Truth and Fiction in the DaVinci Code

My Review of Truth and Fiction in the DaVinci Code


Why do we care if this mystery novel got it’s facts right? It’s an incredibly exciting and well written mystery as Ehrman puts it! The problem; Brown asserts that the basis of the entire novel is factual. Ehrman believes that a work as popular as this and with as much influence should indeed have its fact right or not claim to be based on fact.

Bart Ehrman, historian and chair of religious studies at UNC, reviews Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code from a historical background, avoiding any theology or philosophical opinions. After reading this novel, my curiosity was piqued. I did my own research, but I wish that this book had been written. It would have saved me hours. Particularly convenient is that Ehrman sums his findings up in the introduction with 10 factual errors found in the book. So if a person is interested in just one topic…it can easily be found without having to wade though the entire book. Not an unpleasant task when it comes to this clear and interesting book.

More and More - Podcasting

Wow!! Everyday Emma gets more and more active!!! I love being with here. The novel is going well.. And our podcasting is going well...

Doug

Novel Progress

Gotten behind on my word count again... So I reformated my word counts again. Now I have to go for 2333 words a day up from 2105 which was up from 1667. I know I can do it.. I am determined to stay on count!!

you can check my new word count below.


16. 17333
17. 19666
18. 21999
19. 24332
20. 26665
21. 28998
22. 31331
23. 33664
24. 35997
25. 38330
26. 40663
27. 42996
28. 45329
29. 47662
30. 50000

My Amazing Daughter

It is really really amazing how beautiful my daughter is. She is just a wonderful person. She makes life so full so neat so amazing. We change only half the number of diapers we use too!

more laters

Doug

Novel Progress

Sorry! All my spare time is been taking up lately writing on my novel, podcasting or emma and naomi.

But I have made progress I passed the 10000 word mark and recaculated how many words I need to have each day to account for the last 19 days. Below is that workd count.


Day 12 12105
Day 13 14210
Day 14 16315
Day 15 18420
Day 16 20525
Day 17 22630
Day 18 24735
Day 19 26840
Day 20 28945
Day 21 31050
Day 22 33155
Day 23 35260
Day 24 37365
Day 25 39470
Day 26 41575
Day 27 43680
Day 28 45785
Day 29 47890
Day 30 50000


more later

More Stuff...

Well I have been able to maintain my novel at the same level of "behindness" in more word count. I am about 5,000 words behind. Right now!

Also my friend clint and I's podcast is taking off nicely....Check out the link below...

http://www.clintanddoug.info

(There is no further content today under the read more link)

Novel Progress

I have skipped a couple of days! I am very very behind on my word count. I suppose to be at 6,667 and right now I am at only 3,200. The election got me behind but I am going to get there. I did do some righting on the novel today.

I will post some excerpt from today. Here it is:

“Yeah” says Darrell “ I have done the mathematically calculations. I need to eat 1.6 oz every minute in order to eat the whole steak in forty-five minutes. That will leave me fifteen minutes to eat the bake potato, salad and roll”

Concede

For the good of the Nation!! For the good of the World!! WE are talking about 125,000 votes... It is over over



CONCEDE!!!

I Started My Novel Today

It has begun. I have started my novel. The working title is "Convoy". I am only going to post excerpts from novel. Not whole parts. Here is today's tidbit.

The waitress moves 3 feet from the grill cook and begins at the top of her lungs.

“I HAVE ONE HASHBROWN SCATTERED, COVERED, SMOTHERED, CHUNKED, TOPPED AND DROWNED TWO EGGS OVER EASY AND PECAN WAFFLE DENVER OMELET PATTY MELT WITH FRIES HASHBROWN SCATTERED COVERED AND SMOTHERED THREE EGGS AND HAM AND DOUBLE ORDER OF CHOCOLATE PECAN WAFFLE”, dragging off her cigarette barely hanging in her mouth.

Hey for me it is all about fun and writing. Not going to edit till later. Not to late for you to join in..


Later

Next Month..

One day I am going to write a novel! That is me! I have said this so many times.

What has stopped me? A Couple of Excuses:

1) "I need to take a 3 month hiatus from work to start my novel"
2) "I have No Plot!"
3) "I have No Time!"
4) "I want it to be perfect"

Well I found the perfect solution and it starts in two days.
The National Novel Writing Month known as NaNoWriMo to regulars.

So What is NaNoWriMo?

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over talent and craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.

As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and -- when the thing is done -- the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.

In 2003, we had about 25,000 participants. Over 3500 of them crossed the 50k finish line by the midnight deadline, entering into the annals of NaNoWriMo superstardom forever. They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.

So, to recap:

What: Writing one 50,000-word novel from scratch in a month's time.

Who: You! We can't do this unless we have some other people trying it as well. Let's write laughably awful yet lengthy prose together.

Why: The reasons are endless! To actively participate in one of our era's most enchanting art forms! To write without having to obsess over quality. To be able to make obscure references to passages from your novel at parties. To be able to mock real novelists who dawdle on and on, taking far longer than 30 days to produce their work.

When: Sign-ups began October 1, 2004. Writing begins November 1. To be added to the official list of winners, you must reach the 50,000-word mark by November 30 at midnight. Once your novel has been verified by our web-based team of robotic word counters, the partying begins.

As Chris Baty states in his book, "No Plot? No Problem!", The mystery machine to writing a novel is a Deadline. So I am doing it! I am going to write a novel in 30 days. I am also going to blog excerpts from my nove with many othersl.

One day I am going to write a novel!! That day starts in two days. And you can watch the progress!!