Novel Blog - Writing The Great American Novel

I stumbled across a copy of the May 2005 issue of National Geographic recently. I am not a subscriber, but the top on the cover intrigued me when I ran across it in the "share" bin at the local library and I picked up a copy to take home.

Please don't misunderstand, I did not steal the magazine. Our library has a bin of magazines that are full of back issues that are free for the taking. The idea is that when you buy magazines and are finished reading them you drop them in the "share" bin for others to enjoy. It's a good idea and I've shared several magazines this way.

This particular issue of National Geographic features "Poison: 12 Toxic Tales", which is a series of articles about various types of poisons including a few regarding poison as a murder weapon. One of the most interesting articles (page 20), Death in Venice, featured some details about the life and times of Pope Alexander VI - The Borgias.

It seems that Alexander VI was fond of poisoning his dinner guests and in return took over their landholdings. It has the sound of a nice novel plot, don't you think?