Showing posts with label research. Show all posts
Showing posts with label research. Show all posts

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Authors Who Make Mistakes Always Get Caught

Hi Everyone,

When writing a story even though it's fiction you need to be accurate.  In my short story, All Bets Are Off, I made a mistake. This is the first time I made a serious mistake and was caught.  It could be I've made others, and I didn't get caught.  I hope not. 

One thing I noticed is that the person who reviewed All Bets Are Off talks about the story as if she read it in print, but she really listened to an audio copy. 

This review was not horrible, but it was embarrassing.  After all I'm seventy years old and I should know my anatomy, but I failed and was told about it in a public review.  The below review is only a partial. 

The set up was good, the story OK. Contemporary romance isn’t my favorite genre, but because of the addiction angle I wanted to give it a try. Then there is the sex. I enjoy sex scenes in my stories and this book has 2 such scenes. The first is the better of the two. I was thoroughly getting into it but then the man stuck his tongue in her uterus. Yep. Uterus. Briefly, I hoped the story was going to take on some mutant scifi elements, but alas, it did not. To get to the uterus, you have to travel the entire vaginal canal and then get past the cervix. The cervix doesn’t let just any old object enter the uterus, being perhaps 1/8 inch opening nearly all the time (common exception is when a baby is headed out). So either the man had a very long and narrow tongue, or the woman had some mutant uterus that sat in the vaginal canal with the wide open cervix. Anyway, here is the Wikipedia article - and yes, it is safe for work. So I was totally into this sex scene – there was heat between the characters, great descriptors, etc. and then he sticks his tongue in her uterus. I giggled, totally taken out of the moment. At best, this is a big typo. At worst, the author is not well informed on the female genitals/reproductive organs. But, other than this one typo (I will be generous in my thoughts), the story flowed smoothly and was fun. 

If you would like to read more go to this URL: 
http://dabofdarkness.com/2014/09/15/all-bets-are-off-by-sandra-k-marshall/

Many authors get ridiculed and torn apart for mistakes they make in their stories, so most of us work very hard to try to be accurate.  This means we do our research.  Unfortunately, I didn't this time.  The reviewer was honest about All Bets Are Off not being her usual genre. 

You can bet, I will do my research in the future. 

Have a great week and I'll see you again next Sunday.

Sandra K. Marshall, Author
@ Eirelander Publishing
http://www.skaymarshall.com

 

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Contest at Romance Books 4 Us and Brenda Novak's Auction for Diabetes Research


May Flowers Contest at Romance Books 4 Us

For this contest go to Romance Books 4 Us website at http://www.romancebooks4us.com and join in.  Contest started May 1st and end May 28th. 

List of Prizes:

1.  Grand Prize:  $50.00 gift card for Amazon/Barnes & Noble - Your choice

2.  E-book of reader's choice from romance author, JC Szot

3.  E-book copy of Mother's Day Babies from romance author, Mona Risk

4.  Digital copy of Conquering Passion from Romance author, Anna
     Markland

5.  $15.00 All Romance E-bookstore Gift Card from romance author, Raine 
     Delight
 

6.  $10.00 Secret Cravings/Sweet Cravings Gift Card from Secret Cravings
      Publishing
 
7.  Two ebook copies of Profile of Evil (two winners) from romance author,
      Alexa Grace

8.  Autographed print copy of Capital Bride from romance author, Cynthia
     Woolf
 
9.  E-book copy of A Matter of Trust from romance author, Sandy Loyd

10.  Two autographed print books - Intertwined and Savor Me Slowly (two winners; one book each) from romance author, Gena Showalter

Also, I would like to tell you a bit about the Brenda Novak auction for diabetes research.  This NY Times author started this auction years ago when her young son was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes, and she has continued the auction even though her son is grown.  This auction offers huge items to bid on and every cent goes to diabetes research.  This year the goal is to reach over a million dollars.  Go to http://brendanovak.auctionanything.com/ to learn more and to bid.
Have fun doing this contest and the auction everyone.  See you next weekend.

Huge hugs to all of you who read my blog every week.

Sandra K. Marshall
http://www.eirelander-publishing.com