Don't read this, read that

I've been looking at a few blogs by fellow authors and I have come across one which is quite remarkable. Elizabeth (she doesn't give a surname) is an unpublished writer whose magnum opus is a book based on a real jewel theft in the France of Marie Antoinette. Like any historical novelist, she has done research that is unlikely to find its way into the final product. In fact, she's done a lot of research. And rather than waste it, she publishes it on her blog. So here, in convenient bite-sized chunks, is everything you might want to know about the characters, politics, buildings and even textiles of late 18^th century France. If anyone is studying the period at school (does anyone cover the French Revolution at school nowadays?), it's a wonderful resource. Check it out at http://queensransom.wordpress.com/

Elizabeth's blog is a work of great generosity. She's put masses of work into it and gets around 100 hits a day, but she doesn't even have an actual book to promote. In terms of marketing and self-interest, it seems to me to be an exercise of dubious worth. But how I wish there were more blogs like hers. If you have any interest in this period of history, you should get over there and have a look.