Mom and I went to a charity event to benefit HEART Humane Society. They had a silent auction of gift baskets and a live auction of “celebrity” cakes, meaning cakes baked by, around, in spite of or at the behest of local business people (mostly men, for maximum amusement, as it still amuses many people to think that men might cook well). Mom and our friend Peggy discovered, after Mom won a spirited round of bidding, that they had bidding against one another. One of the drawbacks of doing an auction with little paddles with numbers on them rather than voice calls, as Mom and Peggy had been sitting NEXT TO EACH OTHER during their unconscious duel.

I won the only silent auction item on which I bid. I still can’t believe it. It is totally the best basket ever. Even Katya thinks so, and she isn’t impressed with anything. It was called a Writer’s Block basket and contains:

• all occasion cards
• envelopes
• book owner stickers
• 3 20-pack invitations
• bookmarks
• photocards
• Christmas stationary (I think they mean stationery)
• Magic tape (looking forward to seeing it pull a rabbit out of its hat)
• index cards
• glue
• eraser
• highlighter
• finepoint marker
• Zebra ballpoint pen (zebra not included)
• notepads

Isn’t that the best basket ever??? Index cards? marker? pen? notepads? highlighter? bookmarks? ~danse danse, danse danse~

I use index cards a lot in my writing. They’re great for writing out plot points and arranging them for best effect. They’re great for abstracting chapters so I can lay them out and see how the story arc is doing. I use them to organize my submissions: each story gets an index card with title and word count on the top. Date sent out and market on a line. Date bought or rejected on the same line, then I move on to the next line, if necessary. Easy to alphabetize, easy to arrange by word count or title or date submitted.

So I have a brand new pack! And a pen! and a highlighter! and more!

WRITING PROMPT: What makes you do a happy dance, as a writer?

MA