It's been two months since I asked some people if they would read A Place of Safety-Derry and give me feedback and point out typos. A couple turned me down because they didn't have the time, and that's cool. Three said they would so I sent them copies. I've gotten one complete, one partial with just typo notes, and nothing more. I've asked if the last two'll be able to do it, and received assurances...but I've been through this before, with them. So if they get it to me, great. If not, I'll be fine.
I'm making notes to myself for aspects of the story to watch out for -- punctuation, as already mentioned; proper labels for things and events, like the late meal being called supper in Derry and not tea, as it is in Belfast; and the correct monetary usage, since I've gotten conflicting information regarding the shift to decimalization of the British Pound (did it start the shift in 1969 or was it all in 1971?). Rechecking that.
There's a great site called Retrowow that has information about US and UK prices, entertainment and cars and everything that's quite handy. And my books have photos as well as details that come in handy. Just do a bit of careful cross-referencing.
I came close to trying to work out a quick trip to Derry to use the archives of the Derry Journal (the town's newspaper) and the city library to verify somethings, but it would have been $3000. And that's just for 6 days, leaving out of Toronto into Dublin then up to Derry on the bus. I also couldn't work out the timing. I'm doing Seattle, next month, and possibly the book fair in Toronto the following weekend, then comes Boston and after that we're into November. So I talked myself out of it, pretty quickly.
The crazy thing is, I don't feel let down by not going because I'm honestly beginning to believe I'll get this book done.
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