Not really, of course. But in the pretend world of fiction, where as Northrop Frye said, everything possible can happen but nothing real ever does. (Ok, bad paraphrase, but you ge the idea.) So, if someone were to kill for a pen -what pen might it be, if it were up to you? (The basic premise of the book is that someone murders a collector for a pen. There's much more to it - jealousy, rivalry, history, all of that. But I'm just trying to get some ideas. I'm not thinking so much about pens that are strictly ultra-expensive objects, but rather pens that might have a history, or that someone might just really covet because it's the one that completes a collection, whether it's expensive or not. It's the one that is obsessed over, and has been lost to someone else. A pen that is more rare, probably, than expensive. Vintage, definitely. Not necessarily one with a particular historical figure attached to it - that's for another book! But one that a non-FP person would think: "Huh? How can this be motive? It's just a pen!" Any and all ideas will be welcome! Thanks much!

Beautiful question!

My suggestion is the Aurora Etiopia. Among the reasons:

• Ultra rare, probably less than ten were made but the exact number made is unknown
• Historical interest: related to Mussolini
• It is a small detail (an eagle and the word "Etiopia" engraved) that makes it unique; otherwise it can be taken for a very common pen

That would make a great murder-mistery-pen.

Alejandro

I recall reading in a post, some time ago, that the Montegrappa Peace Pen goes for a cool million. And, well, people have killed for far less than that, y'know?

The link is...

The Montegrappa Peace Pen

And here's the link that's provided within that thread, to information on the actual pen...

1,200 Diamonds

t!

I must say, Alejandro's Aurora Etiopia looks just the piece for your plot.

A flat-top Duofold, with unambiguous supporting documentation showing that it was intended as an exclusive item for advanced members of a quasi-Masonic organization; the document says "We thought of calling this color 'Tuscan Brown'. OK?"

Warning: this pen may be fictional.

Best

Michael

There is also the Parker Aztek...

Michael and Denis:

A little more info, please? LOL. Remember you are dealing with a novice, here. Why those pens? What is it about a flat-top Duofold and the Masons? (Neat idea, though. That might be something I could really work into the book, given who the victim is.) And - what is a Parker Aztec?

Namaste
Patti

this was my first thought...

but let me add another possibility from a completely different POV of plot. The Parker No. 53 - Swastika design. Here the motivation of course would not have to be the monetary value of the pen but the emotional/psychological implications it has.

Patti, the Parker Swastika overlay was made around 1910, therefore well before WWII and the association we now have with this symbol. However, it still stirs up controversy of course. It is, AFAIK, at least as rare as the Aztec.

you can find pics of it in Andreas Lambrou's Fountain Pens of the World but there are probably other sources re: the history of it. And for that matter, Andy hangs out on a couple of the other boards now and then and may be able to offer you more in depth info (or perhaps even someone here may - I'm not a pen historian by any stretch.)

I see no problems with your questions/motivations at all here.

If you come up with some particular pens based on these many suggestions and want to know more about the history of those particular pens, I'd recommend either posting specific questions to the History forum or if the pen fits into one of the brands that currently has its own forum, pose your questions there. There are some folks who tend to focus mostly on the History forum or the brand forum before venturing into these other forums.

Good luck with your research and your writing. I envy your motivation. But I'm working on mine slowly but surely.

Best,
KCat

[edited for brand name typo]

KCat --

Thank you so much. These are all such great ideas. And I'll be all of them will be used - and appropriately attributed, to be sure! For example, I already have plot in mind, for probably the 3rd or 4th book, for the pen suggested by Alejandro. And the Peace pen, too. I don't know what the Aztek is, yet. I'll have to google and find out. And I love yours, too, especially because I am rather into symbology and aware that the Swastika actually had very positive associations in all kinds of ways. Oooh...getting an idea, now. Oh, this is SO great! You have no idea how appreciative I am!!

Okay, I have to sketch this out.

Oh - what is AFAIK?

Namaste
Patti

I also don't know who the individual names are yet. Andy = Andreas?

Or you could take it a step back and have the pen just be a pen but maybe the engraving is a swiss bank account number or that there is microfilm/ microchip inside of it. Maybe he can drop some forboding about he always keeps the "information well in hand". Maybe the owner is killed for the information in the pen but someone earlier has accidentally taken the pen off the desk. Let's make the person a private banker who's office is in their house so the person comes in to talk to him signs some papers and then leaves only forgetting some information then while the owner has left on other business the innocent returns and is let into the office by the secretary to make some notes on the contract and leaves a note while accidentally pocketing the pen. And there is a hapless innocent that is being stalked by some thugs trying to get the pen back maybe it is a powerful organization's slush fund who knows. So you get a killing and then when there is the realization that the pen is the item you get a second ransacking of the house. Lots of tension as the two story lines meld and the thugs and cops are looking for the same person. Heck you might even be able to have the innocent loan the pen not thinking and get's killed. which gives the police inspector the idea that the pen is the connection. So you get two murders to solve and a person to save/ protect. Maybe even do it as a alternating chapter form following first the innocent then the banker/lawyer then the melded plot.

Can I get co-author creds if you use the suggestion

K

heh...

sorry - somewhere around here is a thread on internet shorthand/abbreviations/acryonyms/initializations.

AFAIK is "As Far As I Know"
AFAIC is "AFA I'm Concerned"

there are more obviously that will come to light. I use IME a good bit - In My Experience though IMO (In My Opinion) is more commmon.

Andy=Andreas Lambrou. He posts on uh... I think either Stylophiles message board or Pentrace message board. I no longer read those if I can help it so I am not sure which he frequents but they're easy to find with a quick browser search. I am not entirely certain if he posts as "Andy" or Andy L. or...??? But you can certainly ask for him to contact you by posting on one of those two boards.

Well, the Parker Duofold flat-top is one of the iconic pens. It's big, and it's orange, and it was introduced in the 1920s with a price that was deliberately twice that of a standard pen. They're often called the Big Red. Serious collectors (note: I am *not* a serious collector) tend to have a few, rare variations if they're Parker collectors. I ahve one, and it's an imposing piece, but I prefer its little brother, the Junior Duofold, as a writing pen.

There is a controversy over whether or not this pen was ever produced in a colour called Tuscan Brown. Some people hold that it was, briefly, others that the name "Tuscan Brown" was used very briefly for the colour that everyone knows. I have not one clue as to the truth of the matter, but it does from time to time generate a certain amount of scholarly heat, and the debate normally includes a challenge to the Tuscan-Brown-exists camp to produce an example for public inspection. This challenge is sometimes met by the assertion that such a pen exists, but in the collection of an individual who doesn't post on the interwebs.

The masonic limited edition was just froth, in case you wanted to get into the Illuminati/holy bloodline line of business. Other possibilities will occur to you, if you want the more psychological-thriller kind of line. But you should leave the existence of this pen as a rumour, because only a very few people know if such a pen really exists, and if it really does, they might have to kill you if you accidentally stumbled on the truth.

I think I've got the outlines of the debate right -- if it appeals, try googling +"Tuscan Brown" +pen and see what happens.

Best

Michael

:doh:EDIT: I MADE A BLUNDER :doh::doh::doh::doh::doh::doh::doh::doh::doh:

The contested colour is "Pompeian Brown." "Tuscan Brown" is a colour name that was used by Moore.

So, for all Tuscan READ Pompeian. Very sorry. That's what you get if you rely on your memory. (And, BTW, it can happen to you younglings, too.)

More good wishes and apologies

Michael

Even more than looking forward to a murder committed for the sake of a rare pen, I hope an FP is the murder weapon! Maybe ink laced with a cumulive poison that slowly leaches from inky finger refil to finally strangle the brain.....

Maybe the poison dart inside the blow-filler?

How about an acid-filled snorkel (maybe not old enough) or lever filler with the venom sprayed into the victim's eyeballs as they were examining the nib under the loupe?

Maybe the good-old exploding cap trick.

Plunger-filler setting off the pile of gunpowder hidden in the victim's pen chest?

Poison coating the blind-cap for a victim that chews the end of his pens?

Could an expert kill someone by using an extra-fine manifold nib (no flex allowed) to puncture the jugular or carotid artery? Drive the nib through the roof of the mouth up into the sinus cavity into the brain?

Or what my mother always told me not to do "don't stick your pen in your ear you will slip and punture your brain."

Magic spell for murder written in fresh blood using a dip pen?

Victim Voodoo doll using pens instead of pins?

Any other ideas for FP murder? (Don't tell the FAA, they may make our pens illeagal on airplanes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Andy

Hell, man, that is a great plot idea! All of these are. I have, now, about 10 books to write. I have figured out the pen connection for the first one... which I'm going to keep to myself for a bit while it finishes "simmering." It's one of these, that much I'll say. But trust me, I'm storing these, and I mean that literally. And everyone will certainly get acknowledgements. (I have this idea that on the acknowledgements page, everyone will actually have their own signatures, and an index of which pen and ink was used. Cool, huh?)

But co-author and royalty credits? Um, no. I suck at collaboration. Write your own.

Actually, that's a serious suggestion. Why don't you? Many people positively struggle with plots and clearly, you are not one of them. Don't waste that talent, man! There's always room for everyone! Look how many cat mysteries there are. And cozy Scotland Yard inspector mysteries. (And not so cozy.) So jump in. More is better. Means things sell better all the way around.

Of course, if you don't ... then when I get to this plot, I will actually ask for your written permission. Hey, I used to be in law. People sue over stuff like this. Ask Dan Brown.

Another thought I had: have people ever smuggled drugs or diamonds or microchips inside the barrel of a pen? Since they go through the mail it would be pretty easy.

Thanks again, to everyone!
Namaste
Patti

Okay, make that 11 or 12. I feel like Scott Adams, who said he never has to think up a Dilbert strip because people send him ideas. This is GREAT!!!!!!!!!!! See me, jumping up and down!!!! No kidding. So, I have about 6 years worth of writing here. It takes me about 6 months to produce a book. You guys are all fantastic.

P.

Yes, that's one of my ideas. One of the pens I acquired is a Crest snorkel. And when I was looking at it, spewing ink everywhere and cursing, I looked at the end and thought: You could stab someone with this thing. Or inject someone. My immediate thought was attaching a needle and injecting an air bubble into an IV line, causing an embolism. And then the whole range of poisons. I hadn't considered the the inky fingers and poison that seeps in slowly but that is really good. Another friend, more fiendish, suggested a puff of something really deadly, like ricin, but that's not quite "cozy." (These are cozy mysteries, by the way. And the heroine is named ... Aurora Parker. She is HUGELY disappointed to learn she was named after a pen company, and not, as she always thought, the goddess of the dawn.

"Be glad they didn't name you Pelikan," one of her friends points out.

Anyway, keep 'em coming in. They are all being printed out and going into a file.

Patti

Just a couple of notes about originality:

• Injecting an air bubble to kill someone was already used by Agatha Christie (I do not remember the novel)
• Poisonous ink? Sounds too close to "The Name of the Rose", remember?

... but I recalled this piece of information that really has to do with the plot:

How about that for a mistery-murder plot? Urushi pens are magnificent are very appreciated in pendom.

The complete article is here. There are lots of places where magnificent urushi pens can be seen, but Nakaya and Dani Trio are excellent starting points.

Alejandro

I'll add it to the list. Thanks. What a long and painstaking process. It's easy to see why those pens are so prized.

As to originality - everything has been used by somebody! Thank heavens. Nothing would ever get into print if one of the requirements was that something be, uh, novel. LOL.

I was thinking something along these lines, those Shaeffer Snorkles look like weapons. What a way to deliver poison. Of course, the murderer would have to leave the pen behind sticking out of ye ol' vitims' jugular.......

-Bruce