Hello! My name’s Molly (pen name Marie Bellamont) and I created Jester’s Athenaeum. It’s an ongoing collection of short stories that can be read either individually or as a series. Some are black comedy, some are just silly parody-like humor, all are surreal fantasy. I post them online so that they can be accessed for free, but accept donations from those who are willing and able to pay what they think the stories are worth.
Jester’s Athenaeum has only been up since late April so it isn’t very well-known yet, but so far the vast majority of readers have had really good things to say about it! My hope is to get the word out so that more people will discover and hopefully enjoy the content, but that usually takes a while when one just sort of lets it happen on its own and it’s REALLY urgent that this process speeds up at the moment.
The situation is this: I’m currently eight months pregnant (my baby, Finn, is due August 18.)
(This little guy!)
Because of the physical effects that come with late pregnancy, I’ve been unable to work a regular amount of hours. It’s actually pretty bad: I’ve been cut from 24-40 hours a week to <10 and so not only am I unable to save up for maternity leave (unpaid cause I live in America), but I’m needing to cut into what little savings I WAS able to scrape together because I’m just not making a living income at work anymore. Finn’s biological dad walked off the face of the earth back in March so he is absolutely no help, financially or otherwise. (His loss in general, but it doesn’t help the current situation.)
All that means that the donations I mentioned earlier, which are usually just a non-essential supplement to my income, are now a VERY NECESSARY supplement that will soon become MY ENTIRE INCOME up until probably the beginning of October. (Medically, since my job is physically demanding, I’m obligated to stay on leave for six weeks unless I’m given a written release from my doctor.)
Now, I know that very few people are able to donate. To be honest I actually feel really guilty accepting donations from people who don’t read my stories (even though they’re super appreciated, it feels like charging for a service and not delivering.) Therefore if you’d like to donate and have the means to do so, that’s really great and would definitely help us out quite a bit! Mainly what I’m asking, though, is for you to check out the website, read some stories, and help spread the word if you like them! It would also help to like the Facebook page or follow the official JA tumblr. Really anything involving talking about or bringing any more attention to the website would make a whole world of difference for my and my son’s current situation, so I’d really, really appreciate it!
Additional info about the stories: New stories are (to the extent that I’m able to deliver) posted every Sunday. The general rule is that if a title is some kind of carnival terminology, it means it’s black comedy. Please feel free to shoot me a message about anything, whether it be related to JA, baby Finn, or whatever else.
Thanks so much for your time!
Please help Molly and baby Finn! She’s a rockstar of a single momma and my hero. There’s also the Target gift registry for baby items for Finn, so if you want to give in a way that’s a little more tangible, here’s the link for that too!
