Getting It Right

I just had to edit my last post as I realised I had one of my facts wrong. The Pharaoh who followed Hatshepsut was not Tutankamon, but Thutmose III, who was both her half brother and her stepson. That was how Egyptian royals maintained their line in those days.

Anyway, that atrocious error - a result of being in such a hurry to finish and get to bed so that I relied on my memory rather than double checking before I posted - made me think of my own and other writers' credibility.

It reminded me of the time I read a book in which the heroine took a train to the west country from London, starting at Victoria Station. As I often used to take a train in that direction when I lived in London, I am well aware that the options would be to go from Paddington or Waterloo Stations. She would never have gone from Victoria, unless she intended to change at Clapham Junction, which would have been a really futile exercise from her starting point. So that author lost credibility in my eyes, and my interest in her book waned.

I actually wrote an article about this, so I should know how important it is to check all facts, and then check again. I can only hang my head in shame, and apologise.