This weekend’s OH, CRAP!!! moment
I spent the better part of Saturday either in Savannah or in a bus going to or from Savannah. The Things’ Sunday school class took a trip there to see one of the oldest synagogues in the US. It also houses one of the oldest Torahs on US soil. It was pretty darn cool seeing all the Jewish artifacts from the late 1800s.
While I was in Savannah, we took a stroll down the Savannah river. And then it hit me. I have characters from Savannah in my Cowboy and Doctor books. In the Cowboy one, a character sits on a beach and watches a lighthouse. I knew I did my research when I wrote it, but I didn’t see any beach. Or a lighthouse. I started panicking.
I’m going to have to rewrite my story. What the hell was I thinking? There’s no sand here! *breathe* *breathe* Okay, no big. I’ll just fix it and tell my editor, right? No problem. Nooooooooooo problem at all.
A day later, I remembered that scene took place in South Carolina, not Savannah. RELIEF!
Yeah. That’s something I don’t ever want to repeat.
What a relief for you !! Your readers would remember. I sitll remember years ago reading a Sue Grafton book where she has Kinsey Milhone seeing the beach and the ocean while driving on I-95 in Miami, which would be like seeing Jax Beach from downtown Jacksonville. Impossible.
I read a book that took place in Boston (where I’m from) and the characters were eating shrimp and grits. One of them said something about it being the perfect meal any time of day.
I never even HEARD of grits until I moved to the south!
Oh, and one of my critique group folks said she read a book that talked about counties in Louisiana. Only in LA, they’re called parishes. Heh.
Glad you realized! But there is a river in Savannah. When I stopped there on my way home from FL last year, I noticed a number of people just sitting there watching the water. Granted they were sitting on the grass or in chairs, but it could have worked too.
Either way, glad you remembered!
Right – I saw the river. But no beach. Or ocean. Or lighthouse!