Egypt is one giant playground for archaeologists--there's so much stuff hidden they'll likely still be digging there when places like Las Vegas and Disneyland are being excavated. (Which would be totally cool, by the way).
Today, ABC News announced a new find of ancient tombs and pyramids--BBC will air a special next week on the find which was discovered by Sarah Parcak with the help of NASA satellite imagery.
By looking at images of the surface in different wavelengths of light, they discovered differences on the ground that reveal the presence of ancient temples, houses and pyramids.
"All of a sudden, these features jump out at you," she said. "It's almost like you've got Superman or Superwoman X-ray vision and you're able to look at the world a little differently."
Pretty nifty! (Now we just need to keep Zahi Hawass away from the find!)
I've entered my students the last two years in the National History Day competition (it's like a nationwide science fair, only for history- so cool!) and this year I had two projects selected to go to the National competition in Washington D.C. this summer. Yay!
Then today I learned that one of the projects--an exhibit on the Geneva Convention--is going to be showcased at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. In the same building as Abraham Lincoln's famous top hat, George Washington's uniform, and Theodore Roosevelt's chaps.
No. Freaking. Way.
I know this isn't writing related, but if I had to tie in writing somehow, I guess this must be how agents feel when they land a novel with a big publishing house. It's totally, totally awesome to have helped these students do something so darn awesome!
I felt like poisoning a monk.
-Umberto Eco on why he wrote the novel The Name of the Rose
I wrote Hatshepsut because the poor woman was going to drive me insane if I didn't get her voice out of my head (and because I've always wanted to time travel to Ancient Egypt). I wrote my newest book because I felt like a prostitute turned Empress was about as fun a story as they come. (I was right!)
Why did you write your story?
Pop the champagne and throw a shrimp on the barbie! I just finished the first draft of my WIP!
Wait, I don't eat shrimp and I'd rather have a glass of wine. Whatever--all I know is that it's DONE!
*breaks into an Egyptian Byzantine happy dance*
This one clocked in at roughly 101,000 words. I say roughly because I actually wrote the last half by hand and then typed it into Word (more on that later). I'm about 30 handwritten pages ahead of what's in Word, but that's my estimate. Not too shabby considering the first draft of Hatshepsut came in at about 120,000 words and had to be chopped.
Now I'm off to celebrate with homemade Rocky Road ice cream with the four-year-old monkey (who has already told me she's happy to publish this book too).
Yay!
*gasps for breath*
Must make it to the finish line. Side cramps are killing me. Feet are burning. Brain is about to explode.
So close... and yet, so far!
I have three scenes left to write. Three! Work is bedlam as we finish the last two weeks of school, but I can still meet my deadline of finishing Draft #1 by the last day of school if I put my head down and push through these last pages.
Throw Gatorade at me (wait, aren't I supposed to drink that?), tempt me with red wine and tiramisu at the finish--I don't care. I MUST FINISH!
And then I must celebrate before I delve into more research and edits. Any suggestions for the grand hullaballoo?
