I can't think of anything crueler than giving false hope to a terminally ill person, just to make a profit. When researching for my new novel, ExtraLife, Inc., I came across appalling examples of schemes designed to take money from patients and their family and realized that cancer scams are widespread.

Why am I writing about cancer scams?

The idea for ExtraLife, Inc. didn't come from nowhere: In my professional life I witnessed projects which, in retrospective, may have been cancer scams, and one in particular, which is the basis for the book's plot. More recently, I investigated many "alternative" options for a family member, who eventually didn’t make it. That was when I decided to devote a section of my blog to discussing cancer scams, in the hope of making a small contribution to their prevention.

Cancer and High-Tech Scams

Cancer scams come in different types and sizes and include those directed to the patient and his or her family, targeting one individual at a time, but also others that are planned on a much more grandiose scale, the "High-Tech scams", which I will discuss today.

Like many others, I like to discover new blogs and book people. To that end, when I can make the time for it I follow threads and links in what is essentially a random walk through the blogosphere. Sometimes I find a blog that looks really nice and interesting, but then I realize that it has no vital juice left in it because its latest post is dated some time back in 2011. That always evokes the picture of a dog abandoned by its owners, who have gone on vacation and left their pet behind; taking in a dog (read: "blog") seemed like a good idea at the time, but then came the work and commitment...

If a derelict blog looks like somebody's work of love I often try to find the reason why it was abandoned. Some bloggers wind the blog up with a statement that explains the reasons for their decision to stop blogging, and I respect that; but others leave the surfers hanging, with no apparent reasons for the blog owner's defection. Sometimes it has an eerie feel, as if (like in a SF movie) the inhabitants of the blog had been spirited away by some extraterrestrial or diabolic entity.

But this week I came across a heart-wrenching one. The blog's appearance was beautiful and the contents were intelligent and well-written. The face of a pretty young woman, in her early thirties, smiled at me from the "about" sidebar. And then the last post, dated December 2010, said as follows (I am paraphrasing on purpose – see why below):

"I have been told that I have to go back to the hospital for some more tests, so it may be a few weeks before I post again. Please be patient; I will return to my regular posting schedule soon."

It was clear to me, given the time that had passed since that post, that this young woman was not coming back. The sadness that came from reading those lines is only comparable to the feeling that you have inside when reading the inscription on a young person's tombstone: one of tragic waste.

Carole Lanham has given me the honor of revealing the beautiful cover of her new novel, The Reading Lessons, coming Summer 2013.

Blurb:

Mississippi 1920: Nine year old servant, Hadley Crump, finds himself drawn into a secret world when he is invited to join wealthy Lucinda Browning’s dirty book club. No one suspects that the bi-racial son of the cook is anything more to Lucinda than a charitable obligation, but behind closed doors, O! she doth teach the torches to burn bright. What begins as a breathless investigation into the more juicy parts of literature quickly becomes a consuming and life-long habit for two people who would not otherwise be left alone together. As lynchings erupt across the South and the serving staff is slowly cut to make way for new mechanical household conveniences, Hadley begins to understand how dangerous and precarious his situation is.

The Reading Lessons follows the lives of two people born into a world that is unforgiving as a Hangman’s knot. Divided by skin color and joined by books, Hadley and Lucinda are forced to come together in the only place that will allow it, a land of printed words and dark secrets.

Watch the trailer: