Shouts From Down Under

If you could buy bags full of fame skill or talent on eBay

There were some eBay item-for-sale ideas in my head.

Don't forget; you need to take into account that I'm a newbie when it comes to knowing about old books, historical authors, or where to buy weird and wonderful items made of unobtainium...

Items everyone should want to buy

Yes, sadly, these things are not for sale and not available. Some you may have heard of, and even desired for yourself. Some apprentice tradesmen (boys) are still searching for them to this day.

Brightness / Braininess
Sanity
Stomach Contents
Tail wag
Left Handed Screw Driver
Striped paint
Wrinkle Stretcher
Gag Reflex
Noise
Snow
dog barks
quietness
quick thinking
bluffs
Long wait



Some other eBay items that are not (yet) available

Disappearing act
Story Plot
Lost sock
Yeah
Scream
Toilet Food (Toilet water isn't available either )
Full size Sydney Harbour Bridge

and you can't yet buy Virgin Galactic space travel tickets.

However, you can get a book- How to build your own space craft - $4.99 USD so that's a consolation. And you can buy short circuits.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Short-Circuit-Short-Circuit-2-Blu-ray-/311350536274?pt=L...

You can buy some chairs for $3 each. I wanted 6 but settled for 5- all they had left. Yes, they sold like hot cakes. Hmmm, can you buy "hot cakes"? or that smell of cooking in Grandma's, or Mum's, kitchen?

Also you can get a "Yeah Sheep" plus a bonus screaming sheep, should you need extra noise for the whole family to enjoy.
I know lots of writers will be picking up the phone right now to buy, buy, buy! Imagine the pleasure for those lonely times when you sit, wringing your hands, tinkering with your computer keyboard, pulling a bit of lint out, checking that the model tag and serial number spec plate / sticker is still underneath and that the battery is fully clicked into place. You should turn up these noises even more just when a good idea hits, so that you feel right at home. Novelists love family time, interruptions, snide remarks about lack of publishers, exasperated partners who cook special dinners, or ordinary ones, just for our nutritious sustenance.

YEAH.



Save the screaming one for those times of reject slips, bored expressions as you explain "what's your book about", and of course, the tired old WRITER'S BLOCK.

No longer will you have to do this tiring task yourself. Just click on the screaming whatsy, and there you have it. Re use it time and time again for that perfect writer's tantrum. People will understand. It's ok to do it many times. Get that scream perfected so that you can take it with you for the elevator crowds. They'll luv it too. Trust me. What a bargain!



You can buy "thinking putty"
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-Magnetic-Crazy-Thinking-Putty-Silly-Strong-Magnet-...

For a change you could buy creepy things, for no reason. Nobody would read a series of a serial killer murdering serial killers anyway. Yes, there's a limit on things that are available for sale. No need to get carried away, OK?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Authentic-Antique-Genuine-Surgical-Hardware-Demonstratio...

To move on from silliness, there is a place you can sometimes score bargain books, and other items not normally available for $3 each chair.

Library Stacks - withdrawn book sales

These can be a treasure trove, depending on the attitude you use to buy them.

50c each for fiction. $3 each for the chairs.



An 1896 historical novel by a fascinating author: Charlotte M Yonge.
Her life is fascinating, let alone the many novels she wrote.
As it says blandly on the wiki site "Yonge's work has been little studied, with the possible exception of The Heir of Redclyffe."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Mary_Yonge



It doesn't cost much to engage with writers and novelists who wrote long before our time. We can learn about them, and about the history of novel writing in a more fun way, especially when we can hold their book in our hands.

http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/gutbook/lookup?num=4271

There is a copy on eBay for $18.00 USD @$23 Australian dollars

What about some of the other books I bought today?

A Strange Vanguard, by Arnold Bennett. First Published 1928- Pocket Edition 1947

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000S35PU4/ref=tmm_hrd_collectible_olp_0?...

Or this one? Chantemerle, a Romance of the Vendean War Hardcover – 1911
by D. K. Broster (Author), G. W. Taylor (Author)

D stands for Dorothy, and her co author was G for Gertrude.
http://www.collectingbooksandmagazines.com/broster.html

Agents & Witnesses, by PH Newby
One copy for sale for 96 Euros
http://antiques.gift/agents-and-witnesses_3838773.html

Black Roses, by Francis Brett Young $35 for a signed copy. I guess my old tatty one aint worth much then. But, it did lead me to some gems of information about the author.

"This writer of 30 novels and several other books was once highly regarded by such writers as John Masefield and Compton MacKenzie, but has been since somewhat overlooked. He is still remembered for his 1924 ghost story COLD HARBOUR."
http://www.babcockbooks.com/pages/books/27026/francis-brett-young/black-roses

There are a lot more I'm going to crunch through Google and see if they are worth anything. $$ Cha ching! Seriously I'm not expecting dollars but you never know. I think learning the historical facts about the author and what their lives were like, this anchoring of our heart, as a fellow writer, is worth a lot.

OK, here's another one I bought for 50c today.

Crescendo, by Phyllis Bentley. Hard Cover edition 1958
http://www.amazon.de/Crescendo-1ST-Edition-Phyllis-Bentley/dp/B000PZXB56
73.06 Australian Dollar equals
51.81 Euro

Who is Phyllis Bentley? Who is this Author.
This tells me a lot about her. Now I have respect!

http://www.calderdale.gov.uk/leisure/localhistory/glimpse-past/people/phyllis-be...


Hmm, not sure about the sneaky middle finger salute she's giving there in the photo...maybe she's looking into the future, to this day when I cheekily tried to write a blog that was somewhat helpful and serious, for a change.

How to value the book you bought at a garage / library / deceased estate sale.

http://www.biblio.com/book-value

Back to eBay. Can you buy Charisma on eBay? Elvis and Johnny Cash and many others must have found a supply. Maybe theirs was shaped and moulded the old fashioned way.

Comment on a Johnny Cash song on YouTube

"I seriously doubt this man has accidentally killed a person and then been hanged for it.
Then I heard this song, and now I'm sure of it. Nobody can be this convincing!"



"Johnny Cash has the ability to portray some really raw emotions, even if he's not lived them - he still sounds like he has. I love this guy. Not seeing him live when I could have is one of the biggest regrets I have :("

And of course Elvis, when he sang:



or any song Elvis sang.

CCR



And The Eagles

Charisma by the Front End Loader Bucketful.

Sparky