To U or not to U
I am Canadian. Yup, that is a fact. I am a Canadian girl, born and bred. However, The Feather Trilogy takes place at Mulbridge University which is just outside the city of Chicago. Why? Why would a Canadian girl write a book in a country she has never lived in? I don't know to be honest. This is one of those things that just settled into the plot of the story and it seemed natural. I thought the climate of Illinois would contribute to the seasonal changes that happen in the series (in case you haven't noticed, the books occur over one or two celestial seasons). In all honesty though, a setting near my birthplace of Toronto would lend the same weather and seasonal patterns so I am not sure why I picked the United States as Lucy and Nathaniel's home but it just felt right and it has played well in the plot.
It has caused some problems though and problems that I had not anticipated.
When editing FEATHER, the team at Ring of Fire sent me an email that outlined some of the Canadian vs American nuances that I had completely missed. I knew that Americans called "pop" "soda" but I didn't know they said "yeah" rather than "ya". Turns out my characters say "ya" a great deal because it was a pain to change them all.
In GATES, I have run into another issue. The issue of the U.
Ah that U - so annoying. Here in Canada, we spell "color" with a U, thus making it "colour". This is also the same for "behaviour" and "flavour". When I received the edits from RofF, I considered changing these to the American spelling but I JUST COULDN'T do it! The English major in me would not send a manuscript to be printed with all those red underlined words in it! I had to tip my hat to all my teachers and professors and leave the "U"s in.
But people keep thinking I can't spell.
So please, if the "U" offends thee, accept my apologies. I meant no offense. My characters love being American and I love them being American (wait until the third book and you will see why) I just have to put the "U" in there. I have to, because I am Canadian.
True Love
Laurie
xoxo
PS GATES officially comes out on May 24 so U get your butts to Amazon to get a copy.
It has caused some problems though and problems that I had not anticipated.
When editing FEATHER, the team at Ring of Fire sent me an email that outlined some of the Canadian vs American nuances that I had completely missed. I knew that Americans called "pop" "soda" but I didn't know they said "yeah" rather than "ya". Turns out my characters say "ya" a great deal because it was a pain to change them all.
In GATES, I have run into another issue. The issue of the U.
Ah that U - so annoying. Here in Canada, we spell "color" with a U, thus making it "colour". This is also the same for "behaviour" and "flavour". When I received the edits from RofF, I considered changing these to the American spelling but I JUST COULDN'T do it! The English major in me would not send a manuscript to be printed with all those red underlined words in it! I had to tip my hat to all my teachers and professors and leave the "U"s in.
But people keep thinking I can't spell.
So please, if the "U" offends thee, accept my apologies. I meant no offense. My characters love being American and I love them being American (wait until the third book and you will see why) I just have to put the "U" in there. I have to, because I am Canadian.
True Love
Laurie
xoxo
PS GATES officially comes out on May 24 so U get your butts to Amazon to get a copy.
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