Tax season is in full swing and for that reason I am not going to be blogging for a little while. Please visit my website for further infomation about me or current projects and links to other sites.
www.alisonpensy.com
Be back soon, I promise
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
English or American
I read a review that someone had written about my book today. It was a good review but she brought up a very good point.
She said although the story is set in England and the characters were English, they sounded American. Well I guess I can explain that, I think.
You see, as you will note from my profile, I am a Brit and the story takes place where I grew up, in a quaint village in the English countryside. The 'problem' if it can even be called that comes from the fact that I have now been living in the States for nigh on 9 years.
Although in those 9 years I have not lost my accent in any way shape or form, I learned very early on that it was just easier to 'adopt' the American way of saying something, rather than have to explain what I meant all the time (which got very tedious let me tell you). For example, rather than say rubbish bin, I now say garbage can. It's just easier that way.
Now in the context of my writing, I tried mostly to use the 'English' word but because I live in the US and am marketing the book over here, I thought it would be simpler to use the 'American' words instead. This was mostly a conscious decision on my part.
You will notice, if you have ever read Harry Potter, that the UK and US versions differ vastly when using specific words. One quick example is using sweater instead of jumper (as we would use in England).
I hope this answers any questions you may have regarding why my characters sound a little too American. Believe me, if ever the book gets big enough to distribute to the UK it will get edited to use 'English' words.
She said although the story is set in England and the characters were English, they sounded American. Well I guess I can explain that, I think.
You see, as you will note from my profile, I am a Brit and the story takes place where I grew up, in a quaint village in the English countryside. The 'problem' if it can even be called that comes from the fact that I have now been living in the States for nigh on 9 years.
Although in those 9 years I have not lost my accent in any way shape or form, I learned very early on that it was just easier to 'adopt' the American way of saying something, rather than have to explain what I meant all the time (which got very tedious let me tell you). For example, rather than say rubbish bin, I now say garbage can. It's just easier that way.
Now in the context of my writing, I tried mostly to use the 'English' word but because I live in the US and am marketing the book over here, I thought it would be simpler to use the 'American' words instead. This was mostly a conscious decision on my part.
You will notice, if you have ever read Harry Potter, that the UK and US versions differ vastly when using specific words. One quick example is using sweater instead of jumper (as we would use in England).
I hope this answers any questions you may have regarding why my characters sound a little too American. Believe me, if ever the book gets big enough to distribute to the UK it will get edited to use 'English' words.
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