Common misconceptions from history...

It's funny how certain ideas become engrained in common knowledge, things that are often, in fact, wrong.

Case in point - the Bastille was a Paris prison, but it was never used as one during the French Revolution. In fact, it was destroyed during the summer of 1789, following its storming by the mob on July 14. Yet when I mention that my heroine was in a prison in 1793, inevitably people assume I'm talking about the Bastille. This happened just last week on a list I'm of which I'm a member and the historian in me was compelled to clarify. I even found a reference to it being used as a place of detention in an extremely popular novel, much touted by many reviewers. Alas, that evidence of lack of research added one more negaitve to the book as far as I was concerned.

As writers, we must remember to check EVERYTHING. Especially those things we THINKwe know, things that have entered into commonly accepted knowledge. Do NOT be fooled into believing you don't have to research facts and ideas to which you've been privy for years. That way madness (and irritation on the part of your readers) lies.

Case in point # 2 - I had my hero and heroine wander into a coffee-house together in 1793 London. During one of my final passes of the ms (I'm planning to submit it yet again), it jumped out at me once more, having niggled at me for months. Sure enough, some quick online and book reasearch (thank goodness for my private library) informed me that there was no way my heroine would be allowed in. So now I'm rewriting that particular scene and setting it in a tea house instead. One I've found ample evidence of through original sources available on Google Books.

If by some miracle this ms had been accepted and passed through various copy-edits without anyone catching this, I would have been mortified when a reader pointed out such a huge mistake. To some people it may not seem huge, but for me it is. And all because I wrote that scene without really thinking much about the little details, such as the presence (or not) of women in coffee-houses in 18th century London.

Do you have a similar near goof-up to relate?

Oh, and, Marie Antoinette never did say "Let them eat cake!"

Teresa

Image courtesy - The Art of Elisabeth Louise Vigée Lebrun

Canada Day and more...

As I mentioned in my previous post, we had plans to go to Gibsons for Canada Day events. The highlight of the celebration there was the arrival of the canoes from Pulling Together - their final stop.

It was a gorgeous day with perfect temps for standing down near the water and watching the canoes come in from the Strait.

We first spied them from the pier:

It was cool to see the canoes in a line like that :)

Within a few minutes they pulled into the harbour:

and began lining up along the shore for the welcome ceremony featuring dignitaries from the Squamish band and local politicians:

At last everyone had arrived:

The ceremony lasted about 45 minutes, with the glorious scenery as a backdrop.

After it was done, Sean and I wandered around a little more, then headed to the radio station, then home. No fireworks here on the Coast on July 1 - they save them for Sea Cavalcade, later this month.

It was a nice evening, so we bbqd a pizza, read for a while, went for a walk, then retired after a busy day. One of the best things about the fine weather was that we were able to ride into Gibsons on the motorcycle - easier to park and so much fun to feel the wind.

Yesterday I did an extra shift at the library, then came home to work on backing up my computer. The desktop needs to be stripped and have Windows reloaded. I have so much crap on it, the hard disk is almost full and the poor Registry is hopelessly overloaded. Sean is an expert at the hardware side of things - lucky for me :)

One more thing I wanted to mention - and yes, despite the fact it's July, it's hockey related. Last month, Dan Cleary became the first Newfoundland/Labrador-born player to win the Stanley Cup as a member of the Detroit Red Wings. On Monday he escorted the Cup on its tour of the province. What impressed me the most was that instead of taking it to his hometown of Harbour Grace first, he went instead to a St. John's children's hospital. Such a thoughtful gesture, don't you think?

Ok - on with my day.

Teresa

Currently Reading: Just finished Rosie Meadows Regrets by Catherine Alliot
Link of the Day: Pulling Together

Happy Canada Day...

to my fellow Canucks :) We're heading into Gibsons this afternoon for the celebration there.

Hop on over to Cindy Proctor-King's blog for some classic Canadiana!

Enjoy celebrating Canada's birthday - however you choose to do it.

Teresa