Three years after Biff Mitchell runs an eBay auction for someone to kill in his novel “Murder by Burger,” the book is finished and the author plans to reveal the identity of the winning bidder.
Fredericton, NB, July 11, 2007 -- In October, 2004 a media release at PRWeb headlined "Author Biff Mitchell is looking for someone to kill - and the victim has to bid at eBay for the honor of being done in" drew attention from radio stations, newspapers, blogs and ezines. One writer's ezine published a letter accusing Mitchell of being like "that cannibal in Germany." Just when bids on the auction climbed into the hundreds of dollars, eBay canceled the auction. But Mitchell kept running the auction until he had a winning bidder.
“Since then,” said Mitchell, “I’ve been contacted by members of the press about the identity of the person who won the auction to be murdered in a book, but the victim requested that the identity not be revealed until the book was finished.”
Three years later, “Murder by Burger,” is finished and Mitchell plans to reveal the identity of the eBay murder victim this August.
“The victim allowed to pick the method of murder,” said Mitchell. “When the character in the novel modeled after the winning bidder is revealed, I’m sure people will agree that the method is appropriate.”
In response to the accusation of being like the cannibal in Germany, Mitchell said, “Nobody is being harmed in real life and thousands of people are murdered in mystery books every year. This was an entertaining way to create a new character for the book, and it’s the kind of thing that matches the tone and style of my books, especially this one.”
According to Mitchell, “Murder by Burger,” is a surrealistic satire on corporate insanity. “It's set in a city permanently enshrouded by fog because of global warming,” said Mitchell. “It’s the perfect location for the HQ of Barto Burger, the world's biggest fast food empire in the near future. The company makes cloned hamburgers -- the entire burger is grown in a cloning lab."
“When the company's president is found dead from eating himself to death,” said Mitchell, “crime consultant Boston Johnson is brought in. A series of equally strange deaths follow, suggesting a string of murders. Boston teams up with a rubbing alcohol-swilling employee of the company to uncover a startling secret in the catacombs deep under the building, and a chilling secret behind the murders.”
Mitchell plans to release the identity of the eBay murder victim on August 1. “I’ll be posting an interview with the victim and excerpts from the novel in which the victim appears on my website at http://www.biffmitchell.com,” said Mitchell.
“Murder by Burger” has not yet been placed with a publisher. “At the moment, I’m looking for an agent,” said Mitchell, “and I think the event on August 1 may help me in that area. In any event, this whole promotion has been fun and I’ve been told the character upon whom the winning bidder was based is believable. This is the kind of thing I would definitely do again.”
About Biff Mitchell:
Biff Mitchell is the author "Heavy Load (Fictionwise)", the world's first laundromance, "The War Bug" (Double Dragon Publishing), a cyberpunk satire set on the Internet 200 years in the future, and 'Team Player' (Double Dragon) a satire on the IT industry. He has a book of short stories, "Surfing in Catal Hyuk" published through lulu.com, and two ebook novellas "Smoke Break"' and "The Baton" published by Echelon Press. He is also the author of eMarketing Tools for Writers (Fictionwise), and has stories and articles published in several anthologies. Mitchell is currently working on his fifth novel, a sequel to "The War Bug," set on the Internet 400 years in the future. Mitchell ran an Olympic level triathlon as part of his research for the novel. His website is at www.biffmitchell.com. The "Murder by Burger" page is at http://www.biffmitchell.com/Murder/murder.html.
Love, romance, innocence, intrigue, danger, and lust. Life is complicated, and love even more so. Life, and love, can be hazardous to a lady's health. Especially if she's fallen in love with a married pop star.
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