To err is human, to blog divine
Came across this, this morning, and was delighted:
As he went to sit, putting his stick and hat on the desk, he looked at Bliss.
'Your face is vaguely familiar,' he said.
'My name is Bliss,' replied the detective.
The eyes of the two men met.
So this was Bliss: Maurice averted his eyes from that defiant stare.
'I'm sorry - I thought I knew you.'
He seated himself carefully near the desk, placed his hat on the table and drew off his gloves.
It's from The Ringer, a famous mystery novel published in 1926 by one of the all-time great mystery writers, Edgar Wallace. Wallace wrote The Angel of Terror, and The Dark Eyes of London (turned into a fun Bela Lugosi film in 1939; the first film ever to receive Britain's 'H' rating for 'Horrific' content). With Merian C. Cooper, Wallace, wrote the original story upon which the screenplay for the classic King Kong (1933) was based. Yes, I'm all over the place because I love old horror and mystery, but I actually DO have a point - about writing. My point is, Edgar Wallace was no slouch. He was no amateur self-pub. He knew his business. And (please, see above if you don't believe me), in one of his most acclaimed novels, in the space of seven sentences, in a moment of introduction, he has one of his chief villains, Maurice Meister, dispose of his hat twice in two different places in the room.
I love Edgar Wallce's work. I take no pleasure in pointing out a mistake. I take inspiration, and offer the same to you, fellow author. Even the great writers of history, on occasion, did an 'oops'. And sometimes their editors missed them and they got into print. I'm not the only one. And neither are you.
Reread your work. Convert the doc to a pdf and enlarge it to help overcome the brain's unique ability to read through errors without seeing them. Find literate, competent, honest beta readers. Edit carefully. Happy reading and writing. Be well.
As he went to sit, putting his stick and hat on the desk, he looked at Bliss.
'Your face is vaguely familiar,' he said.
'My name is Bliss,' replied the detective.
The eyes of the two men met.
So this was Bliss: Maurice averted his eyes from that defiant stare.
'I'm sorry - I thought I knew you.'
He seated himself carefully near the desk, placed his hat on the table and drew off his gloves.
It's from The Ringer, a famous mystery novel published in 1926 by one of the all-time great mystery writers, Edgar Wallace. Wallace wrote The Angel of Terror, and The Dark Eyes of London (turned into a fun Bela Lugosi film in 1939; the first film ever to receive Britain's 'H' rating for 'Horrific' content). With Merian C. Cooper, Wallace, wrote the original story upon which the screenplay for the classic King Kong (1933) was based. Yes, I'm all over the place because I love old horror and mystery, but I actually DO have a point - about writing. My point is, Edgar Wallace was no slouch. He was no amateur self-pub. He knew his business. And (please, see above if you don't believe me), in one of his most acclaimed novels, in the space of seven sentences, in a moment of introduction, he has one of his chief villains, Maurice Meister, dispose of his hat twice in two different places in the room.
I love Edgar Wallce's work. I take no pleasure in pointing out a mistake. I take inspiration, and offer the same to you, fellow author. Even the great writers of history, on occasion, did an 'oops'. And sometimes their editors missed them and they got into print. I'm not the only one. And neither are you.
Reread your work. Convert the doc to a pdf and enlarge it to help overcome the brain's unique ability to read through errors without seeing them. Find literate, competent, honest beta readers. Edit carefully. Happy reading and writing. Be well.
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