You might have heard...there's a major continuity error between Uncommon Whore and When I Fall. :) Yeah, I read about it in a review and after saying "WTF?" to myself, I opened my files and looked. Yup. And it is a big one. This was a true head/desk moment.
In Book One, Maia is blonde, Lauren is brunette with an eyepatch. In Book 2, I switched them. Maia is now brunette with the patch and Lauren is blonde. I switched personalities as well.
After writhing in embarrassment for a few hours, I let the publisher know and have been assured that the book/s will be re-formatted and will reflect continuity within the story.
So how did this happen in the first place? After all, when I started the second book, the first thing I did was print and review my style sheet. (the 'bible' that keeps track of people, places and things in the Coalition Universe) I then re-read Belle Starr (there are crossover species and characters) and An Uncommon Whore. After When I Fall was finished, it was edited, line edited and checked for continuity before being formatted. There was an intimidating amount of data to review and cross-reference and every one of us missed that single glaring mistake. We could dive into excuses, but in reality, it was just a mistake.
Going back to Book One, I wrote Griffin's daughters as Maia: blonde and blue eyed, and Lauren: brunette with a maimed eye. A member of my family beta-read the book and pointed out to me that I have a grand-niece named Lauren with a disfigured eye. As I'd met her only twice, using the name and disability was probably coincidence, but still, it seemed insensitive to go forward as it was, so I swapped the names. I noted the change in my style notes but obviously never made the change in the final manuscript.
Moving on to When I Fall, I consulted my style guide and in reviewing the first book, didn't even notice the difference in the names. For the past year and a half, Maia and Lauren had developed distinct appearances and personalities in my mind. Since I was so comfortable with them, I never even considered double checking my portrayal of the girls. I guess I was literally blind to the change in names.
Boy, do I regret that omission.
Anyhow, I comfort myself with the fact that I'm merely human and normal typos and misspellings sometimes slip through. As far as mistakes go, it doesn't hold a candle to some of the horror stories other authors have to tell. For example, the mainstream romance with a typo that read "shitted" in place of "shifted." Or the cover where the hero's rippling pecs had a little something...extra...(a part that should have remained in his pants!) But those are so blatant and over-the-top that they're the stuff of legend. My mistake is just lame.
Still, I do strive to produce the best work possible, as does my publisher. I'm proud of writing for a company that holds its authors and team members to the highest possible standard. None of us are comfortable that this slipped through and there's plenty of chagrin going around. LOL!
So if you want those original, flawed e-files, get yourself to Loose Id as they'll be coming down for reformatting very soon. Who knows...they might end up as collector's items, available only on select pirate sites...
Belinda
