Fantastic World.
Lots of strange news has been coming out of Egypt lately. First, some scientists, using infrared and modulated thermography (don’t ask me what that means) have been peering through the rocks of the pyramids of Giza, looking for hidden hallways and empty chambers. The Scan Pyramids project, which was launched in October of last year is looking for some tantalizing things. Looking for areas with poor insulation, cracks, and openings in the seemingly smooth-sided pyramids, the project leaders hope to find cavities and chambers beneath the rocks.
Lost treasure chambers? A long-forgotten library of priceless books? Who knows? But it will take the rest of this year for Scan Pyramids to work it out..
However, while those scientists use drones to take images of the pyramids, other Egyptologists surmise they may have found the tomb of the fabled Nefertiti, the queen of Akhenaten. He was the pharaoh who became a heretic when he proposed a religion based on a single god—the Aten, or sun disk. Almost nothing is known of what became of Akhenaten and Nefertiti after their fall from grace, but many Egyptologists believe that Nefertiti was a co-regent with her king during his later years of rule. When he died, she might have become the mysterious Smenkhare, a pharaoh named in the Egyptian histories, but one who left no royal tomb.
Nefertiti, often called the most beautiful woman in history, also seemed to disappear into nowhere. Her tomb and body has never been found.
Now, Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves believes that her tomb is behind that of Tutankhamen, the famous boy king’s. When Howard Carter found “King Tut” in 1922, the opening of the tomb was the wonder of the world. Here was the burial place of a boy of about 19, who had only been on the throne shortly. The tomb appeared to be hastily put together with many items recycled from other burials.
Tut was the son of Akhenaten, but no one is sure who his mother was. It could have been Nefertiti or it could have been Kiya, a minor wife of Akhenaten. The excitement comes into the story when Reeves identified what he called two doorways or entrances behind the current walls of Tut’s burial chamber. They may lead to just more storage chambers or to another royal tomb.
Reeves builds a case that Nefertiti was Tut’s mother, that she was interred first in the rock-cut tomb. Then, when Tut died so suddenly, room was made at the front of Nefertiti’s tomb for the boy’s remains. So, if someone were to drill behind one of those doors, there just discover an astonishingly lavish tomb dedicated to the royal queen.
Reeves peppers his theory with a lot of details that people other than Egyptologists can’t follow, such as saying Tut’s tomb is in a corridor that turns right, rather than left, indicating it was originally for a queen. He also says that items in Tut’s tomb were not designed for him, and that the famous gold mask that lies in the Cairo Egyptian History Museum does not even resemble the boy king at all.
No one will really know if Nefertiti is behind he door, but former antiquities minister Zahi Hawass, who has no more power in Egypt, disregards the whole theory. He says no one should be drilling on that priceless tomb door. That’s because he thinks he already found Nefertiti’s body (which was broadcast on a cable television program and proved to be most unconvincing.)
So, keep tuned. There are power upheavals in Egypt everyday, and no one knows who might authorize drilling behind Tut’s tomb. However, as geologist and Egyptology fan Robert Schoch, Ph.D., reports, the tourism industry is in such bad shape that it would be easy to understand if Egypt would take the gamble to take a peek behind the wall.
The world is waiting for Nefertiti to arise.
space bodies hitting the earth.
years ago, critics were wondering if the lander was worth its $2.5 million price tag. No longer, the discovery of water has made scientists take a new look at Mars.
she decided on suicide. The legend is that she had servant girls sneak in poisonous snakes, hidden in a basket of figs. When two servants allowed themselves to be bitten by the so-called asp (out of loyalty to their queen), then Cleopatra took the snake to her chest and it gave her the killing bite.
Lynn Voedisch 
The Beta Connection/Why Writers Need Test Readers
Every now and then I take a break from stories about our fantastic universe to write about the business of being an author.
Most people think that when the writing of a manuscript is done, and the edits are finished, then it’s time to send the novel on to the publisher. That’s not correct. It now is time to send the manuscript out to trusted readers (some just folks who like to read, some professional writers), and find out how the book feels to them.
Most writers are working in closed room, living the novel in theirown minds. The smart ones go to regular writers groups to get feedback on chapters. But even the writers group members are not reading the book as an whole, as it was intended to be seen. So how to get the published book experience from prospective readers. Beta readers.
Writers generally will find about four trusted friends or associates and ask them to go at it: is the book fun to read? how are the characters? Is the dialogue believable? Did I make any egregious mistakes?
Usually, if your test readers are good, you’ll find out in a couple weeks, maybe three, if your work passes the Everyday Reader test. You have to be careful to pick out readers who like your genre
(I once sent a manuscript of an Egyptian novel to someone who told me she hated reading about Egypt.). They also must be pretty fast readers who have time in their busy lives to breeze through your writing. And lastly, they must be at least decent at grammar and spelling, so they can point errors out to you. And believe me, errors will get past you, no matter how careful you are.
Also tell the test readers this is not an edit. You don’t want a manuscript that’s bleeding red ink with things they’d like to change. This is your book and you don’t want anyone telling you how they would write it. You’re pretty much done with the book and you only want big-picture comments, especially those that tell you if you described a landscape all wrong or if a character always reacts to bad news with stomach pains (these you can vary with headaches and gasps, etc.) Beta readers also can point out repeated words, a real bugaboo of mine.
I wasn’t as lucky as I usually am on my last group of beta requests. One treated it as an editing job (although some of the changes she made were lifesavers), one said she’d be done in two weeks and then suddenly was off the radar. Another had an illness in the family (excused, obviously). And the last sent it in late, but had great info in her comments.
Using the two usable beta reads I had, I was able to add in some seriously needed changes, fix grammatical goofs, and get the state of Connecticut so it sounded right. (I’ve only been there once, and made a few crucial errors.)
Without the comments from my beta readers, I doubt I’d have the air-tight novel I have now (or so I believe). My publisher is busy until the first of the year, so it will go off to him then.
Not too many people know that the best writing is somewhat a group effort, with test readers and professional editors all playing a part.