I can’t leave a book store without passing by the bargain books table. Occasionally, I’ll find a hardcover book I’ve been meaning to read that has made it to the end of its shelf life, like James Patterson’s 1st to Die, which I purchased the other day for $4.95. (I’d much rather pay $4.95 for a hardcover than $7.99 for the paperback edition!)

More than a year ago, I found an odd little hardback book called Healing Crystals and Gemstones, by Dr. Flora Peschek-Böhmer and Gisela Schreiber. The book is an alphabetical listing of gemstones and the therapeutic uses and healing effects of each. No, I don’t believe in such things. I’m not sure why I purchased the book, other than I thought that it was an interesting topic. I don’t remember exactly what the price was, but I know it was under $5.00.

My birthstone is Topaz, which, according to the book, stimulates the metabolism and digestion, heightening taste buds. I’m not sure that heightened taste buds are necessarily a good thing for someone who’s trying to lose weight should have, but I’ll still wear my topaz ring on occasion.

But an odd thing happened a couple of weeks ago when I was in the middle of revising my manuscript. It occurred to me that one of the characters is a psychic who is trying her best to decipher a series of troubling feelings she has been having. Such a person might believe in the power of crystals and gemstones. So I went to the shelf and pulled the book and thumbed through it. I was able to create a short scene in which the character rubs a Helidor crystal. In the narrative, I explain that Helidor is praised by crystal enthusiasts for its ability to bring mental clarity to the user. The scene also allows me to give a little background on the psychic herself when I describe how she came to end up with the crystal and how she learned about using crystals and gemstones.

As I said, I kept the scene short…I wasn’t trying to write a sub-novel about crystals, after all. But it gives the character another facet (sorry, couldn’t resist) and blends perfectly with the psychic persona. It makes the character’s belief in the supernatural that much more authentic.

You never know what treasures you might find in the bargain tables of a book store…or how information you find in them might help your writing project when you least expect it!