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Saturday, 1 October 2011

To be or not to what?!?

Like False Money is out in paperback in November and that gave me the chance to do what I've wanted to do since the first hardback edition hit the shops - find and exise a spurious 'be'.  It's the typo that got away from everyone. A real irritation.  They didn't allow any edits when the hardback was reprinted.


I thought I knew where it was - roughly.  But no, it wasn't obvious.  Hiding itself again.  But no word can hide forever in the digital age and I did a search on 'be', checking every one of them.  Who'd have thought there would be so many?  And by a quarter of the way through the book, what a ridiculous word it had become.  Be? be? bebebe.  Beeeee.... A positive buffoon of a word that no writer in their right mind could possibly think of using.  How was I ever to write another book, in fact, because I knew that 'be' would have to show its face.

Found it in the end and exterminated it.  And it's turning into an ok word again, thankfully.  I can see myself using it... or be myself using it... or see myself being it....  And bees apart, I love the new cover.  Here it is:

at

6 comments:

  1. Felicity Hayes-McCoy1 October 2011 at 17:59

    Love the blog and the new cover looks wonderful. (And, oh God, I have all those proofing proofing horroris ahead of be...)

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  2. Penny Grubb1 October 2011 at 19:25

    Heh heh. Thanks, Felicity. It's a strange beast is proofing - beware the be. Do you have a publication date yet?

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  3. Anonymous9 October 2011 at 23:37

    Love that snaking curl of smoke on the cover. The artist is very talented. Who is it?

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  4. Penny Grubb9 October 2011 at 23:39

    Yes, I agree. It's brilliant. He's B Dziok and he's done all my paperback covers.

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  5. Abi Burlingham23 December 2011 at 13:02

    So annoying when this happens. I have a rogue full stop in one of my books - no-one else has mentioned it, but I know it's there! Yes, the more you look at a word and say it, the more bizarre it becomes doesn't it? Glad you shed the 'be' in the end!

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  6. Penny Grubb23 December 2011 at 13:18

    A rogue full stop might not mean much to many, but it's what caused a Saturn 5 rocket to be aborted at massive expense many decades ago. And the knowledge of its existence can be like a stone in the shoe. I spent the last 6 Saturdays signing copies of the de-beed book and now *very* wobbly on how to spell my own name.

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