Samuel Maguire: #AuthorsForFireys guest blog

This guest blog features Samuel Maguire, an author auctioning items to raise money via #AuthorsForFireys for the fire fighting effort here in Australia. The full set of #AuthorsForFireys interviews and blog posts will be here as soon as they are published, as interviews and guest blogs for #AuthorsForWildlife will be here.

Meet Samuel Maguire

I’m Samuel Maguire, Brisbane author and professionally mentally ill person. I grew up in rural Queensland during a massive drought so constant bushfires was a big part of my life. It’s really easy to feel useless in the face of natural disasters so I wanted to give people an excuse to participate as well as make some great memories in the process.

I don’t have much practical to offer, but I do have a lot of experience running pen and paper role-playing games. My contribution is a personalised role-playing adventure using my own home-brew game system that I have been developing for nearly twenty years. It is the same system that I am currently using to write my next book series Brambles. As icing on the cake I will make a damn fool of myself and dress up as a wizard for the entire thing.

My first book, No Point In Stopping, a memoir about Bipolar Disorder and wizard fights was released with Tiny Owl Workshop last year. My website https://skydekkerix.com/ has been running for a decade and there is a plethora of fiction, memoir and swear words up there for perusal.

Samuel Maguire’s offer

https://twitter.com/Skydekkerix/status/1214087351149875206

I ain’t got much in the way of services to offer for #AuthorsForFireys as I am not very smart. But I am very technically an author. And highest bid gets a personalised roleplaying adventure dm’d (Dungeon Mastered) by me in full wizard regalia. You can also have my book if you want it.

The current top bid for my contribution is $50, so my dignity is an absolute steal! As I am based in Brisbane I’ll only be able to show up in person for local bidders, but I am happy to organise ways around this if you live further away.

Original tweet here: https://twitter.com/Skydekkerix/status/1214087351149875206

Please bid on original tweet.

Want to know if this is legit?

Yes, it is legit. The whole community — Australian and global — is rallying together to support Australian firefighters, wildlife rescue and bushfire victims. Here are some reports on this effort.

• SBS: Australian authors rally around to raise funds for bushfire relief effort
• SMH: Authors ask readers to dig deep for nation’s bushfire crisis
• Book Riot: AUTHORS SUPPORT AUSTRALIA FIRE SERVICES WITH #AUTHORSFORFIREYS
• Penguin Books: Authors For Fireys — Australian authors band together to support the Country Fire Authority
• Daily Nous: Philosophers Raising Funds for Firefighters in Australia
• ArtsHub: Six ways artists can take action on bushfires

Fundraiser information from Emily Gale

The #AuthorsForFireys auction will take place only on Twitter from Monday 6th January, ending at 11pm AEST on Saturday 11th January. Scores of authors, illustrators and book industry people will host their own individual auction under the hashtag #AuthorsForFireys and bids will take place on each tweet. At the end, the highest bidder donates the amount directly to the firefighters fund. After receiving proof of donation, the author or artist will dispatch goods/services or make arrangements for delivery.

As originally wanted by @EmilyGale and @NovaWeetman, this fundraiser is now officially for ALL fire services in Australia. The official Authors For Fireys Website will be updated accordingly. Winning bidders or auctioning authors can nominate funds to the fire service of their choice.

Items up for auction include signed books, original illustrations, one-off fan-art and craft, unique gifts and manuscript critiques for writers.

There is a supporting site, explaining how it works, at this address: https://authorsforfireys.wixsite.com/website.

Related:

Anna Whateley: #AuthorsForFireys guest blog Carly Findlay: #AuthorsForFireys guest blog Kelly Morton: #AuthorsForFireys guest blog