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I'm reading 'American Gods' by Neil Gaiman as part of the 'One book, one tweet' book club on Twitter (#1b1t). This is, without doubt, one of the best books I have ever read. Needless to say all of Mr Gaiman's other scribings have been added to my long, long, long Amazon wish list. One day I shall actually make some money and be able to BUY something from that list. Wouldn't that be cool?
But I digress...
Most of the characters are ancient gods who have fallen on hard times and now live as caretakers, fortune tellers,etc. It is a wonderfully well researched book, incorporating mythology and religious practices from around the globe. Some less palatable than others.
Mr Gaiman also took certain liberties. He 'invented' a few facts to fit the narrative. Nothing wrong with that. It's a writers' job.
However, some lazy ass researcher has since written a reference book that includes these 'facts'. (Apparently they thought a work of fiction was a credible source!) Other writers have copied this in their reference books, and we now have a situation where fiction is quoted as fact by several independent authors.
I thought this was amusing until I encountered similar idle work this week.
I spent several days writing and perfecting a synopsis for the WW2 story I previously mentioned. I based this on information from a documentary. (Documentaries are my idea of a good time. That and pizza...) But, when I started to do a bit of research of my own, I discovered that a lot of the 'facts' in this programme were either incorrect or blatant lies!
How are people allowed to get away with this? How come someone can make a documentary when they haven't even bothered to check their info? Now I have to scrap the synopsis that I worked so hard on and start again.
It frustrates me that such indolent people can get jobs in tv, and I can't.
*Shakes fist at the Universe* Bah! Humbug!
I woke up with no voice today. It's starting to come back now - slowly, painfully - three hours later. I hate having a cold. My head is full of fluff and I need to write.
I managed to complete a synopsis for Henge on Friday and got that sent off to Island Pictures.
This was stupid.
What I should have done is waited until today... checked it through again... then ammended the mistake that is glaringly obvious to me now. eg. I have written it like the blurb on the back of a book. I've left questions as to what happens next. Not clearly identified the bad guys.
This is fine for a book. But when writing a synopsis you have to be clear on everything. They neither want nor like surprises. Ugh. I need my brain back. And a gizmo to rewind time...
I am happy with the premise though. 'A lazy cop and a dead Druid battle the forces of darkness in rural Wiltshire.' What do you think? Does it say 'scary but amusing'? I hope so.
In other news I am onto chapter seven of American Gods. This is one of the best books I have ever read. And I have read a LOT. Highly recommend it.
