Winner of First Amendment Auction Becomes Character in Novel 'The Chamber of Curiosities'
The First Amendment Project held a fundraiser in 2010 which offered readers the opportunity to bid on having their name used as a character in a soon to be written novel by a published author. Most winning bidders had no say in how their names would be used by authors. But, I chose to offer the winning bidder to "run away and join the circus". Bidders could become whatever circus worker they had dreamed of as a child, and potentially change the arc of the story.
The winner asked me to select her character. I decided to wait for the right character to present itself, rather than attaching the name to a pre-existing character But it was not a flame thrower, horse vaulter, or tightrope walker that captured her name - it was the deacon's wife, who came to life midway in the novel, and helped change the destinies of the major characters.
The Chamber of Curiosities is scheduled to be published early in 2016. It is the tale of charismatic circus "freak" and the beautiful trapeze artist Clare Dupree entices him into an act of faith - setting the stage for revolution in the ancient seaport town where they are held captive.
The House on Black Lake
