazon, to be launched on November 1. The ebook is priced at only $3.99. The paperback will be $9.99.

 

Consider that again: $3.99 for the ebook. $9.99 for the paperback.

 

Here’s where the money is going. For the first $10,000 I receive from Amazon for On Our Way Home, every penny will go to the Humane Society of Harrison County, West Virginia, the animal shelter that serves the area where we have lived for nearly 30 years. For everything beyond the first $10,000, I’ll donate the full after-tax net.

 

I picked a no-kill animal shelter in my community because: (1) they need all the financial support they can get; and (2) after 53 years of being largely ambivalent about animals, I love them now. Especially dogs. Any dog I see. Every dog I see. (I still think a cat will kill and eat you if it could, but cats will benefit from these donations, too.)

 

If you buy the book you’ll be costing me money, at least for the first $10,000. I’ll be donating the proceeds and paying taxes on them. After the first $10,000, I’ll be looking to just break even by donating the after-tax profit.

 

Mainly, I’m looking for you to read the book and enjoy it. It’s not about the money. (I know, I know. Whenever someone says “it’s not about the money,” it’s always about the money.) That’s one of the reasons why I’m giving all of the money away, and then some. This is about crafting something people will read, something they’ll enjoy. Something that possibly will become an annual staple in their family holiday tradition. And something that might provide a little boost, during a time of year that can include periodic or persistent feelings of loneliness, loss, and isolation.

 

The feedback I got from On Our Way Home last year was overwhelmingly positive. The most important message came from someone who has suffered from PTSD for years, and who had completely lost the ability to feel emotion. On Our Way Home, in its final chapters, restored that for him.

 

I didn’t write the thing with the idea that it would actually help anyone, in any way. It was an idea that had been rattling around in my brain for years. I wanted to remove it from my head and put it on paper. Once I started writing it, it pretty much wrote itself.

 

But it’s not gonna read itself. You can pre-order the ebook HERE.. Again, it’s only $3.99. The paperback is available on November 1, at only $9.99.

 

So take a little money out of your pocket. Help take a lot of money out of my pocket. Help out some dogs and cats that need care and feeding while they wait to be adopted. And give yourself something to read during the holidays that could inspire you to renew, strengthen, or repair bonds with some of the most important people in your life.