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Just watched a film about the Zodiac serial killer. Close to three hours, but well done. A newspaper cartoonist, who is privy to many of the facts about the killings through co-workers, decides to write a book about him. The author uncovered new evidence that led the police back to their main suspect, a convicted pedophile, from years earlier. They were getting ready to re-interview him based on the new evidence, including a positive ID by a Zodiac survivor out of a photo lineup, but the suspect died of a heart attack before they could do so. I'm guessing he didn't make the cut for purgatory, where naughty Catholics go.

Just watched Silence of the Lambs for the first time in 25 years. Anthony Hopkins was brilliant right up to his hilarious final scene in Haiti. The serial killer Buffalo Bill, who was the subject of the FBI's manhunt, was less interesting, at least until Agent Starling (Jodie Foster) got to his house. That was intense.

Picked up an important item to research. When do dead bodies start to smell? A quick search suggests an average of 24-36 hours, although it can be as little as 8-12 depending on temperature and humidity.

From https://www.quora.com/Decomposition-How … -smelling:

I see now why Seven was rated so highly. I saw this decades ago. The ending was a 10 out of 10.

Got it. As soon as the third episode is available, I'll do a marathon.

Unfortunately, streaming of Amazon's US content doesn't work from Canada due to licensing issues. They recognize I'm in Canada and prevent me from renting. There are ways to trick Amazon, but, as a writer who may one day publish a copyrighted work, I want to respect their license, no matter how dumb it is. Even the 1945 version on Youtube is still copyrighted, so that's out too. I'm allowed to buy the Kindle book you showed me on Amazon, so I'll go with that.

There's a 2016 remake with Aidan Turner (never heard of him). It sells for $35 on DVD, $30 for Blue-ray. I'd love to see a modern version, but not for that money. Neither Amazon, Netflix, or Youtube have newer versions to rent in Canada. There's a 1945 version in English and a 1987 Soviet version available on Youtube that I'll check out tomorrow.

I own Angels & Demons by Dan Brown. It has some similarities to what I'm doing (Rome and murders). Time to dust it off.

Just saw Solo. No wonder it didn't make more money. It didn't have the magic of Star Wars. They really should have used the classic Star Wars scroll for these anthology films. Also, more of the original Star Wars music. As is, it's just another meh sci-fi film. Three stars.

I just read the first cartoon. While that type of humor appeals to me in small doses, I'm trying for a Catholic-friendly story this time. Although the ending I have in mind differs from Revelation, it will be very Christian. I read the Lord of the World, which is a 100-year-old Catholic novel about the End Times recommended by Pope Francis, and it simply omitted the troublesome part where humans are judged and sent to hell for eternity. My book summary will be clear that it's a story about a Catholic orphan who may be Christ returned in the flesh. Fundamentalists would disapprove since they take literally the angel's statement to the apostles that Christ will return in the same form as when he left (i.e., an adult God, roughly thirty years old). The Pope's Council of Cardinal Advisers will debate that issue early in the book since it needs to be addressed.

I don't know yet what to change about New Testament events that Connor observes. I'm thinking of ramping up slowly on those changes, starting with subtle differences that the religious characters in the story find curious (e.g., some of the wording of Jesus's sermons). That could be explained by the fact that Jesus gave those sermons many times all over Galilee and could have changed them to suit His audience. I'm hoping to build up to one striking change that leaves the characters awed, if troubled. It gets resolved cleanly at the end of book one. Nothing as crazy as Christ having a child, although that idea sold a lot of books, just not to good Catholics.

I don't plan to kill one per chapter, but yes it will be a large number.

I'm not sure yet how to deal with the fact that the police would normally put together a large task force to capture a serial killer, especially one killing cardinals in Rome. I'd rather not do a task force since it requires other unnecessary characters and a lot more information about police procedures, which I don't yet have. Even if I wanted to do it, I'd have to base it off how the US would handle the situation, since there's no information available in English about Italian police procedures. The Vatican's Secretary of State (the most senior position among cardinals) will be involved in both halves of the story (Connor, serial killings) as a proxy for an ailing pope (he appears at the end of book one). Since the Vatican believes it's the Antichrist, I'm considering having the cardinal insist on secrecy to avoid freaking out the whole world. That would allow me to limit the number of police personnel involved to a manageable number. There would be obvious rumors about multiple deaths and a possible serial killer, but the Vatican and police could deny it. They could get away with that because many of the deaths will seem like natural causes, accidents, even suicide. The number of outright murders is still up in the air. I plan to have a female police detective and her counterpart from the Vatican police as the lead investigators.

What do you think?

EDIT: There won't be a separate chapter for each of Jesus's events. Events in close proximity to each other in Galilee will be covered in the same chapter. Jerusalem will probably need two or three chapters.