Brazilian author Alfredo Karras is paralysed after being shot in the neck by a thief just prior to Christmas. His Melbourne-based publisher Smink Works Books launches an appeal to help him.

Brazilian author Alfredo Karras had emailed me with happy news on December 20. He was getting engaged to be married. The next day he was shot in the neck by a thief close to his home in Cubatão, São Paulo.

Alfredo was in a coma for more than a month and when he gained consciousness found he could not move his legs. The injury has also made it very difficult for Alfredo to write and draw. This is an issue because he earns a living as a newspaper cartoonist and illustrator. The doctors at the hospital where he is still convalescing do not think he’ll regain use of his legs, but he is hopeful his hands will regain their skill over time.

Alfredo was Smink Works Books’ first author. He wrote the book BE in his native language Portuguese, and we published it in both Portuguese and English in 2004.

BE is an allegory with positive life philosophy at its heart. The book tells the story of Knight Henrique, who following the orders of his King, sets out to ruin many lives and conquer riches, wielding lies and violence to achieve his aims. But these plans eventually fall apart and this cruel knight is forced to face the truths of life.  Important revelations about human existence see Henrique embark on a path where he shares his knowledge about how to ‘be’ in this world.

Written in the tradition of books like Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull, and designed to help people with their lives, it was exactly what we were looking for.

Over time Alfredo has shown he lives his own life like he recommends in his books. Even now, after his life has been maimed by someone only seeking money, he is concentrating firmly on the positive. In a shaky hand-written letter he posted to me a few days ago, he says, “Don’t worry very much about me. I will be fine. I have my family and the love of Li [his girlfriend]. She’s an angel.” And he is certain that good will come out of it. “Remember,” he says. “All has some reason.” This is the message of his book: Everything has a reason.

Before the events of December 21 Alfredo had been working hard on his next book The Revolutionary’s Manual. The main premise of the book is that if you can change yourself you can change the world.

"Writing allows you to enter people's lives and say ‘Be calm; it will pass’ or ‘Don't give up, believe in yourself. Now stand up and go on’ or ‘You are not alone. There are others like you’,” Alfredo says in his biography. “I hope BE, like my other books in the future, will bring power and hope to my readers. I hope the books will fall in their hands in the moment when they need the words within. I want to be useful to God, the world and myself."

BE also includes beautiful illustrations created by the author. With limited access to water colors, Karras used a mixture of color pens and water to fashion them. "When you are poor, you must to be creative," he says.

He has already helped people. For me, this is an opportunity to help him. We are launching an appeal for Alfredo. He does not know about this appeal, but he needs the money. Every penny, every cent will go directly to the author. (We are not currently selling Alfredo’s book BE, but some excerpts can be downloaded by Writers’ Resource Centre members from the Member Downloads section of this site.)

Click on this link to donate via Paypal

Read more about Alfredo Karras here:
http://www.sminkworks.com/authors/alfredo_karras.htm

Suzanne Male is the publisher at Smink Works Books.