Tarot
Almost finished packing for Novacon. Will add toothbrush and inhalers tomorrow morning. I'm going via my nephews' carrying a large bag of Brio wooden railway (early Xmas present that would cost a small fortune to mail). I look forward to going down the park with them, pushing swings and playing games in general.
(Note to new readers, because they seem to be a lot of you recently - my nephews are the sons of my late sister Rosalie. She died of cancer a couple of years ago, leaving two pre-school children. Their father, David, has proved to be a fantastic single parent and puts ordinary mortals to shame by never forgetting a birthday on Rosalie's side of the family and making us all feel wonderfully welcome whenever we drop by. The boys are a credit to him and to their mother. Happy, well-adjusted, sociable and generally delightful.)
I've also packed several Tarot decks. Sitting on a con table at Novacon can often by a slow job, so reading Tarot for people helps to pass the time. I recently finished 'Last Call' by Tim Powers which has a plot based around Tarot. He'd done reasonable research, especially on some of the historical Italian decks and the major arcana, but he shot himself in the foot as far as I was concerned when he had the five of diamonds used as a card to predict future wealth. 5 diamonds (or coins/discs) is *always*, in every deck I have ever owned and plenty that I have not, used to represent financial disaster and poverty.
I get annoyed by flawed research, whatever the topic of a book. Bad science can do it. Bad historical research can do it. And, I've now discovered that bad Tarot can do it. (whether you as a writer believe in it or not is irrelevant, the details should still be correct)
(Note to new readers, because they seem to be a lot of you recently - my nephews are the sons of my late sister Rosalie. She died of cancer a couple of years ago, leaving two pre-school children. Their father, David, has proved to be a fantastic single parent and puts ordinary mortals to shame by never forgetting a birthday on Rosalie's side of the family and making us all feel wonderfully welcome whenever we drop by. The boys are a credit to him and to their mother. Happy, well-adjusted, sociable and generally delightful.)
I've also packed several Tarot decks. Sitting on a con table at Novacon can often by a slow job, so reading Tarot for people helps to pass the time. I recently finished 'Last Call' by Tim Powers which has a plot based around Tarot. He'd done reasonable research, especially on some of the historical Italian decks and the major arcana, but he shot himself in the foot as far as I was concerned when he had the five of diamonds used as a card to predict future wealth. 5 diamonds (or coins/discs) is *always*, in every deck I have ever owned and plenty that I have not, used to represent financial disaster and poverty.
I get annoyed by flawed research, whatever the topic of a book. Bad science can do it. Bad historical research can do it. And, I've now discovered that bad Tarot can do it. (whether you as a writer believe in it or not is irrelevant, the details should still be correct)