Things Writers Can’t Do
by Laurie Cass
by Laurie Cass
Spelling, for instance. Being a writer does not automatically make you an expert speller. Usually we’re pretty good, but there are words that throw us every time. Well, me. I really shouldn’t speak for any of my fellow writers, so please re-title this post in your head as “Things Laurie Can’t Always Do Very Well.” More accurate, but not as catchy.
Back to spelling. In a general sort of way, I’m an excellent speller. Lots of syllables? No problem. The goofy exceptions to the i and e rule? They can’t fool me. But then there are my trouble words. I am so horrible at spelling the word “fluorescent,” as in the light fixture, that spell check doesn’t know what to do with it. (What the heck is that “u” doing so early in the word, anyway?) And as a beginning typist back in eighth grade, it took me a long time to figure out why I was getting marked down for typing “seperate.”
I have a hard time with “privilege,” too, because I desperately want to put a “d” ahead of the letter “g.” And my typing fingers insist that “judgment” should have two of the letter “e.” You know where that second one wants to go, don’t tell me you don’t.
And, sadly, it’s not just spelling skills that I lack. The decision of whether to use “affect” or “effect” in a sentence can throw me into a tizzy. Yes, I know, there are all sorts of methods that can help with the decision, but either I don’t remember the method or it doesn’t apply or I get so irritated at the English language that I end up rewriting the sentence so I don’t have to make that choice. Cheating? Probably. Do I care? Well … yeah. But not enough to reread that chapter in my old grammar textbook.
Then there’s punctuation. Back in my school days, lo these many years ago, I ended up with the idea that the rules for where to put a comma and when to use a semi-colon were written in stone. There was a time and a place for inserting an ellipses and if you had to ask when and where that was, well, maybe you shouldn’t be writing in the first place.
Now I know better. Now I know that certain types of punctuation go in and out of fashion. I know that other countries use punctuation in different ways, and I know that different publishing houses have different policies for things from M dashes to hyphenations. None of this stuff is set in stone.
Which makes me breathe a small sigh of relief, because I have come to the conclusion that I’m never going to learn it all, no matter how hard I try. Besides, I can always look up what I need to know. Or change the sentence structure if I don’t mind cheating a little.
So I’m sorry if this post is destroying any illusions about the expertise you might have thought I had regarding the English language. But what I can do, at least in a halfway decent fashion, is tell a story. And that, I hope, is what writers are supposed to do.
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Blurb: In the bookmobile, librarian Minnie Hamilton and her rescue cat, Eddie, roll out great summer reads to folks all over the lake town of Chilson, Michigan. And when real-life drama turns deadly, Minnie makes sure justice is never overdue.
The bookmobile is making its usual rounds when Minnie and Eddie are flagged down by a woman in distress. The woman’s husband, a famous artist, needs emergency medical care. After getting him into the bookmobile, Minnie races the man to the hospital in time…but his bad luck has only just begun.
After disappearing from the hospital, the artist is discovered slumped over the body of a murdered woman. Minnie knows that her new friend didn’t commit the crime, but the evidence paints an unflattering picture. Now this librarian and her furry friend have to put the investigation in high gear and catch the real killer before someone else checks out.
The bookmobile is making its usual rounds when Minnie and Eddie are flagged down by a woman in distress. The woman’s husband, a famous artist, needs emergency medical care. After getting him into the bookmobile, Minnie races the man to the hospital in time…but his bad luck has only just begun.
After disappearing from the hospital, the artist is discovered slumped over the body of a murdered woman. Minnie knows that her new friend didn’t commit the crime, but the evidence paints an unflattering picture. Now this librarian and her furry friend have to put the investigation in high gear and catch the real killer before someone else checks out.
Tortie Shorties
Book reviews that are short and sweet...just like Truffles!
It was so exciting to spend more time with Minnie and Eddie on their houseboat in this second book in the Bookmobile Cat mystery series. Their adventure begins when Barb McCade, wife of famous artist Russell "Cade", flags down the bookmobile because Cade has had a stroke. Within days Cade is implicated in the murder of a complicated young woman. I really enjoyed the friendship that developed between Minnie and this couple. As in the first book, Eddie is an absolute scene-stealer who manages to play a key role in the capture of a killer, who remained a mystery until the very end.
This book is the purr-fect read for anyone whose world revolves around books and cats! Does that sound like anyone you know? (Truffles is pointing her paw right at me!)
Giveaway: Leave a comment by noon eastern on Monday, July 7th for the chance to win a paperback copy of Tailing a Tabby. (US entries only, please.)
