SEVERUS: The Black Caesar

@handyandy said
@Benjamin-Barker
I didn't mean to touch off a squabble, but I thought you would want to know about fundamental errors on the first page of your book. Good grammar is important, no matter who, or at what level, your readers are. Your editor, I'm sorry to say, seems to be incompetent.

That's fine. I'm totally chilled about this and don't have any beef with you, Andy.

The odd thing is my editor isn't incompetent, she's incredibly thorough and earns a living proof reading commercial books everyday. She must have gone through and corrected at least 3 re-writes and I find it highly unlikely that she would let a crippling error go through on page one.

The book was also beta tested by a pro and has been read by many fellow authors from the large writing community of which I am a member. The book has been on sale for 6 months on Amazon and has sold over 1,000 copies. The narrator of the recent audiobook version suggested some editorial changes but she didn't pick up on any grammatical problems on page one.

I take on board your points and I shall feed them back to my editor but I am not losing any sleep about it as you are the first person to notice them. If she concurs with you then these will be very quick to fix indeed.

I'm curious though, did you only read page one? Or did you read the entire book - if so would you say that it's peppered with similar issues? Also, what was your impression of the story? As that's more important to me than any potential grammar issues.

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How much ya got?

I'd also enjoy embarrassing you in a device-free "Academic Challenge".

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"Given that the troll Wolfe63 acts like he"s(sic) absolutely
certain that I would fail a test of proficiency in written
English, he should be ready to bet his life savings on a sure thing(sic)"
- Duchess64

The "English-punctuation-and-grammar-troll", Duchess64 shows well once again. She demonstrates a convenient "do as I say, not as I do" philosophy as she confidently throws pebbles from her plate-glass out-house.

Please lady. Don't.

You're no match for me.

Your little online "intellectual" charade has fooled no one of consequence.

But, I'll call your bluff: I'll bet you $5,000 USD that you cannot best me in a device-free "Academic Challenge".

Your plagiaristic parachute will not be available.

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You're so totally out of step with the real world - when people read a book for the first time, they don't stop and paw over every single word. They want to turn the page and quickly get immersed in the story. Shakespeare's plays are full of "misspellings", he rarely spelt his own name the same way twice! When it comes to popular fiction characters and story are key and as long as the grammar isn't so jarring as to make it unreadable then most people won't even stop and notice.

So I'm sorry, I'll try harder next time I write a 73,000 word novelisation based on my own original dramatic work (approx. 7 x 60 minute episodes). I'm currently working on a short story version of my screenplay "DEBUSSY'S SLIPPERS" about the fateful meeting between George Gershwin and Maurice Ravel. It will probably be about 40,000 words and I shall be using the same editor so I look forward to you picking that to pieces but not actually having the common courtesy to read the whole thing in context, before you try to discredit it.

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Uh huh, that's what I thought.

Bully tactic 101: Exaggerate and escalate when confronted with credible challenges.
Duchess64 now has a bloody nose.


"I can tolerate occasional slips in grammar..."
-Duchess64

But you don't. You haughtily quote posts and smear them with "(sic)" at every possible opportunity. As if this can somehow discredit the writer and neutralize the post's meaning.

Your hypocrisy is only surpassed by your ugliness in temperament. You are a disturbed individual.
I sincerely hope that you're not frequently attended by children.

@benjamin-barker said
😆😆😆[youtube Grammar Nazi]qmVnr7rsWrE[/youtube]😆😆😆

Good for a morning giggle.
Thanks mate!

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Once you have read all 326 pages of the entire book maybe you'll be able to comment - until then you're simply embarrassing yourself.