When writers screw up

by Donna

One of the things we mystery writers know is that our readers are highly erudite and possess both a broad range of expertise and a keen appreciation for accuracy.  In other words, y'all are picky.  We'd better get our facts right, or we'll never hear the end of it.  Woe betide the writer who has his character flick the safety off on a gun that doesn't have one, describes her heroine shifting gears on a car that only comes in an automatic transmission, or routes a chase scene the wrong way up a one-way street.

I've probably committed my share of bloopers and blunders, but nothing like what I pulled off in The Penguin Who Knew Too Much.  And the ironic thing is that my faux pas didn't involve real world facts--I screwed up a detail of my own invented world.  A small detail, sure, but. . .

The offending passage occurred in chapter 33:

"No one should ever talk to the cops without a lawyer," Rob said, shaking his head. I was glad to know that Rob had absorbed that much wisdom from his time at law school. Given Rob's ability to get into trouble, probably worth the whole three years he'd spent learning it, even though he'd never gotten around to taking the bar exam so he could practice law.

I first realized I had a problem when I heard from Letitia Hope on August 22.  She said, in part:

What I'm really wondering, though, is whether you've "taken agin' " Rob for some reason.  I thought he was just fine as an intelligent and charming, but somewhat scattered young man.  In fact, he sounds like he has ADD to me, and if you've based him on someone who hasn't been diagnosed with an attention disorder, perhaps that person should be checked out for it.  Anyway, I'm sure you're going to get tons of letters reminding you that yes, he DID take the bar exam, just before his wedding, in Peacocks (which was referred to again in Puffins, where he is still waiting to hear if he passed), and DID pass it, though just barely, as noted in Flamingos (Chapter 8)!  Not only that, he actually "practiced" for a while, doing "scutwork" for his uncles!

Oops.  She's right.  And she's not the only one who noticed.  A couple of weeks later, on September 8, Phyllis Lewis also emailed me to point out:

One point, though, didn't Rob take the bar exam in Murder with Peacocks sometime in July?

And on September 10, Jessica Milner noted:

I did want to note that there was a problem in The Penguin Who Knew Too Much on page 190.  The paragraph reads that Rob had "never gotten around to taking the bar exam so he could practice law."  Since Rob did take the bar exam in your first Meg book, and his passing the bar showed up as references in other novels, it was confusing.

And on September 30, I heard from Virginia Braxton:

In Murder with Peacocks (paperback pg. 226) you say "Rob went out with his bar exam group to celebrate getting through the bar exams...." I believe that in one of the other books you mentioned that he managed to pass the bar. But in The Penguin ... (hardback pg. 190) you say "[Rob had] ... never gotten around to taking the bar exam so he could practice law."

I confess: I haven't gotten around to developing the kind of detailed character bible some writers use.  I've been relying on memory and the ability to do text searches, and that's not a good thing.  I'm putting that character bible on my project list.  So it doesn't surprise me that I goofed on a detail.  What amazes me is that not just one but four readers noticed.  Dang, but you guys are sharp!

Note that these aren't the only errors these and other readers have pointed out, just the most glaring, egregious one that can't be explained away by anything but "Oops!"

I'll have to come up with some explanation in Meg's world.  I suspect there was a phase where she wasn't sure whether or not he really did take the bar exam.  Maybe she suspected he blew it off and fibbed about it.  A suspicion that could have been intensified if she found out the legal scutwork he did for his uncles was nothing that couldn't have been done by a paralegal.  And if there's some kind of document you get to prove that you've been admitted to the bar in the Commonwealth of Virginia, Rob has probably long since misplaced it.

Yeah, this is sounding good.  So the official explanation is that yes, Meg had those thoughts about Rob never getting around to taking the bar exam at a moment when she was particularly exasperated with him and inclined to doubt anything and everything he said--Rob has that effect on people.  I'm happy to report that she subsequently checked out Rob's credentials and verified that he did manage to squeak through the bar exam.  Luckily she kept her suspicions to herself, so she didn't have to go around publicly apologizing to Rob for doubting him--although she was extraordinarily nice to him for several weeks, to make up for having privately doubted him. 

But to answer Letitia Hope's question about whether I've "taken agin" Rob--gee, I hope not.  Because you see--confession time--Rob is really me.  Not the whole of me, I hasten to add.  Only one side of me.  Meg's also me.  Meg's the part of me that tidies up the messy house; Rob's the part that creates the messes in the first place.  Meg tries to pay the bills on time and keep up with the filing; Rob doesn't even notice the bills and papers piling up. My Meg side does a detailed outline for each book and finishes her quota of writing every day; it's the Rob side that wants to blow it all off today and stay up till two playing Sims or Civilization, or dancing around the house listening to old Stones songs on the iPod. 

Of course, Rob's also the part of me that says, "Cool--extreme croquet!" or "Hey, lets go to the zoo and see the penguins."  Someone to whom I explained this said, "Oh, I see; he's your creative side."  No. True creativity isn't feckless and undisciplined.  I see creativity as arising from the balance between the Rob side and the Meg side; between the childlike, impulsive, spontaneous side of me and the side that takes all those thoughts and sensations and marshals them into some kind of order until they turn into a book.

I think Freudians explain all this in terms of the id, ego, and superego; popular psychology calls it left brain and right brain; I've been known to point out that I'm a Sagittarius with a Virgo moon.  Whatever it is, it keeps me sane, drives me crazy, and ultimately explains the person and the writer I am.  When I'm having a particularly productive, organized, and calm day, I sometimes find myself thinking that Meg would be proud of me.  And on other kinds of days--well, a fair number of Rob's quirks and adventures are semi-autobiographical.

So no, I haven't really taken agin Rob.  Meg was just having a moment of exasperation, and I've grown rather fond of that feckless but charming and entertaining side of my personality. Even when it does lead me into the occasional really silly blooper.

Comments

[Denise Swanson]

Donna,

What you really don't want to do is get information wrong about a classic car. In my third book, my sleuth gets a '57 Bel Air and I mistakenly had her fasten the rear seat seatbelts. I still get e-mail about that goof.

By the way, my explaination is that when her father and godfather restored the car for her they put in a safety package which included the rear seatbelts.

[Travis Erwin]

In times liek this it is best to quote Homer Simpson, "D'Oh!"

[Clea Simon]

There but for the grace of the pointy-eared cat goddess go I - or all of us - Donna. I think 'fessing up shows your grace and professional attitude, and I trust readers will forgive you. (Just don't mess up anything with a gun! Oh man... gun nuts...)

[Marianne]

Donna, I have loved your books and read them again and again. Specifically to write a body of work review for my blog - but haven't gotten around to it yet. Life got busy. Anyway, the reason I read them over again was your turn of phrase, timing and story telling. Love the characters, plotting, and cleverness in your writing. I even bought copies of the books and sent them to my mum and sister in Australia!

I noticed the faux pas regarding Rob's bar exam. However, it was such a spiffingly good paragraph that I didn't mind at all.

Cheers,
Marianne

[Tee Ransone]

Meg/Rob/Donna:

I read and re-read your books; pass them around; and wake up my husband laughing in bed!

Yes, I noticed the "oops" about Rob and I am also one of those people that count typos. (Just a side effect of my day job.) But I figured someone else would tell you (they did) and you didn't need me saying "me too!"

Don't worry about it and please keep writing!!!