Unmistakably Frustrating, by Lori Roberts Herbst

 In the blockbuster film Pretty Woman, one scene shows Julia Roberts’ character eating a croissant. Cut to a line from Richard Gere. When the camera returns to Julia, she is instead indulging in a pancake.

 

A child in the background in North by Northwest covers his ears in anticipation of a loud bang before Eva Marie Saint’s character even pulls out her gun.

 

A Starbucks cup appears in an episode of Game of Thrones.

 

These are but of few of the gaffs that ended up in major motion pictures, which are staffed by hundreds of people. So, I guess I should cut myself a little slack over a couple of errors readers have discovered in my books.

 

Last week, I got an email from a reader regarding my first book, Suitable for Framing. She wrote, “I really enjoyed the book and will be reading the others in the series. But I noticed an inconsistency…” She then went on to describe a pivotal scene in the book, in which the protagonist, Callie Cassidy, finds a not-quite-dead woman. In the course of the chapter, Callie takes off her coat. But a few minutes later, she is reaching into her coat pocket. She soon p
uts on her coat again, even though she was clearly already wearing it. Or was she?

 

The eagle-eyed writer said, “I was just surprised no one caught this before.” Me, too, lady. Me, too. That book was published in January 2021. Prior to publication, I read and proofed it a dozen times. I engaged beta readers, a professional editor, and ARC readers. Since then, the book has enjoyed what I consider a healthy readership. But two-and-a-half years later, this error surfaced. Go figure.

 

I thanked the reader profusely, and she eagerly volunteered to serve as a beta reader for future books. Then I got on Scrivener, made changes, and uploaded the revised ebook and paperback to Amazon and Ingram Sparks—all in about fifteen minutes. Problem solved—at least, for future readers. I can only offer my apologies to those who got stuck with the flawed version.

 

Several months ago, something similar occurred regarding book 3 in the series, Frozen in Motion. About a year after it was published in January 2022, a reader reached out to let me know I’d referred to a character as Swedish throughout the book—except once, when I made him Swiss. What? I promise you, I know the difference between Sweden and Switzerland. I fully realize Swedish and Swiss are not interchangeable. Ugh. Again, many eyes had perused this book prior to the reader’s intervention. As in the other example, I thanked the reader, made the changes, indulged in the tiniest bit of self-flagellation, and moved on.

 

Truly, I am grateful when people point out errors. It just baffles me that I didn’t spot them myself. I was a journalism teacher, for heaven’s sake, trained in catching such blunders. Yet these managed to slip past my eyes, as well as numerous others. And I’m certain there are additional mistakes wickedly lurking in the pages of my books, chuckling secretly at my ignorance of their existence.

 

I’ve since done a little research and discovered that at least I’m in decent company. Mistakes have crept into the works of some of the most prolific, successful writers in history. Here are a few I found listed in an article on Bookstr:  https://bookstr.com/list/7-huge-literary-bloopers/

 

In Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe has his main character strip naked to swim to a shipwreck for supplies. There, Crusoe stuffs the supplies into his pockets. Unless humans back then came equipped with pockets of their own (what a delight that would be), we have an error.

 

Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series has Watson injured during his time at war—first, though, he was shot in the shoulder. Later, he refers to the injury as being in the leg.

 

Mistakes even slipped past the great Shakespeare. In Julius Caesar, for example, Shakespeare writes of the clock tower tolling—which wouldn’t have occurred for another thousand years.

 

So, I rest a little easier as I edit, reread, proofread—and wait for the next blooper to emerge. 

 

What mistakes have you discovered in books or movies—or had pointed out in your own work?

***

Lori Roberts Herbst writes the Callie Cassidy Mysteries, a cozy mystery series set in Rock Creek Village, Colorado. To find out more and to sign up for her newsletter, go to www.lorirobertsherbst.com