True confessions time. I am not perfect. (Shocker, I know!) Can you spy the anachronisms in each of these excerpts from books I’ve written?
“The carpentry shop door creaked open and Olivia started. Croome stood framed in the threshold, eyes narrowed suspiciously, fowling piece in hand. …“I seen the door open to this ol’ place and thought a raccoon or a tramp must have got inside.”
“Only teasing you, lass,” Mac said. “Often carry a gun when I walk about on my duties. Never know when a wild dog or mangy wolf might decide to harass me or the livestock.”
His gaze swept her person, head to toe, and back again, like a hummingbird hovering over a bloom. “You look beautiful,” he breathed.
I’m guessing you have figured out the common thread here. Perhaps instead of “anachronism,” I should have said “faunachronism.” It may not be a real word, but it is a real problem!
Some time ago, a reader from England sent me an email with the subject: Lost in Translation. She wrote: “There are no raccoons in England, so it would be impossible for one to get into the wood-worker’s hut.”
Who knew they didn’t have raccoons in England? I do now! This writing biz sure keeps me humble.
As an American author writing books set in England 200 years ago, I try hard to get my facts right, check every word in dialogue to make sure it was in use then, etc. But obviously I am fallible and mistakes have slipped through despite my best efforts. Ever since the “raccoon incident,” I have tried to become even more vigilant, especially about the animal kingdom. (And don’t even get me started about England’s flora! :))
Unfortunately, that one raccoon lives on in England within the pages of The Silent Governess, except for copies from the most recent printings. Thankfully I caught the second error before the book was finalized.
What? No wolves in England either? But what about “Little Red Riding Hood” and “The Three Little Pigs” and their nemesis, the big bad wolf? I almost didn’t check that one, but I’m glad I did. Guess what? Wolves have been all but extinct in England for hundreds of years. So I went searching for alternatives. Some other big bad animal to replace that mangy wolf, to justify my land agent carrying a gun. No bears. No cougars. Polecats sounded like a potential wild-cat-type critter, but alas, they are really glorified ferrets. Hardly the frightening menace I was looking for. So what did I have to resort to? The all ferocious, stuff of legends and Grimm’s fairy tales…badger? Come on, England, is that the best you’ve got?
So yes, now that line in The Secret of Pembrooke Park (December 2014) reads: “Never know when a wild dog or mangy badger might decide to harass me or the livestock.”
Don’t laugh! At least now you know the rest of the story.
Last week, I avoided a hummingbird near-miss in my current work-in-progress. Hummingbirds have never been found in the wild anywhere in Europe. So, I’m trying to come up with possible substitutes.
His gaze swept her person, head to toe, and back again, like a _______ hovering over a bloom.
Like a…hawk moth? (A what?! Apparently a moth that looks like a hummingbird. Yeah, I had never heard of one either… According to RSPB.org, a “hummingbird hawk moth is so similar to the tiny American bird that there are hundreds of cases of mistaken identity every year.”) 
Like a butterfly? (Gak. Feels too cliché.)
Like a honeybee? (Ouch!)
I’m open to suggestions.
In the meantime, don’t leave me hanging here. Ever spied an anachronism (or faunachronism :)) in a book you were reading? Or if you are a writer, made a blunder of your own? Tell me I’m not the only fallible author out there!
Latest posts by Julie Klassen (see all)
- Gifts for Readers…or You! - November 12, 2024
- Research Challenges & A New Release | Guest Post by Erica Vetsch - October 22, 2024
- Book News & Second Chances - October 8, 2024
Julie, I was reading a book set in the American Revolutionary period. The heroine was busy baking and cooking up a feast for her rather large extended family. That would have been OK, except the feast was THANKSGIVING!! Of course I had to send the author a missive about when Thanksgiving really occured….she was only 100 years too early for Thanksgiving dinner!
That’s funny, Verna! Oh, the things we writers assume! Thanks for making me feel better. 🙂
LOL — I thought badgers were cute furry critters who got a bad rap. I’m thinking of childhood stories like Thornton Burgess’s Digger. Now I know they are really mangy creatures one needs to defend oneself from. 🙂
Honestly, I can’t recall any glaring literary faux pas in books I’ve read. I’m so caught up in the story it would have to be pretty glaring for me to be pulled out of the story. Like your land agent carrying a shotgun in case a tiger wanders by. Now that would get my attention. 🙂
Yes, you’re right, a tiger would have been even more glaring! Hee hee. I am so glad for readers like you who get caught up in the story and less on every little detail. Though I will keep endeavoring to get them right!
While reading a novel where the heroine was living on a ranch, the owner of the ranch told the young lady that they had built up the herd around a prized steer. Ummm…dear author, you should know that a steer is a castrated male and there would be NO way to build up a herd from that! I had a good laugh.
LOL! That’s great, Gaylene. And thanks for giving me a good laugh today!
Julie, very informative and delightful post! I can’t think of specific mistakes, but I know I have read books based in the past which contained dialogue that was far too modern. That really irks me. Mistakes like yours are genuine mistakes, and I would NEVER be the wiser if you had never told me. But dialogue using modern phrases and language? That jumps out at me right away. Also, another thing would be when a lady does very improper things by standards a century or two ago. Sometimes I think writers compromise a bit. (I’d like to mention that I am referring to no one in particular… just know I’ve read things like this.) I love your books because they don’t violate those two criteria! So whether it is a wolf or a raccoon makes no difference to me! (Though I certainly understand and applaud your desire to be accurate!)
Thanks, Courtney. Dialogue is important to me too (though I can’t claim perfection there either). So glad to hear you love my books despite their imperfections!
I agree, Courtney. While I guilty of writing with too modern language, I at least make a valiant effort. I was really disappointed when a YA medieval fantasy by one of my favorite authors had a comparison that about a roller coaster of emotions. Not only was the phrase super cliché, this is also a medieval fantasy! No roller coasters!
Thanks for sharing, Julie. my most embarrassing author faux pas was when I was making a presentation at a small community library not far from my home town. I had just begun researching the book Short-Straw Bride and was excited to share my Texas setting with these folks who loved to have books set in town they knew about. Well, I proudly announced that my next book would be set in Palestine, TX (and I pronounced it just like it looks and sounds – like Palestine in the middle east). Well, some nice gentleman in the back raised his hand and asked, “Have you ever been to Palesteene?” Apparently the “I” was pronounced as an “ee”. Oh my goodness was I embarrassed. I had to admit that I had not been there in person yet, and I thanked him profusely for correcting my mispronunciation. And I truly was grateful. It kept me from making the same error in future presentations. Nothing like having your credentials called out in front of a group. At least they were kind about it.
Yay–another author heard from! Thanks for sharing, Karen. At least your “mistake” wasn’t in print, but yes, that would be embarrassing to be called out in public. At least I could hang my head here at home in front of my laptop. 🙂
I always assumed South Dakota’s capital, Pierre, was pronounced the way you would say the French name. Then we moved here and discovered it was pronounced, Pier/Peer. And then there’s the tricky towns with a name that could be pronounced two ways and it takes asking a local to find out the right way. Like the old, mining town of Lead.
So true! Texas is famous for changing pronunciations. I guess we’re so proud we want to make things our own. There’s another small town nearby that’s named Colorado City. You would think that would be easy enough to pronounce correctly. Just like the state, right? Wrong. It’s Col-o-ray-do City. Sigh. I’ve learned never to assume. And you’re right. Asking a local is always the best way to go.
I read a book once that mentioned bright sunlight streaming through the window at 6 am… in December… in Northern Wisconsin. That bothered me more than I care to admit!
I honestly didn’t know the raccoon was only in North America and not Europe. Did you change to a “fox”, instead?
I have been contemplating your hummingbird dilemma and was thinking about maybe a moth and flame, but if flutterby’s are too cliche, that probably, is as well.
Oh dear Julie! I just sent an incomplete post by mistake .”.clanger one” for tonight so please disregard it.
I can imagine how you felt when you discovered your faux pas with the animals etc. because I had a similar situation happen to me last year, when I misinterpreted one of Robin’s posts. I thought she was speaking about a place in the UK which I had visited just prior to her Post and I assumed she had also visited the UK doing some research.
I must have been suffering from jetlag because I completely misunderstood her post and she gently pointed out that it was the name of her series (yes Kings Meadow) I’m sure anyone who read my comment would have obviously thought I was off the planet! LOL I still squirm when I think about it!
If you ever want to write a book on Aus let me know and I’ll gladly give you a list of our Australian wild life LOL
Love your Posts and your books Julie.:)
I wouldn’t have caught any of those mistakes either. In fact, I read them thinking, “what’s wrong with them?” But the edit works – badgers can be scary mean!! I wrote a letter to Janette Oke back in the mid-90s after reading “A Gown of Spanish Lace”, because the school teacher led the students in the pledge of allegiance at least 10 years before it had been written. But honestly, unless the selling point of the book is “incredibly well researched and authentic” (like Harold Keith’s work), I don’t expect perfection and those little mistakes add a humanizing layer that make me enjoy the book even more.
As for the hummingbird, could it be a spring breeze gently ruffling a bloom?
Having grown up on a dairy farm, I tend to notice suspicious things related to farming, like milk cows that go dry and mysteriously start making milk again some months later without calving.
I have to say, though, Swiss Family Robinson takes the cake for “Faunachronisms” – porcupines, zebras, walruses, tigers, beaver, flamingos, kangaroos, wolves, bears, ruffed grouse, penguins, and many other critters from all over the globe living together on an island somewhere in the southern hemisphere! And in classic literature, no less!
First let me say that I love your books and I look forward to the next release.
Could you use Dragonfly or Damselfly? Not sure if they hover over flowers, but they would hover over a water lily or lily pond…
I do not usually notice an animal out of its natural environment, but I notice inconsistencies in stories, once in a book I was reading the woman was baking zucchini bread but when she put it to cool on the window it was banana bread..
I don’t recall what book it was, but the setting was medieval Europe and they were planting corn – which wasn’t introduced to Europe from the Americas until a couple hundred years later.
At least most of us are not knowledgeable about the flora send fauna of England’s past!! Imagine my surprise when I read in an historical fiction book set in late 1800s Texas that Amarillo, Texas, and Dallas, Texas, were 100 miles apart and several hours drive!!! I grew up near Amarillo and lived in Dallas for years! The fact is that there are about 370 miles and in a modern automobile, driving time is 5 1/2 to 6 hours!! The two cities have not moved!! LOL!!
I write Colonial American fiction and I live in Williamsburg, Virginia. Folks wear tricorne hats everywhere downtown. I learned in time that that term didn’t come into use until 1857. Who knew!
My husband used to enjoy Ted Dekker’s books, but in one book, the hero puts a safety setting on a gun that has no safety setting. I told him to forgive Ted and keep enjoying his books!