This post was going to be about how the US Secret Service formed on June 4, waaaay back in 1778, which impressed the hell out of me. The idea that a country that was still forming, when the British and French were still firing flintlocks and muskets at each other, military strategy was advanced enough to foresee the need for a formal secret service…wow.
I had two different sources that told me that date.
Of course, my grasp of US history is not nearly as strong as someone who was born and raised there, so I did further research and fact-checking in order to write the post, including the official US Secret Service website. Which is hiliariously ironic, when you think about it. A public website for a secret service.
But I digress.
The very official website states the service was formed in 1865, four days after the end of the civil war.
I figure the Secret Service knows when it formed itself best, so I scrapped the original post, and decided to catch up on what I’ve been reading lately. It’s been a while.
Alas, not so many hunks and studs have littered my path.
Rejected fiction books aplenty, though. I don’t think I have sucessfully finished a single fiction title I have started in months. It’s been a very dry spell. I’m over due to fall in love with another series. And another hero(es).
What’s on my readers and in my briefcase:
Lights, Camera, Fiction! by Alfie Thompson, is a book for novelists that takes basic screenwriting techniques and applies them to novel-writing. As some of my major leaps forward in craft occurred after I started to learn the art of screenwriting, this book is a condensed revision course for me.
Bonded in Brazil – a contemporary romance by indie author Rhiannon Ellis. I’ve just started this. The premise looks…interesting. I’ve always had a weak spot for the cliched Mills & Boon style overbearing millionaire protector plots, but it’s been years since I read one. Let’s see if this one delivers the goods.
Machiavelli, Marketing and Management. This is not light summer reading, but it’s fascinating all the same. I picked it up because of the marketing side of it — linked up with Machiavelli made it almost irresistible. I will be a while digesting this, though.
The Unicorn’s Daughter by Norma Beishir. I love, love, love conspiracies. No, I’m not paranoid in the slightest (who said I was? Who said it?). This one looks great, and I can ‘t wait to dig into it. I haven’t cracked the cover yet, but the cover was part of the reason I grabbed it. It reminded me sharply of The Reluctant Agent.
Just finished reading two by John Sandford from different series. Stolen Prey from his “Prey” series. And Shock Wave from his Virgil Flowers series.Prey from Linda Howard, Chasing Fire from Nora Roberts and Crystal Gardens from Amanda Quick. Read Berengaria Brown’s Medieval Menáge series, an old Jory Strong, Skye’s Trail, and… my own Mystic Valley series as I’m working on the next book in that series, Mystic Melody. And finally, read my entire manuscript (49K) of my second Tuatha book, Spear of Retribution. All over the weekend.
Now back to work on Spear. Hope to finish it this week!
Holey moley, you’ve been reading lots! Lots of fiction, I mean! I manage to squeeze in a lot of reading, but not a lot of fiction. I have to be really bitten by a book to go at it hard. Last time that happened it was … god, I can’t even remember the last book that bit me. Damned shame, huh? Most of the time, my internal editor kicks in, and I can’t turn it off.
I’m pretty sure I don’t have an internal editor. If I notice errors (other than spelling!!!) then they’re so huge the book shouldn’t have made it through the editing process. 🙂