Susan Buffum's Blog: Welcome to My World, page 22
May 30, 2016
I Need An Evil Object (I Need Your Help!)
I am putting this post in several places- my other author blog, on facebook on my regular profile page and on my author profile page and here on goodreads where all the avid readers gather-
I am writing a new novel and have reached the point where I need an evil object, something quite ordinary looking however it holds or is imbued with enough evil energy/power that if it falls into the wrong hands it has the potential to destroy the world.
Here're a few sketchy details about the book- there is a feud between a 25-year old black wizard and his 23-year old black witch sister that erupts when she sends a demon to murder their father (who has been the guardian of this vast magical treasure trove and this object since his father passed on) and her brother (to whom the guardianship is passed upon the death of the father since it passes to the next male heir in line) so that she, as the last living person in the line assumes guardianship of these items and that particular object. Being a female she has had no access to this hoard, but is aware of it through her family history. She is corrupted, demented and has become a megalomaniac. She wants her brother dead. His options are limited. So, he has hooked up with a young, white witch-druidess who is not quite 21-years old, and gathered a motley crew of similar white magic practitioners from among her family and friends, plus two iffy dark arts practitioners as allies.
He's a potter by trade, working at the family business that has been in existence since the late 1600's, and lives in the ancestral homestead, also of that era. He's already bonded himself to the young white witch to save her from a demon sent to kill him that attacks her-so technically, by his dark arts laws and covenants, he's married to her, which doesn't make her grandfather, mother or anyone else she knows in the white arts any too happy. And he's also created his heir with her which doesn't make anyone happy, and makes it imperative that she survives what lies ahead so the bloodline continues.
To help her understand why it is so important that he defeats his sister when she initiates an all out war against him, he takes the white witch down beneath the earth under the house and shows her what it is he is charged with guarding with his life...
At the very deepest level of this subterranean storehouse of magical items, etc., is a vault that contains this one object- an ordinary looking thing...but it contains concentrated evil energy...and it has the power to destroy the world.
What is the object?
I need some ideas. Four people have offered suggestions so far on facebook. In addition to the object you can also give the object a little back story as to how it came to be. You have until noon next Saturday, June 4th to respond here on my blog, or by sending me an email at sebuffum415@gmail.com, or by posting on either of my facebook pages.
Your reward for helping? Acknowledgement of your contribution on the dedication page of this novel, and one signed copy. In the case of my choosing an object suggested by one person and the back story contributed by another person then both contributors will be acknowledged and given one signed copy apiece when the book is published later this year.
Meanwhile, I'm going to finish the novel this week. I'll plug in a stand-in object and a sketchy back story for now.
Thanks in advance for your invaluable assistance! I enjoy getting readers involved with my books and look forward to seeing the suggestions you come up with.
I am writing a new novel and have reached the point where I need an evil object, something quite ordinary looking however it holds or is imbued with enough evil energy/power that if it falls into the wrong hands it has the potential to destroy the world.
Here're a few sketchy details about the book- there is a feud between a 25-year old black wizard and his 23-year old black witch sister that erupts when she sends a demon to murder their father (who has been the guardian of this vast magical treasure trove and this object since his father passed on) and her brother (to whom the guardianship is passed upon the death of the father since it passes to the next male heir in line) so that she, as the last living person in the line assumes guardianship of these items and that particular object. Being a female she has had no access to this hoard, but is aware of it through her family history. She is corrupted, demented and has become a megalomaniac. She wants her brother dead. His options are limited. So, he has hooked up with a young, white witch-druidess who is not quite 21-years old, and gathered a motley crew of similar white magic practitioners from among her family and friends, plus two iffy dark arts practitioners as allies.
He's a potter by trade, working at the family business that has been in existence since the late 1600's, and lives in the ancestral homestead, also of that era. He's already bonded himself to the young white witch to save her from a demon sent to kill him that attacks her-so technically, by his dark arts laws and covenants, he's married to her, which doesn't make her grandfather, mother or anyone else she knows in the white arts any too happy. And he's also created his heir with her which doesn't make anyone happy, and makes it imperative that she survives what lies ahead so the bloodline continues.
To help her understand why it is so important that he defeats his sister when she initiates an all out war against him, he takes the white witch down beneath the earth under the house and shows her what it is he is charged with guarding with his life...
At the very deepest level of this subterranean storehouse of magical items, etc., is a vault that contains this one object- an ordinary looking thing...but it contains concentrated evil energy...and it has the power to destroy the world.
What is the object?
I need some ideas. Four people have offered suggestions so far on facebook. In addition to the object you can also give the object a little back story as to how it came to be. You have until noon next Saturday, June 4th to respond here on my blog, or by sending me an email at sebuffum415@gmail.com, or by posting on either of my facebook pages.
Your reward for helping? Acknowledgement of your contribution on the dedication page of this novel, and one signed copy. In the case of my choosing an object suggested by one person and the back story contributed by another person then both contributors will be acknowledged and given one signed copy apiece when the book is published later this year.
Meanwhile, I'm going to finish the novel this week. I'll plug in a stand-in object and a sketchy back story for now.
Thanks in advance for your invaluable assistance! I enjoy getting readers involved with my books and look forward to seeing the suggestions you come up with.
May 28, 2016
Found in a File Cabinet and Other Things
I was cleaning one of the three file cabinets holding my older written material and came across a small 2.5 x 5 inch scrap of paper with one quote written on it from an old unfinished story: "Her heart seldom spoke to her, but when it did, it asked for the impossible."
I cringe at throwing away unfinished stories because often hidden in the text are little jewels like that. I used to go through everything I wrote before I tossed it to write down bits and pieces that caught my heart, that I didn't want to lose.
Today, I mostly cleaned out printout copies of stories that have already been published. I have these stories on flash drives now, and in print copies of the books, so I can finally let go of these copies...even if it's like throwing away bits and pieces of myself. I have to keep telling myself that it's all right to let these copies go. I don't need them anymore. (Oh, the joys of being OCD.)
My brother stopped by during his tag sale travels today to pick up his and my sister's copies of the two new Talon novels. He liked the purple cover on book 4 in the series, purple being his favorite color. I didn't point out that the picture is of a casket-it's blurred, but appropriate since the main character is studying to be a mortician. Now, he and Lynnmarie will have 3-day weekend reading material.
I also removed eighteen books from my laptop files, transferring them to two different flash drives. One is locked in the safe, the other one I leave kicking around for easy access. John told me I needed to free up hard drive space so I figured today would be a good day to do that. I also deleted some images Kelly had sent me of book covers, so now I'm good to keep going for awhile again.
My last thought for today is about this epic mega-novel I wrote for my friend Darlene years ago, back when Kelly was in middle school or a freshman in high school. I never let Kelly read it because it was more grown up in theme, but she's since confessed that she read the whole 400,000+ word epic over time and liked the book, but doesn't know how I will ever edit it down to a manageable number of words. I don't know either, but these characters occasionally clear their throats and try to get my attention, so I know one day I will have to tackle this massive chore. I never gave it to Darlene...guess I owe her as it was written and meant to be a birthday present for her!! It just kept growing and growing as the three so very different male characters developed and fought over the one girl they all fell in love with for reasons of their own. The first love parallelogram ever written? I don't know. It certainly had more angles than a triangle, that's for sure!!
I cringe at throwing away unfinished stories because often hidden in the text are little jewels like that. I used to go through everything I wrote before I tossed it to write down bits and pieces that caught my heart, that I didn't want to lose.
Today, I mostly cleaned out printout copies of stories that have already been published. I have these stories on flash drives now, and in print copies of the books, so I can finally let go of these copies...even if it's like throwing away bits and pieces of myself. I have to keep telling myself that it's all right to let these copies go. I don't need them anymore. (Oh, the joys of being OCD.)
My brother stopped by during his tag sale travels today to pick up his and my sister's copies of the two new Talon novels. He liked the purple cover on book 4 in the series, purple being his favorite color. I didn't point out that the picture is of a casket-it's blurred, but appropriate since the main character is studying to be a mortician. Now, he and Lynnmarie will have 3-day weekend reading material.
I also removed eighteen books from my laptop files, transferring them to two different flash drives. One is locked in the safe, the other one I leave kicking around for easy access. John told me I needed to free up hard drive space so I figured today would be a good day to do that. I also deleted some images Kelly had sent me of book covers, so now I'm good to keep going for awhile again.
My last thought for today is about this epic mega-novel I wrote for my friend Darlene years ago, back when Kelly was in middle school or a freshman in high school. I never let Kelly read it because it was more grown up in theme, but she's since confessed that she read the whole 400,000+ word epic over time and liked the book, but doesn't know how I will ever edit it down to a manageable number of words. I don't know either, but these characters occasionally clear their throats and try to get my attention, so I know one day I will have to tackle this massive chore. I never gave it to Darlene...guess I owe her as it was written and meant to be a birthday present for her!! It just kept growing and growing as the three so very different male characters developed and fought over the one girl they all fell in love with for reasons of their own. The first love parallelogram ever written? I don't know. It certainly had more angles than a triangle, that's for sure!!
May 27, 2016
Reconnected
An old friend found me on facebook a week ago and we had our first face to face visit this past Wednesday. It'd been 7 years since I'd last seen her. In less than two hours we caught up a lot before I had to go to work. We plan on getting together for a day and catching up further, but we've been texting every night and I have a feeling that she has a lot of stories to tell me still.
It's amazing that with friends you can go long years without seeing one another, maybe just fleeting glimpses, or hearing a word about them here and there, but then you see them again and it's as if no time has passed at all. Yes, we look older, yet in her face I see the woman she was. In her voice I hear the good and the bad, the fun and the mischief...and the love that exists between true good friends.
She always wanted to be a writer but it never went anywhere. Her son, who is eight years older than Kelly and liked to build LEGO with her, grew up to be an artist (metal sculpture) and lives in Florida. Kelly grew up to be a writer and a mechanical engineer with a Masters in Materials Science and Engineering. When she visited she took home a carton full of books. Last night we were chatting about writing a book together. Maybe reconnecting with her at this time and place in her life will renew the spark of her own creativity and she'll finally write that book that's in her. She and I are very different, yet we have common threads in our lives that link us heart to heart.
I'm glad she's back because she's brought new colors to my life when I needed them. Let's see what happens from here! (I feel new stories on the horizon!)
It's amazing that with friends you can go long years without seeing one another, maybe just fleeting glimpses, or hearing a word about them here and there, but then you see them again and it's as if no time has passed at all. Yes, we look older, yet in her face I see the woman she was. In her voice I hear the good and the bad, the fun and the mischief...and the love that exists between true good friends.
She always wanted to be a writer but it never went anywhere. Her son, who is eight years older than Kelly and liked to build LEGO with her, grew up to be an artist (metal sculpture) and lives in Florida. Kelly grew up to be a writer and a mechanical engineer with a Masters in Materials Science and Engineering. When she visited she took home a carton full of books. Last night we were chatting about writing a book together. Maybe reconnecting with her at this time and place in her life will renew the spark of her own creativity and she'll finally write that book that's in her. She and I are very different, yet we have common threads in our lives that link us heart to heart.
I'm glad she's back because she's brought new colors to my life when I needed them. Let's see what happens from here! (I feel new stories on the horizon!)
May 24, 2016
Writing Storm
I know it's been quiet on my blog front, but behind the silence there has been a writing storm. I'm 14 chapters into a new novel about a white witch, a dark wizard and their battle against his evil megalomaniac sister who wants to gain control of the magical hoard and wealth he's the guardian of.
I started writing this novel on late last week and it got off to a slow start. I need to back track to straighten out a few things when I'm done because things have evolved differently than I originally thought they would, but you can't stop a writing juggernaut once it starts to go fix a few problems.
Chapters have literally poured out of me this past weekend and today will see chapter 15 develop. Kelly has been caught up in the cyclone but she seems to be enjoying the wild ride through the storm like a storm chaser because she's right up to where I left off writing last night reading the pages as they come out of the printer. As usual, there is a lot going on with few lulls in the action, and shocks and surprises popping up along the characters' paths.
I don't know where this is all heading but I have a feeling there's going to be a loud thunderclap finish (or maybe a sonic boom due to the speed this novel is being written!)
I'll write when I get home from work tonight but tomorrow morning, my half day off mid-week, is booked. I will be reconnecting with an old friend I haven't seen in 7 years. Sometimes you need to recharge the battery and good friends are a great way to do that-we'll laugh, we'll cry and we'll get caught up in the way friends do and it will be as if there never was a gap in our connection to one another. I'm really looking forward to seeing her again.
Breakfast time, and some text review this morning before work, on this rainy May 24th. Revere is watching the rain and listening to bird chatter from the open kitchen door. There's a woodpecker busy at work in the woods behind us searching for his breakfast. It's loud!
I started writing this novel on late last week and it got off to a slow start. I need to back track to straighten out a few things when I'm done because things have evolved differently than I originally thought they would, but you can't stop a writing juggernaut once it starts to go fix a few problems.
Chapters have literally poured out of me this past weekend and today will see chapter 15 develop. Kelly has been caught up in the cyclone but she seems to be enjoying the wild ride through the storm like a storm chaser because she's right up to where I left off writing last night reading the pages as they come out of the printer. As usual, there is a lot going on with few lulls in the action, and shocks and surprises popping up along the characters' paths.
I don't know where this is all heading but I have a feeling there's going to be a loud thunderclap finish (or maybe a sonic boom due to the speed this novel is being written!)
I'll write when I get home from work tonight but tomorrow morning, my half day off mid-week, is booked. I will be reconnecting with an old friend I haven't seen in 7 years. Sometimes you need to recharge the battery and good friends are a great way to do that-we'll laugh, we'll cry and we'll get caught up in the way friends do and it will be as if there never was a gap in our connection to one another. I'm really looking forward to seeing her again.
Breakfast time, and some text review this morning before work, on this rainy May 24th. Revere is watching the rain and listening to bird chatter from the open kitchen door. There's a woodpecker busy at work in the woods behind us searching for his breakfast. It's loud!
May 20, 2016
Rays Of Sunshine
After a rough week some sweet things happened today. Kelly received a very nice job offer from the company where she's been working as a contractor after a series of interviews with them and four other companies. Guess they realized what they'd be losing by now grabbing her now. I have never seen her smile so much!
And then an old friend reached out to reconnect, on facebook and via email. I'd been thinking about her lately so it was a nice surprise to know she must have been thinking about me, too.
The new novel is moving forward- starting chapter IX tonight- it's already taken some unexpected turns so it will be interesting to see where it goes from here! Trouble is brewing for the dark wizard and the white witch...
Just glad things are turning around here and we're moving out from under this gloomy dark cloud!
And then an old friend reached out to reconnect, on facebook and via email. I'd been thinking about her lately so it was a nice surprise to know she must have been thinking about me, too.
The new novel is moving forward- starting chapter IX tonight- it's already taken some unexpected turns so it will be interesting to see where it goes from here! Trouble is brewing for the dark wizard and the white witch...
Just glad things are turning around here and we're moving out from under this gloomy dark cloud!
May 19, 2016
Book Signing Confirmed
I'll be at the Agawam Public Library on Cooper Street in Agawam MA on Monday evening, June 20th, from 6:30-8:30PM signing copies of My Magical Life during their READLocal event. Other area authors who will be doing likewise are Linda Cardillo, Tamara Fricke, Carol Heath (VC Russell), Gerald McFarland, Bob McMaster, Matt Norris, Gail Olmsted, Tim Parker, Marcy Heath Robitaille, and Jacqueline Sheehan.
Stop in if you're in western MA to say 'Hello.' This area is so supportive of it's native talent! I'm lucky to live here!
Stop in if you're in western MA to say 'Hello.' This area is so supportive of it's native talent! I'm lucky to live here!
May 17, 2016
I Need a Little Ray of Sunshine
I came home this afternoon to an utterly devastated husband. The company he just got laid off from February 24th told him he was not qualified for a job very similar to the job he was doing when that job was unceremoniously eliminated (along with 339 other peoples' jobs. He had pinned all his hopes on this position and now he's like a deflated balloon at the bottom of the Pit of Despair. I have no clue how to lift his spirits up- he is totally unreceptive and blocking us out tonight while he tries to deal with this rejection.
I know how frustrated he is trying to find a new job. He doesn't want to listen to my advice to look a hundred miles outside of his comfort zone. There is nothing that holds us here but his fear of the unknown. I can't get him to get over that. His entire family has this same issue, deep roots and a fear of moving on.
I just don't know what to do- except write to cope with my own frustration over this whole thing.
I need a little ray of sunshine...
I know how frustrated he is trying to find a new job. He doesn't want to listen to my advice to look a hundred miles outside of his comfort zone. There is nothing that holds us here but his fear of the unknown. I can't get him to get over that. His entire family has this same issue, deep roots and a fear of moving on.
I just don't know what to do- except write to cope with my own frustration over this whole thing.
I need a little ray of sunshine...
May 16, 2016
Five Chapters Down a New Road
Writing is a joyful journey.
From a dream I had the other morning, in that time between sleeping and waking, a new novel is being written. I'm five plus chapters down the road on this new adventure. I guess I would have to say I take these trips without a GPS or any other means of navigational guidance, other than my Muse whispering directions in my ear- if you believe in such things. It's just how I write
This novel will apparently be about a dark wizard and a white witch. I can't say anymore about it because I really don't know anymore than that at the moment- the plot is developing with each chapter written.
I can say that Kelly grabbed the rough draft binder and has been chasing me down the road- in hot pursuit, I suppose you could say. She's a little slowed down doing some proofreading and editing as she goes and will most likely catch up to me tonight since I've slowed down to back track and fix up things that she's pointed out after yesterday's full tilt typing where I might have missed a key, and the auto checker might have misinterpreted a word and plugged in something totally outrageous just out of spite ( I think).
Meanwhile, best friend Darlene told me today at work that she's reread Talon:An Intimate Familiarity and is starting Talon:A Sense of Familiarity tonight in preparation for reading book three that I gifted her last week, Talon:The Familiarity of it All. I told her to hurry up and read because book four (Talon:Finding the Familiar) is on its way- one copy earmarked for her, one for me other best friend Gail (who wants to be my personal assistant), one for Kelly, one for my brother, one for my sister and the last one for me! She's read books one and two already last year but has found all sorts of interesting things reading through the first book again. It's nice to know that when she cleaned out her bookcase she moved all my books to the top shelf and NONE of them went to Goodwill!! :) Darlene and her husband heat with a woodstove so I'm also relieved that none of them have ended up fueling the fire to heat their house- another good sign!)
It's chilly and windy here in western MA...so I'm off to brew a cup of tea. Then, I'll be writing until bedtime because I kind of want to know what's going to happen next in this new novel!
Writing truly is a joyful journey for me (even though I often put my characters through the wringer on their journeys! However, I'm the kind of writer who laughs and cries right along with my characters and then high fives them at the end for making it through!) Kind of amazing that I'm a quiet person and not a drama queen in any way, shape or form for all the drama I write into each book!! But like they say, it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for!! Ha Ha!
From a dream I had the other morning, in that time between sleeping and waking, a new novel is being written. I'm five plus chapters down the road on this new adventure. I guess I would have to say I take these trips without a GPS or any other means of navigational guidance, other than my Muse whispering directions in my ear- if you believe in such things. It's just how I write
This novel will apparently be about a dark wizard and a white witch. I can't say anymore about it because I really don't know anymore than that at the moment- the plot is developing with each chapter written.
I can say that Kelly grabbed the rough draft binder and has been chasing me down the road- in hot pursuit, I suppose you could say. She's a little slowed down doing some proofreading and editing as she goes and will most likely catch up to me tonight since I've slowed down to back track and fix up things that she's pointed out after yesterday's full tilt typing where I might have missed a key, and the auto checker might have misinterpreted a word and plugged in something totally outrageous just out of spite ( I think).
Meanwhile, best friend Darlene told me today at work that she's reread Talon:An Intimate Familiarity and is starting Talon:A Sense of Familiarity tonight in preparation for reading book three that I gifted her last week, Talon:The Familiarity of it All. I told her to hurry up and read because book four (Talon:Finding the Familiar) is on its way- one copy earmarked for her, one for me other best friend Gail (who wants to be my personal assistant), one for Kelly, one for my brother, one for my sister and the last one for me! She's read books one and two already last year but has found all sorts of interesting things reading through the first book again. It's nice to know that when she cleaned out her bookcase she moved all my books to the top shelf and NONE of them went to Goodwill!! :) Darlene and her husband heat with a woodstove so I'm also relieved that none of them have ended up fueling the fire to heat their house- another good sign!)
It's chilly and windy here in western MA...so I'm off to brew a cup of tea. Then, I'll be writing until bedtime because I kind of want to know what's going to happen next in this new novel!
Writing truly is a joyful journey for me (even though I often put my characters through the wringer on their journeys! However, I'm the kind of writer who laughs and cries right along with my characters and then high fives them at the end for making it through!) Kind of amazing that I'm a quiet person and not a drama queen in any way, shape or form for all the drama I write into each book!! But like they say, it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for!! Ha Ha!
May 14, 2016
Haunted by New Story
I dreamt an image, or rather a series of images and they have been haunting me all day. I know what this means- a new book wants to be written...so off I go with no clue where this will lead me.
Sometimes being a writer is akin to being an explorer, only the territory one sets out to explore, investigate, and discover is entirely within the bony confines of one's own head.
Huzzah!
Sometimes being a writer is akin to being an explorer, only the territory one sets out to explore, investigate, and discover is entirely within the bony confines of one's own head.
Huzzah!
May 13, 2016
My Other Hobby
I have several hobbies. I work as a medical secretary, something I've done for the past 8 years. I've had a lot of different jobs in my lifetime from child care to retail sales, to store detective, campus police supervisor on the night shift, LEGO injection mold operator (I felt like Santa's elf churning out bricks!), and office products sales. That's all career stuff to help support my family.
My hobbies are the things I do for fun, I've collected teddy bears and once owned over 400 of them, but pared it down to several dozen mohair bears. I collect camels- figurines, plush, statues and I have two different lamps with camels on the base. I've collected vintage and antique playing cards (full decks), hatpins and then vintage and antique buttons. My favorite collection began in 2003 when I bought my first charmstring. Charmstrings are strings of antique buttons and odd little things like charms, bits of broken jewelry, love tokens, medals, coins, doll spoons, seashells, bear claws and whatever else could have a hole drilled through it to be added to the string. It was a fad popular around the start of the Civil War that continued into the Edwardian era and as late as the 1920's. There have been strings of buttons strung by collectors and others after the 1920's but the fad was pretty much over by then.
I have a virtual charmstring museum on the internet. My collection has grown over the past 13 years to include 93 charmstrings. Several of them I've strung from antique and vintage buttons from my own button collection. Two were strung by my late 92-year old friend Pauline. One is all glass buttons strung for me by another friend who has passed away who supported my efforts wholeheartedly to preserve these strings of buttons for the future. The majority of them are authentic strings, discovered here and there during my years as a button collector.
I mention this tonight because the California State Button Society discovered my museum online and contacted me to share one of their charmstrings and additional info that Kelly has been busy adding to the blog. They were very excited to discover the 2x3 inch carte de visite that I own. It's a real photograph of a young girl named Jennie Moxley and she is holding her charmstring doubled against her plaid skirt. The picture was taken in 1867. Last year, a woman emailed me about Miss Jennie. She knew exactly who that little girl was and shared Jennie's story with me. Miss Jennie was so moved by a speech by a fundraiser for the Confederate Children's Orphanage that she donated her prized charmstring to help raise funds. She had her picture taken and it was then "Painted" (popular at the time was using oil paint to highlight an enlarged photograph to create a 'painting') and hung in the orphanage to inspire others. Jennie's charmstring was shown at rallies and fundraisers and helped to raise a lot of money for the orphans. No one knows what happened to the string of buttons or the "painting". No one knew what happened to the photographs taken on which the "painting" was based...until she happened to Google Jennie Moxley and found her little picture there in the charmstring museum. It's a long story how I obtained the picture but little Jennie has connected people across the country now in 2015-16 with her selfless good deed.
Kelly is busy updating the charmstring museum blog tonight with info sent by California. I'm 4 strings behind in posting pictures and descriptions and we need to find time to shoot more individual pictures of the beautiful buttons and odd objects found on these strings.
And now California wants a book about my collection, with pictures. I'll add that to the project list. (It doesn't surprise me they want a book because it's an idea I've kicked around myself...so, we'll see what happens there.
Bears, buttons and books...that's me!
My hobbies are the things I do for fun, I've collected teddy bears and once owned over 400 of them, but pared it down to several dozen mohair bears. I collect camels- figurines, plush, statues and I have two different lamps with camels on the base. I've collected vintage and antique playing cards (full decks), hatpins and then vintage and antique buttons. My favorite collection began in 2003 when I bought my first charmstring. Charmstrings are strings of antique buttons and odd little things like charms, bits of broken jewelry, love tokens, medals, coins, doll spoons, seashells, bear claws and whatever else could have a hole drilled through it to be added to the string. It was a fad popular around the start of the Civil War that continued into the Edwardian era and as late as the 1920's. There have been strings of buttons strung by collectors and others after the 1920's but the fad was pretty much over by then.
I have a virtual charmstring museum on the internet. My collection has grown over the past 13 years to include 93 charmstrings. Several of them I've strung from antique and vintage buttons from my own button collection. Two were strung by my late 92-year old friend Pauline. One is all glass buttons strung for me by another friend who has passed away who supported my efforts wholeheartedly to preserve these strings of buttons for the future. The majority of them are authentic strings, discovered here and there during my years as a button collector.
I mention this tonight because the California State Button Society discovered my museum online and contacted me to share one of their charmstrings and additional info that Kelly has been busy adding to the blog. They were very excited to discover the 2x3 inch carte de visite that I own. It's a real photograph of a young girl named Jennie Moxley and she is holding her charmstring doubled against her plaid skirt. The picture was taken in 1867. Last year, a woman emailed me about Miss Jennie. She knew exactly who that little girl was and shared Jennie's story with me. Miss Jennie was so moved by a speech by a fundraiser for the Confederate Children's Orphanage that she donated her prized charmstring to help raise funds. She had her picture taken and it was then "Painted" (popular at the time was using oil paint to highlight an enlarged photograph to create a 'painting') and hung in the orphanage to inspire others. Jennie's charmstring was shown at rallies and fundraisers and helped to raise a lot of money for the orphans. No one knows what happened to the string of buttons or the "painting". No one knew what happened to the photographs taken on which the "painting" was based...until she happened to Google Jennie Moxley and found her little picture there in the charmstring museum. It's a long story how I obtained the picture but little Jennie has connected people across the country now in 2015-16 with her selfless good deed.
Kelly is busy updating the charmstring museum blog tonight with info sent by California. I'm 4 strings behind in posting pictures and descriptions and we need to find time to shoot more individual pictures of the beautiful buttons and odd objects found on these strings.
And now California wants a book about my collection, with pictures. I'll add that to the project list. (It doesn't surprise me they want a book because it's an idea I've kicked around myself...so, we'll see what happens there.
Bears, buttons and books...that's me!
Welcome to My World
Here I will write a little bit about my writing, how I write, how I create characters and environments...and maybe some little glimpses into my real life because writers and authors are real people af
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- Susan Buffum's profile
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