Richard III’s DNA throws up infidelity surprise
Analysis of DNA from Richard III has thrown up a surprise: evidence of infidelity in his family tree. Depending on where in the family tree it occurred, it could cast doubt on the Tudor claim to the English throne or, indeed, on Richard’s.
Read more here.
Hiding Chekhov’s gun
“Remove everything that has no relevance to the story. If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it’s not going to be fired, it shouldn’t be hanging there.”
-Anton Chekhov
While it’s important to both take out unnecessary elements and provide the readers with adequate foreshadowing, it can be hard to do so and still have plot twists and unpredictability.
Read more here.
Something nice and unexpected
A funny thing happened the other day. Well it wasn’t funny as in ‘laugh out loud’, but it was nice and unexpected. Apparently, it was the annual International Talk Like a Pirate Day. To celebrate that, LibraryThing (a book community I had more or less left a couple of years ago, because the highest number of books you’re allowed to add is just 200, unless you want to upgrade), had arranged a treasure hunt.
There were ten treasures hidden on the LibraryThing website and if we, the enthusiastic treasure hunters, found (solved a puzzle) a certain number of them, we’d be given a free lifetime membership (upgraded). To cut to the chase, I was able to find the six (out of ten) treasures that entitled me to a free upgrade.
I kind of like LibraryThing, because, unlike many other book communities, it will allow me to add non-English books to my shelves. Which is kind of a necessity. At least it’s a very nice feature.
So now I’m back on LibraryThing, feeling quite happy about the whole thing.
