Hey guys;
I have just had a three star review of 'Jack Ketch's Puppets' with a few comments that annoyed me. I appreciate the comments or the review rating could have been worse, but something that was said worried me.
Why did it worry me? Because a few weeks ago, another friend of mine said a similar thing. It was only when I sat and talked with him that he understood what I had done, and thus, I understood what he had said.
'Jack Ketch's Puppets' and my 'Borough Boys' series is set in 1850s Leicester, England.
Much of the way that it is written reflects the language and dialect of the time, where I have chosen to use it. Consequently, what my friend thought was carelessness and spelling mistakes or grammar inaccuracies were in fact deliberately 'penned' to reflect the age and the background of my characters.
To someone who has been taught English to rules, it must seem that it is festooned with errors, but please, believe me, many are actually there as the words people would have used in that period.
Remember, in 1850, England, very few people received formal education. School was the domain of the rich; poor schools and raged schools were designed to take the poor off the streets and try and give them some foundation. However, few could read and / or write, and most signed their names with a cross or a mark.
So - the cautionary note!
Do not read my series expecting it to be written in 21st century 'Queen's English'. It isn't. The language, terminology and grammar is based on then , not now, and reflects the age.
I have a team of proof-readers who have done a sterling job, since revised first edition was republished, and in book #2 I included a glossary of terms, against my better judgement, and will do so in book #3.
However, what I will not change is the words that a man or woman in 1850 Leicester would have used, spelling and grammar included!
Please be aware, and do not assume them to be careless errors on my part.
Promoting an author writing Victorian crime and murder novels, with a timeline in 19th century Leicester -'The Borough Boys' series. Book one, 'Jack Ketch's Puppets', introducing Samson Shepherd. Book two, 'Death lurks in Cock Muck Hill'. Book three, 'Without Fear or Favour'. New works always in progress.
Monday 9 September 2013
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