The most common question I am asked is why I wrote the book Cora Romhat.
Well, you know how it is when people get on your nerves? For years I wondered what it would be like to have special powers to fix things that really annoy me, for example bad driving, people’s inconsideration of others, bullying and, worst of all… bad punctuation.
Let’s start with the driving. In the very first draft of Cora Romhat, Cora and Loopy met Morris Driver, a half-blind, elderly man who didn’t notice other cars on the road and caused mayhem wherever he went. By draft 5, I felt that Morris was no longer relevant to the story as technology is moving along so quickly it won’t be long before we have driverless cars, so poor Morris was recycled.
As for the bullies, I am sure you have also met them along the way. Sometimes they are people we know, sometimes not. They usually pick on people they see as different or feel are weak. Bullies are typically silly creatures with not much sense and the irony of Cora’s bullies is that they felt superior but in fact she could have destroyed them with just one word to Loopy.
Finally, punctuation. People using apostrophes in the wrong place used to really make me crazy mad. I wrote the chapter ‘Flying Apostrophes‘ as Loopy sent all the incorrectly placed apostrophes whirring into the air, which is exactly what I would have like to do to them!
Interestingly, as I wrote about these topics, I realised that really Morris Driver was just a little old man who actually couldn’t see very well and that the bullies just feel inadequate so they try to put other people down to make themselves look better. As Cora does in the book, I began to look at things in shades of grey rather than black or white.
As for grammar and punctuation, a lot of books are written by Americans. Nothing wrong with that, they are wonderful story tellers. However, their language is different. The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS or CMS for short) published in 1906 by the University of Chicago, is the ‘go to’ guide for American English. So, if we refer to our own English Grammar literature such as the Oxford Modern English Grammar, we will see just how much our English language has become peppered by the Americanised ‘z’ where there should be ‘s’, for example, organization rather than organisation. They also reverse the letters ‘r’ and ‘e’ at the end of words, for example, center should be centre. I can understand how this happens.
Now, that said, it is one thing to leave the ‘s’ off after an apostrophe if the word ends with an ‘s’ (you only do this if the word is plural). But, it is the apostropheitis that sends me completely crazy. So many times I have seen people put an apostrophe in front of anything that ends in the letter ‘s’, for example, ‘fruit’s for sale’ or ‘Victoria Fall’s’. The other things I can get over but really??
Oh dear! I’ve just realised this has turned into a rant rather than an explanation. Well, never mind, hope you were still interested.
Tomorrow I will tell you where Cora’s character came from.
Till then, stay safe.
Cora ROMHAT 