The One Percent in Ancient Rome versus the One Percent Today

I love this:

"The tasteless dedication to pretentious excess shown by Lollia Paulina, Caligula's third wife, was hard to parallel. She would bedeck herself with emeralds and pearls whenever she attended even the most modest gathering, taking the receipts with her to show to anyone who doubted [what] her jewelry had cost...." (Pliny, Natural History, 9.117)

Can you imagine what he'd say about the...erm, "understated" display of bling by Hollywood one-percenter Kim Kardashian?

I believe the poor old wheezer would go into cardiac arrest.

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Also, in case you're interested, here's a link to a post I wrote for the fabulous Shelli Johaness Wells on the fine art of ripping out your heart and squeezing it out onto your work: http://www.srjohannes.com/2012/08/finding-emotional-truth-in-historical.html. I'll be sharing more of my ideas on writing historical fiction at the upcoming Writing and Illustrating for Kids SCBWI conference in Birmingham in October.

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In other exciting news, the Decatur Book Festival is this weekend! And guess who I get to squire to two school visits this Friday?  Kendare Blake, author of the fabulous, Ana Dressed in Blood and its sequel, Girl of Nightmares! I loved her books. Creepy, romantic, funny and beautiful works.

Kendare will be presenting on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. at the Teen Stage in front of the old Courthouse.

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On Sunday, I will be helping out at the Michael C. Carlos Museum bookstore booth, from 1-3. So come out and say hello.

At 3:45, I will be introducing the critically acclaimed Gail Tsukiyama, author of A Hundred Flowers, at the Decatur Presbyterian Sanctuary Stage. I have just started the book and I can see why her work is so widely respected. It's haunting, lovely and sad and inspiring all at once. I can't wait to hear her presentation.