Midwest Book Review gave my historical mystery a glowing review, promising to highlight it in their November journal and send the review on to Amazon. I read both the cover letter and the actual review with joy. I passed it along to my husband who was also thrilled.
The next day I typed the review in an e-mail to send to my webmaster for inclusion on my website susantornga.com. I began typing. I stared. Than I laughed (not entirely with good humor). Everywhere in the review where my book was mentioned by name, MBR called it “Seashells in the Dessert” instead of “Seashells in the Desert.” What a difference one letter makes. I called it to their attention and they immediately corrected the error with apologies.
My point is: As writers, we often read our work and see what we expect to be there. Both my husband and I saw “Desert” because that’s what it should have been. Had this mistake been made in an actual manuscript, an editor would’ve picked up on it right away. I didn’t see it until I began to retype it. Case closed.
Now I must rush off and begin work on my next mystery about a man who chokes on pieces of conch shell in his pumpkin pie. Guess what the name of the book is?
susantornga 