Have you ever heard of the Red String of Fate? Author Stacey J. Mitchell has a new, unique take on it that will keep you turning the pages of her book Read Threads to find out more. What are the red threads? Where are they coming from? What do they mean? The idea of...
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How Do You Name Your Characters?
The names you give your characters are more important than you may realize, but how easy is it to choose a name which creates the right impression of your character? Not so easy! Everyone has a different impression of common names because most readers have met Sarahs...
Killer Menu Misspelling
I couldn't resist posting a picture of this menu misspelling and the image it conjures - diners must have been calling the local fire department!
“Literally” Is The New “Figuratively”…And Other Word Anomalies
Language evolution is an understandable and even necessary thing – linguists agree that when a language stops evolving, it quickly becomes a dead language. But English is undergoing an interesting type of evolution: word definitions are changing and expanding to...
eBook Plague – Errors Aplenty
“Annoying.” “Very irritating.” These are just a couple of the most common descriptives readers are using when talking about their frustrations with the numerous errors in e-books. These readers are asking Amazon and other e-book distributors for refunds without...
Hot Today, Cold Tamale…Another Menu Misspelling
Restaurant menus are fertile grounds for misspellings that are either funny or create double entendres. This one actually gave its customers the wrong impression, as the entire dish was hot: The funny thing is that "chili" was used in almost every dish on the menu,...
“Do You Pop Out At Parties?” And Other Odd Phrasings
Some of you will recognize the title quote, "Do you pop out at parties?", from the classic TV show I Love Lucy. But to many others, it sounds like a terrible wardrobe malfunction. And that's why it was a terrible advertising idea from a major women's clothing...
Tuxedoed Writing
Will Rogers, Jr. once advised a fellow actor, “Don't ever take a dramatic lesson. They will try to put your voice in a dinner jacket, and people like their hominy and grits in everyday clothes." The actor – Dale Robertson – followed Rogers’s advice and became a highly...
The Joys of Language Evolution
No one likes change. Or so they say. The English language is in a constant state of evolution. Some people think it’s a bad thing and mourn the idea of static language. I think it’s a good thing – even an exciting thing – especially for writers. Why is this a good...
How Many Bananas?
The saddest misprint is a huge misprint. I found this mistake on a huge banner at a picnic event, and the sentence above was, unfortunately, one of the selling points of the product. The "e" has been left off from the word "one". It should read "More potassium...