Some Random Thoughts

I haven't posted in a while - been doing a lot of 'other' writing - my journal, facebook, Twitter, etc..... But a few things have been floating around in my brain....

If you love historical novels and mysteries, why not combine them? I have been reading several series that are really good - Steven Saylor's 'Roma Sub Rosa' series takes place in ancient Rome, at the end of the Republican era (70 - 30 BC) and feature a character named Gordianus the Finder, who resolves various mysteries involving historical characters such as Pompey, Cicero, Julius Caesar, etc. PC (Paul) Doherty has several series; two which I have anjoyed so far are his ancient Egypt mysteries (they take place in the 1350 BC era) featuring Amerotke the judge, and his medieval series with Hugh Corbett that takes place around 1300 AD. They are all valid mystery stories, with historical characters tightly woven in, and are based on real events that have been fleshed out by the authors. Excellent reading.

I thought this was a great quote by Philip Cioffari - "All writing is a combination of personal details, and things you hear from other people and things you make up." Even though grammatically-challenged, I feel like it sums up fiction writing very well.
Even some news reporting.

I don't know how the Obama Administration expects the carmakers to meet the 35.5 fleet mpg goal by 2016, given their precarious situation, the fact that gas prices have moved off their peak highs from last year and the market-driven products. So in a sense, what this legislatin will do is force the automakers to eliminate vehicles that consumers want to buy, because they will not be able to afford to have them pulling down their mileage averages. Good-bye large SUV's, crossovers, minivans, etc. Another example of the creeping-socialism era that we have entered. And strangely enough, the automakers seem to be okay with this idea. maybe it's because they feel that they have no choice, given how some of them (GM, Chrysler) are being kept afloat by the government.

Why does my dog insist on going through the wastebaskets and eating the snotty toilet paper and tissues? It is getting to the point where I need to either empty the wastebaskets daily or make sure that all of the bathroom doors are closed all the time! I even tried the old 'put the empty wastebasket over her head and bang on it' routine, now she just runs away whenever she sees me coming with one..... Grrrr.