God this just happened to me today. I had recently bought a copy of Pillars of the earth and was killing a few minutes before an appointment. The author starts off just telking a nice story of how he became I treated in cathedrals in his younger years even as he was not religious and how everyone thought he was nuts for writing something g other than the spy novels he was making bank with through the 80s. Then he mentions getting stuck on the last act until he decided tie into some very specific historical events of which I'm knowledgeable ans its like dammnit!