Author: Cathy Speight

Reviewer Cathy Speight is British and lives in England. The Kindle revived her passion for reading and after stumbling on a Facebook group of independent authors, she now does her best to encourage and assist indies as much as possible. Books by indie author form the majority of her collection. Cathy shares her views on the books she has read on her blog.

When authors throw a wobbly…

jelly2If you had told me four years ago that I would be reviewing books on a regular basis, I might have looked at you as if you had suddenly sprouted a rainbow-coloured big toe on your head. Me? A book reviewer? You’re havin’ a larf!

But, reviewing is what I started to do. It marked the beginning of my ‘deep and meaningful’ (relationship) with my new Kindle three years ago. Well, my first Kindle. I’ve divorced six and am on my seventh now. (Don’t ask.) Zsa Zsa Gabor has got competition, let me tell you. Continue reading “When authors throw a wobbly…”

Let’s talk about this for a while….

awhileA few people…no…some people… Who am I kidding? A lot of people seem to get awfully confused over ‘for a while’ and ‘awhile’. It’s one of those mix-ups I used to utter a sotto voce tut-tut over whenever I came across it in my review books, but I’ve seen the error so much lately, increasingly so, my discreet tut-tutting has developed into a bellowing ‘Grrrr’. Continue reading “Let’s talk about this for a while….”

Do you tautologise?

TautologyI bet you do. In fact, I’m sure you do from time to time. Maybe rarely, but I’m certain you’ve done it at least once. In fact, I know you have because I’ve come across quite often in the books I’ve reviewed.

Tautology. What is it? It’s “the use of words that merely repeat elements of the meaning already conveyed”, e.g.: they arrived one after the other in succession. ‘In succession’ means ‘one after the other’. In effect, that sentence says: they arrived one after the other one after the other.

It’s an easy trap to fall into when you’re writing, but it’s something to try to spot in your scrupulously thorough self-editing. However, as with most glitches, it’s more likely to be spotted by your beta reader or editor.

What are common examples of tautology ? Here are some you may recognise and just may have used yourself. Some are taken from books I have reviewed: Continue reading “Do you tautologise?”