Collections

I bartended for probably 15 years. It was all I wanted to be. A bartender who made fast drinks, great drinks. New, exotic drinks. I begged my boss to send me to a bartender’s convention in LA, offering to pay for half.

Well, it was a good idea, even if it didn’t happen.

But from bartending, I developed a love of cocktail shakers. Weird, eh? One day my boss showed up with a stainless steel cocktail shaker in the shape of a penguin.

OMG. I had to have it. She wouldn’t give it up.

So I bought my own off eBay. Do you know how many cocktail shakers are on eBay? In the shape of rockets, and dumb bells….some stainless some glass…some antique, some from the 60’s, some brand new. Hand blown glass, red enamel, blue stripes. I currently have a variety of approximately twenty – from the penguin, to a fire extinguisher to a Hazel Atlas one. (queen of cocktail shakers)

From there, I moved on to shot glasses. I have a collection of probably 600 shot glasses. Almost every single one was given to me by a friend who had traveled. I have them from Hong Kong, Jamaica, Florida, Texas. Tons of places, tons of colors, tons of shapes. I love them all, and they all have a special meaning for me.

I also have a collection of fancy glasses. No two glasses in my home are the same. I have some with Disney prints, some with hand painted flowers, some in plastic with Tiki gods screen printed on them. Some wine glasses, juice glasses, Christmas glasses and isn’t-this-the-coolest-monkey-glass-you’ve-ever-seen? glasses.

I seem to have no control when it comes to these past reminders of my favorite job. It was fun, I had a wonderful time, and every time I look at my fun collection it makes me smile.

So today, while stroking my latest acquisition, a nifty blue shot glass with a pirate on it and a heavy weighted bottom from Florida (Thanks Gary!) I got to thinking, shouldn’t my characters have collections too? And wouldn’t they reflect something about their lives, past or present.

My newest heroine collects shoes. Not so uncommon in a woman you say. True, true. But she collects u

nusual tennis shoes. What if she designed her own Keds on Zazzle. Never heard of Zazzle? Prepare to loose a few hours of your life. http://www.zazzle.com . Don’t say I didn’t warn you. You can actually turn the cover of your book into a pair of Keds.

My heroine is a doodler, which is going to come in handy later on, so she’d have the artistic ability to design her own shoes, and have something that no one else would ever have. And she also loves sequined Converse shoes. She’s a bit of fun, that heroine is.

My latest hero rides a motorcycle. He’s a tough boy, a sour puss, and hates kids. =) What does he collect? Children’s books. Why? Well, I guess you'll have to read the story to find out. =)

Collecting and hobbies can define your hero and heroine, it can add in another dimension to who they are, who they were, and what makes them smile.

What about your charcters? Any little quirks or collections they like to have?

=)

carrie