Would you spend hundreds of dollars on a vintage fishing lure? Elly hopes someone will do just that in today’s Sweet Saturday Sample from my WIP, Elly and the Geriatrics. Here’s what happened after Elly went through her late grandfather’s storage shed.
That evening, Elly sat at her laptop, the list of Grandpa’s treasures at her side, while her grandmother watched Jeopardy in the other room. Every few minutes, she’d hear Granny's high-pitched voice calling out a response and making comments to the contestants. Elly chuckled. The range of her grandmother’s knowledge always amazed her, and she was convinced that this nightly TV ritual helped keep her mind sharp.
Elly propped her list next to the computer and typed the name of the first item in the Google search box. To her surprise, a screen full of hits came up. She clicked on the first listing and found a page loaded with photos of colorful fishing gear. Near the top, a vintage Paw-Paw “Injured Minnow” fishing lure like one she’d found in the tackle box, had an asking price of three hundred dollars, while an antique Poul Jorgensen salmon fly was going for seven hundred.
“Holy moley,” she said to the screen. “Seven hundred dollars to catch a fish?” She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and looked again, wondering if she’d imagined what she’d seen, but the numbers on the screen didn’t change. Sure this must be a fluke, she checked two more sites. To her amazement, they confirmed the lure’s value.
“Unbelievable.” She let out her breath with a whistle. If the rest of Grandpa’s collection was worth that much, Granny could replace the trailer’s roof and asthmatic air conditioner and maybe even buy a new refrigerator. She wondered who would pay so much for old fishing stuff.
Encouraged by what she’d found, Elly vowed to start her own online postings that very night, beginning with a few items from Grandpa’s tackle boxes.
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What is Sweet Saturday Samples?
Each week, writers post a brief sample of their work on their own blogs and then link them to the main site, so readers can conveniently “hop” from blog to blog, meet new authors and become better acquainted with ones they already know. All samples are rated PG-13 (or milder), though the books from which they're taken may be spicier.
Fishing lure photo source: http://www.artofangling.com/forsale.html
Yay for some good news! (I feel the same way about some of the old stuff my husband buys and sells, so I LOL at "$700 to catch a fish" *grin*)
ReplyDeleteWhen I researched the value of vintage fishing lures online, that was my first thought. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
DeleteHmm, maybe I should be selling some of my stuff online! The other day I gave some boxes of stuff to my youngest son for a garage sale, but you don't get much there!
ReplyDeleteThanks for bringing me right into the story. I love the colorful details, like Granny talking to the TV contestants.
Here's MY SWEET SATURDAY SAMPLE
Sometimes I think it makes more sense to donate items (and take the tax deduction) than to mess with a garage sale. But cash in hand is nice too!
DeleteYou never know what you'll find in the stuff left behind. That's why I'm getting rid of a lot of my junk now. LOL! Granny is too funny.
ReplyDeleteWriting Granny is fun. I'm going back through the book now to make her a little more outrageous.
DeleteWith all these auction/pawn shop reality shows, people know better what their junk is worth. I hope Elly finds a buyer real quick. Love your writing, as always. (I do the same thing Granny does with Jeopardy! LOL)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jenna. I truly believe that shows like Jeopardy keep our minds sharp, don't you?
DeleteI love your characters--they're absolutely wonderful! I think I may have even run into Granny a few ties!
ReplyDeleteI took a "generations unite" writing class at my local senior center and met several Granny-type characters. I may even be turning into one myself!
DeleteWish my collections had some unexpected value. Nice excerpt.
ReplyDeleteI wish mine did too! Unfortunately, I collect fabrics (for quilts) and bits and pieces of this and that for crafting. Oh, and books, of course!
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ReplyDeleteInteresting the price of the lures. It might be a way to help the grandmother out bests fixing up the place
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, Lindsay.
DeleteI wish my collection of odd paper would bring such a price!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this good sample, Sandy. Very lifelike.
Thank you, Marsha. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
DeleteLove this scene--so relevant to today's way of selling old stuff. Will garage sales start fading?
ReplyDeleteYour characters are wonderful!
Thank you, Peggy. I love them too.
DeleteI hope you put the fishing lure up on E-Bay. This is a wonderful story from what I have read. I was recently at a Writers Guild meeting where two agents spoke. They said the next big thing is writing about older people because of the big baby boomer population. So, I think you are hitting the trend exactly. Love it, Mary Firmin
ReplyDeleteThat's good news, Mary. Since there are millions of Baby Boomers out there and they comprise the largest group of readers, I'd not surprised that they'd want to read about characters in their age group. Guess I'd better get busy and finish my Elly story!
DeleteDang, my husband doesn't fish, so there's no hope of find something "of value" ... LOL
ReplyDeleteLoved today's post. I really like Elly and Granny. They're both wonderful characters.
I really couldn't believe the prices on vintage lures. What a shock! Thank you for your kind words about today's post.
DeleteGreat excerpt Sandy. Hope Elly isn't disappointed.
ReplyDeleteSupposed value does not always equate to what Joe Public is willing to pay, as I found out when disposing of a few of my own grandmother's collection of memorabilia. But I was pleased to get £40 for an old newspaper my dad had saved of Yuri Gagarin's circumnavigation of the earth.
gx
Thanks for leaving a comment, Gilli. I had fun researching the value of the "treasures" Elly found in her grandfather's shed.
DeleteThere was a collection of similar vintage, decorative fishing lures on one of the pawn shop shows on The History Channel recently, and it was bought for at least several hundred. I probably don't have anything worth that much in any of my collections that I know of, though I do know my two most prized coins, the 1857 and 1858 Flying Eagle cents in very fine condition, are probably worth about $120 together right now.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I've seen that show advertised, I haven't watched it. Too bad I missed that episode! It's crazy what people will pay for some things, isn't it?
DeleteLOL I'm not surprised at the cost for the lure. It's like baseball cards - a well-maintained piece of cardboard with a man's name and stats on it can be worth a few hundred to a few thousand! Amazing! I hope she gets at least the asking price for whatever she decides to post online.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Mirriam. Who knew that a freebie that came with a yucky piece of bubble gum could be worth so much?
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