I feel your pain lankyogre... kinda wishin' I had bought locally too, but they'll come soon enough.  I think.  Mine says it shipped on the 23rd, but is still only in "Billing Information Received". sadness. I'm not even sure how that could be... that means they should have went out nearly two weeks ago, but that status tends to mean they haven't been picked up yet.  Very odd.

Honestly I was thinking of it more as a way to compare and contrast game types... the shows are more metaphors than anything else.  Though some of the Magnum shows have certainly given me some ideas.  Oh, Kolchak is another one that would have some good ideas, though again he is a bit more of a loner.

Btw, in relation to the Playbypost for the Baltimore game?

The Baltimore Police Department has over 4000 employees.  Civilians, Police Officers, and aux Police officers.
There's no way that any random cop knows the personal motorcycle of any other random cop.

Wait - there is a PBP Baltimore game?  Cool.  And it is certainly possible that an officer could know another officer's 'ride', particularly if they talk at all or both happen to be bikers.

Now back to the regularly scheduled discussion:
Sigma, whereabouts in B-more are you?  I live up in Finksburg.  Anyway, the "Weird Maryland" book should provide some inspiration.

What else?  Obviously there is Black Aggie, but maybe the statue seems so bad because of its relation to the individual that was buried under her? More info here: http://lib.umd.edu/archivesum/actions.DisplayEADDoc.do;jsessionid=C42C770CA95E56B7FE966D09B3C64B4B?source=MdU.ead.histms.0012.xml&style=ead

Fort McHenry would be a great site for some stories, and Fells Point as well.  Locust point was where the original Port of Baltimore was, and could be used heavily.  Also, maybe the fire was started when something trapped here got loose.

Baltimore has a lot of sites and monuments and a lot of 'back alleys' as well.  Many things could lose themselves here.  According to Wikipedia, at least, it was once the second largest port for immigration.

So anyway, there are lots of possible connections and a number of 'secret' facilities around too.  There is a definite FBI presense - their building is over in Security.

Let's not forget, also, that Gettysburg is right up the road as are some other battlefields.  Harper's Ferry isn't far either, and Camp David sits int he middle of one of our parks (not necessarily supernatural, but could be interesting to bring into play).

Oh my gosh... I love the 'Miami Vice Wardens' idea...

Just followed the 'Father Dowling' trail... interesting that it is set in Chicago, eh?

Well, on that subject this series should be helpful, though it doesn't hit every state (yet):
http://books.google.com/books?id=L0iv57e2mXEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=weird+maryland&source=bl&ots=vjR4RqmE3Y&sig=GPh-eeUZRGOBUe74kC-NBhBEWjE&hl=en&ei=IYMrTNmRB8X7lweTwrTrAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

It is the "Weird <state name>" series.

Regarding Hawaii, sure there are ferrys, both wet (boats) and dry (air - helicopter or airplane). 

This gives some info:
http://www.gladtravel.com/HI-info/hawaiiislandhopping.aspx

Hi all!  This will be similar to some other questions I've seen, but I still want to throw it out there.

Basically, how close is too close as far as following a similar build-up, at least, in a story, to what a major author has already done/used?  I am not talking about intentional copying, but how certain elements are common to a given genre or situation.

More details:

So I was back reading one of my favorite author's (John Ringo) first books.  Definitely the first in his most major series, but perhaps his actual first book.  I started re-reading it because I like his style and how he accomplishes certain things like avoiding exposition, so I wanted to sort of take a look at his style again.  Ok, and I just really like it.

Anyway, he writes a lot about near-future alien invasions of Earth, and he writes from a very 'down-to-earth' viewpoint, generally at or near "grunt" level, if you will.

An author (who is occasionally mentioned in Ringo's books, as it happens) in a similar vein is David Weber, who tends to write far future space navy battles.

My story contains elements of both, in a mid-future timeframe.  However, upon re-reading I am discovering certain common elements that in many cases must be there: presidential address to the nation(s, in this case), power armor, cabinet-level briefings, ship workups and more. 

So how bad is this little discovery, have others encountered it before, and what things in other genres (or this one - scifi) do you find are common and almost required elements?  Thanks!

Congratulations on making the decision!   Now here are my first two cents:

1. Keep writing.  Let the story be whatever length it takes, and keep writing until it is done.  Try to be consistent about writing each day if you can, but don't put it off forever.

2. Revise later.  Revision during the first draft will only keep you from finishing.  At least this is what I have found.  It isn't the same for everyone.

Have fun!

Yeah, I started thinking about what to put on a screen, then I had an epiphany.  I thought, 'Wait, this is being produced BY gamers!'  Then I looked in the back and lo and behold, there was most of the info you should need.  Ahhh... competence and foresight... what a wonderful thing!  Yay Evil Hat.