Pimping a Good Cause (and Some Great Writing Stuff too!)

At the beginning of May, Nashville, Tennessee got slammed with more than a foot of rain. (I’m in the Northeast, so that much snow is a light dusting to us. But that much rain? Ouch.) Many lives were lost, and the property damage is appalling. So three writers—Victoria Schwab, Amanda Morgan, and Myra McEntire—organized the Do the Write Thing auction. It’s running for ten days total, and as of this post, there are five days to go.

I generally don’t participate in auctions because I’m a cheap broad. Bidding can get very high, very fast. I like to take my time about purchases. But when I saw website design up for bid, I jumped.

My book comes out in February. I need a website. I’ve researched sites whose layout I like, sidebars, tabs, pages, links—it’s a little intimidating.

Okay, it’s a lot intimidating. I know when I need to call in experts: to fix the dishwasher, to get the slugs out of my garden, and to create my website. So since I did the preliminary research, and that includes pricing, I knew I needed to grab this chance with both hands.

Bidding on this particular item closes at midnight. I'm posting this blog before that time--if only the Day Job didn’t require me to set a 6:30 am alarm, I'd stay up till the bitter end! But I have an ace in the hole—my terrific husband, who has the auction knack (and a later wake-up alarm). I’m taking advantage of his eBay bidding-fu in case one or more bidders start a last-minute posting flurry. This website design will be MINE, MINE, I tell you!

And some folks I don’t know and will never meet will get a few hundred bucks toward rebuilding their lives. Win-win.

Go ahead, click the link above. You may find the signed novel you’ve been dying to read, or the perfect set of book-related swag, or even the chance of a phone call with a writer you admire.

This unashamed pimping brought to you by a Northerner who’s happy to deal with blizzards that dump eight feet of snow overnight. You can always dig out of snow, and it melts eventually. Besides, long snowbound winters are perfect for working out that tricky plot situation. (She says, looking out the window at the tulips blooming in the garden. Finally.)

Let the Feds Enrich Your Fiction

by Nina Wright

I’m as big a fan of online auctions as the next compulsive shopper. Way bigger than I should be, given the depressed economy and my modest advances to date. So imagine my delight when I discovered a secondary use for auction sites. One that costs me nothing except my time and offers limitless fictional inspiration. Although you can play this game at virtually any online auction site, it’s especially fun at bid4assets.com.

Here’s why: The U.S. Marshals Service offers an amazing, if not bizarre, array of articles for public auction: residential, commercial and agricultural real estate; timeshares; sport fishing vessels, aircraft, high-end vehicles and collector cars; artwork, antiques and collectibles; fine jewelry and financial instruments. Federal courts ordered these assets to be either forfeited or sold, so let the novelist’s fun begin!

Surfing the categories is diverting enough. Consider these samples from vehicles, antiques, and jewelry:
· A low-mileage black 2001 Chevrolet Corvette two-door convertible (minimum bid $11,000)
· A handmade knotted all-silk Oriental runner rug in excellent condition (minimum bid $800)
· A 7-carat Burmese ruby and diamond tennis bracelet (minimum bid $300)

Fusing these elements into a single story premise, I imagined a young auburn-haired woman receiving the Burmese ruby and diamond tennis bracelet from an older man with a mysterious past and dubious taste in jewelry; he collects Corvettes and inherited his late mother’s Oriental rug. Now what kind of trouble is he in with the Feds? Or, in my tale, did he murder his mother? Does he plan to murder the young woman? What’s his game?

My most efficient use of Bid4Assets is shopping for quirky character details. Let’s say I need a hobby for my antagonist. Or an unusual vehicle. Or, more exciting yet, a “prop” to launch the mystery or provide a valuable clue.

A random surf through Bid4Assets consistently yields intriguing possibilities. Imagine the criminal who would . . .

Drive this “old school” ’63 Chevy truck with camper trailer.

Or collect a “fine antique” Wagner Turbidimeter, manufactured circa 1925, which according to the post writer would be a “welcome addition to any museum, tech school, or industrial office.” (I must confess I had no idea what a turbidimeter was. But it's fun to pronounce.)

Or purchase a Pete Rose Gold Signature Series autographed baseball. Not just a signed souvenir, please note, but a GOLD signature on a dramatic BLACK leather ball. The perfect symbol of the dubious career of a flawed baseball hero. A “must have” for sports fans likewise inclined to bend the law.

But my favorite Bid4Assets story-starter this week is a replica of Jackie Kennedy’s Minaudier purse, gift from French President Charles De Gaulle in June 1961. That’s right, folks! With its dark red velour lining, push-open catch, and detachable 24kt gold-plated shoulder chain, it comes in the original gift box accompanied by a Camrose & Kross certificate of authenticity. Best of all, it’s “approved by the Jacqueline Kennedy Foundation.” I’m having too much fun imagining the person who prizes that item.

Enough surfing amid someone else's mistakes. It’s time to put these details to work in my mysteries. Any plot suggestions? What are your favorite online sources for fiction fodder?