This comes under the “better late (I hope) than never” heading. Tonight—yes, tonight, Saturday Sept. 13—there will be a fund-raising auction for our church, Park Avenue Congregational (UCC) in Arlington, Mass. If you’re in the area, come by and bid on good stuff. One of the good stuff is a chance to be a character in the novel I’m writing right now! That would be The Reefs of Time, which I just spent the week hammering on while on retreat on Cape Cod. I’m back now, and I’ll be there. (All the details are under that link.)
Last time there was such an auction, a few years ago, the bidding for character-rights was energetic. We finally awarded rights to two bidders, and those characters will be appearing at long last in Sunborn.
*Our other church is the Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Cambridge. Yeah, we’re part of two congregations. Weird, huh? But we have great friends and community in both. If any of our Vineyard friends are reading this, I hope you stop by!
Doug P. Baker
Okay, so I’m curious.
First, why did it take so long to award character rights, or whatever? What does that mean?
Second, who won the other day. What is their name and what is their character?
Third, how much did it cost?
Fourth, what will your church spend the money on?
Fifth, what does UCC mean?
Sixth, next time give me more notice because my folks live very near you (New Haven) and it might be interesting to put in a bid.
Seventh, as a SF reader (not writer) do you prefer Heinlein, Rand, Asimov or Lewis?
PS etc, if you don’t answer all of my tedious questions, I won’t bid on your next character. Like you care!
Jeffrey A. Carver
Sorry, I didn't see this comment until now! But here are my answers:
> First, why did it take so long to award character rights, or whatever? What does that mean?
I don't understand the first part of the question, but what I meant was, the high bidder got to have a character named after him or her in the next book. I've had several characters in various novels named after folks who bid in charity auctions. (Besides my church, I've donated to auctions with the Big Sisters organization.)
The winner was the Lombard family, and a couple of grandkids are going to be appearing as alien characters in the new book. I don't know yet what the characters will be–haven't written them yet.
> Third, how much did it cost?
In this case, it went for a couple of hundred dollars. It's different each time.
The church will spend the money in whatever manner seems best–keeping the lights on, running programs, supporting relief efforts, etc. It was a fund-raising auction for general needs. UCC, sorry, is short for United Church of Christ, or Congregationalist.
The short notice was because I forgot. I meant to post it weeks before.
> Seventh, as a SF reader (not writer) do you prefer Heinlein, Rand, Asimov or Lewis?
Tolkien. With Heinlein a distant second.
Is that everything? Yes, I think so.