Portland Romance Author Event Selects Charity to Support

(Newswire.net — June 5, 2015) Portland, OR — The Passion in Portland Author Signing Event has chosen Bradley Angle, the west coast’s first domestic violence shelter, as its charity to support. On Sept. 12, 2015, 70 romance authors will donate time and books to raise awareness on intimate partner violence.

It all started when contemporary romance author AJ Harmon wanted to attend a romance author signing event in her home state of Oregon. Unable to find any large, well promoted events, she decided to host one of her own. She began by inviting Northwest authors, but word quickly spread about a romance author event in Portland, Oregon and writers from across the country quickly volunteered to attend.   

“What charity will we be supporting?” was one of the first questions asked by authors interested in attending the event.

“I’m pleased to announce that Passion in Portland Author Signing Event 2015 will be raising money for Bradley Angle, an emergency shelter for survivors of domestic violence,” declared AJ Harmon event organizer. “It’s only fitting that the first domestic violence shelter on the west coast should be the first charity of what we hope will become a long standing annual event for readers and writers passionate about love, romance and happily-ever-afters.”

Bradley Angle’s mission is to serve all people affected by domestic violence. They place any person experiencing or at risk for domestic violence at the center of their services and provide support for safety, education, empowerment, healing, and hope.

“It has almost become a tradition in the romance author community that when we gather for an event we raffle off books, eReaders, quilts and other prizes to raise money to support a local charity,” stated Harmon, event host. “When authors attend signing events it’s at our own expense and we don’t expect to sell enough books that day to cover the costs. We come for our readers and when events support a charity it gives us a chance to have a positive influence in the communities we visit. Signing events give us a lot to feel good about; the charities we support and the people we get to meet.”

Passion in Portland’s grand prize for the raffle will be an autographed copy of a book from each author attending the event – 70 romance novels signed by the writers. Other prizes include a kindle eReader and cover signed by the authors attending, gift cards, bath soaps and other prizes donated by local retailers.

“We’ve come full circle,” AJ Harmon explained. “After watching several commercials from NoMore.org’s PSA campaign titled Speechless, I was frustrated. Not talking about domestic abuse wasn’t going to help anyone, so maybe I should write a book about it. Within a few days the storyline behind ‘A Choice for Claire’ was born. After months of research and writing I published it in February of this year and it played a huge role in the selection of the charity for the Passion in Portland Author Signing Event. Now the event is listed on the NoMore.org website and 70 of my favorite romance author friends will be helping to make a difference for women and children, who like Claire, want to survive domestic violence. Join us at Passion in Portland and say No More Domestic Violence.”

Northwest author, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestseller Rachel Van Dyken was one of the first to commit to attending the event. “I’m really excited for it and I love it whenever we have signings that are really close to us,” exclaimed Rachel. “I just love going to Portland.”

Oregon’s own New York Times Bestselling authors Melody Anne and Cassia Leo will attending the event along with dozens of other notable bestselling Northwest authors, including Hadley Quinn, Anie Michaels, HJ Bellus and Heidi Joy Tretheway.

To learn more about Bradley Angle or to make a donation visit:  http://BradleyAngle.org
For more information or tickets to Passion in Portland Author Signing Event visit: http://PassionInPortland.com