Just figured I would "reach out and touch someone" this am. and you're it. (plus I'm stoned on migraine medication so reviewing and redrafting a contract doesn't grab me this morning - altho' I might be more creative.)

Anyhow, a couple of things that I've read lately on your blog inspired me to post.

I too am looking forward to buying your book as soon as it's out - and have loved your website and blog - find it thought inspiring and amusing. (PS and just so you know, I tell all my friends who are Gabaldon freaks - and even people I don't know in bookstores who I overhear weeping and wailing over the time between Diana's books - all about your books - I inform people that they're different from Diana's really in that you don't write first person but Elizabeth is wonderful - I actually like her better than Claire in some ways - and Nathaniel will hold anyone over until the next Jamie installation. I have, on occasion, actually handed a copy of your book to these people so they have no doubt which book is #1 - I also buy 2 copies of each of your books and Diana's - one h/c as soon as it's out to ensure I have it in my hot little hands - then I read your newest book cover to cover (and no I don't read the last chapter first but my sis does and always will) and then I re-read your whole series plus the newest book again to enjoy the whole series again. Then when the softcover comes out I buy it asap - it's better to take on long trips or plane rides and better to read in the tub then the h/cs and I reread the whole series again. It's my ritual - and it's like chocolate and a wonderful blanket on a rainy day - my hubbie has actually teased me that your people are not real people - little does he know.

So I too know the anticipation of getting the h/c in the store altho' just so you know winning an ARC won't stop my from buying the hardcover since I have your whole series in hardcover and have to have them all in a row on my bookshelves in chronological order and I have to have the hard copies.

And also just so you know because I adore your writing and your sense of humour I - altho' never having seen episode 1 (or any episode) of Farscape have ordered season 1 on DVD - my hubbie has informed me we don't watch it - (it hasn't arrived yet) but I tell him "hey don't worry it's got rave reviews" and since I remind him I have purchased other series based solely on reviews like "6 feet under" he desists - plus he likes sci fi as a genre which so do I in any event so I know I'll like it - is this trust in your judgement or what? Plus knowing you've written Nathanial - and since you're nuts for this dude on Farscape - hey at least I know I'll have a great guy on the series if nothing else.

Thanks for writing your books let alone your blog which makes me laugh and think -

Andrea

Andrea, thank you. You really have made my day, from a number of different angles. I so much appreciate the kind words about the books, and I'll pass along your comments to Elizabeth (who will be gratified) and Nathaniel (who will be taken aback by the idea -- as he always is -- that someone is observing his life as it goes along).

You now go on my official list of People I Have Scaped. Although I'll repeat here that there are some weak episodes in season one --skip I, E.T., is my advice-- and it doesn't really, really take off until A Bug's Life. But you do need to have the background info to appreciate the wondrous season two and then, hallelujah, the glory of season three. Then you'll have to see season four to find out what trouble these folks have got themselves into, and if you do that all before October, you'll be ready for the miniseries -- Peacekeeper Wars. I'm gonna throw a big, huge, no-holds-barred Peacekeeper Wars party.

Hey I'm very excited about getting your brand new book. Your books really make me feel like I'm part of the story. They make me want to go back in time and sit down and have a cup of tea with everybody. Must sound stupid I know!! THat's my dream to travel back in time haha. Anyhow I know that the official publication date in America is 31 August but do you have any idea when the publication date for New Zealand. I know that often we get books either earlier or later than most people. Could you please tell me when so I can start counting down. I've been hasseling Whitcoulls (book store) but they don't know either. THankyou!!!!!!!!!!!!

I too am another reader of your books who will most assuredly be at the bookstore August the 31st. I wanted to post something extraordinary but who can best what Andrea said? She summed it up for me! I am so like her. I buy books that I like but not second copies for spares. My books get special treatment from the moment I own them. I don't get to read in the tub, but in dentist offices,waiting rooms,Tae Kwon Do Schools, and soccer fields. I never go out of the house without a book in my purse. (Purses that I buy according to how well they will hold 2 or 3 books inside.) My husband has no idea about what I am actually doing with my books or where I actually go with them. The characters are real and I don't care what anyone might say. I mostly read from the library, but your books Sara I can say that to own them was going to be the only way for me. I usually don't reread (no time), but may before the new book comes out. I now have to go out for my 11 year old's birthday to see the movie Garfield (Uggg!) I do want to talk to you Sara about your book "English with an Accent" that I didn't buy ($95 my gosh!) ,got it at the library but did read all the way through pretty much. I had to reach into their interlibrary loan system to the University to get it. I'll have to come back. I do have a few questions for you.

Cynthia in Florida

Cynthia,

many thanks, really, and huh? $95? Last I looked EwaA was something like $40. That's the thing with textbooks, the publishers have no shame. Just so you know, that book is used across the country every year and I earn maybe a thousand bucks on it, so it's not going into my pocket. But yes, please go ahead, I'm happy to answer questions.

Sara,

The really interesting thing about your book (EwaA)is that you say that written and spoken language are two different things totally. I had never thought of that. If you say something to someone who understands you then you have spoken correctly and used your language for its proper purpose. So that means that all writing that archaeologists and historians have available to them is constructed in such a way that may be very far from how people spoke then or speak now. I will have to think further about whether I agree with all of that and stop correcting my kids to have their verbs agree and never, never to have the word "ain't pass from their little lips.
In your book you had a very interesting discussion about AAVE. You said that the use of the word "aks" instead of "ask" comes from somewhere in Middle English and that there was some connection to speech patterns in Applalacia (SP). My question is how exactly did the African Americans get this word and use it like that? You were very specific in your example of this specific word. Can you fill me in with more detail? Are there other examples of this kind of thing in AAVE?
These are the things that circle around in my mind during Soccer practice and while driving to endless daily destinations. I was also thinking about your posts concerning the use of accurate historical speech and slang in books and your fear of losing readers. If, as you say written and spoken language are differest, how could a writer ever get even close to the way people used to talk in any particular time? It would seem to me that only linguists could write historical novels..........Your thoughts

Cynthia in Florida

So that means that all writing that archaeologists and historians have available to them is constructed in such a way that may be very far from how people spoke then or speak now.

Generally the written record doesn't do a very good job of telling us about languages of the past. That's true. It's all we have, but it's not great data. If you think of any particular point in the distant past (say, central Europe circa the year 800) you have to think about who was actually reading and writing. A very small, tiny fraction of the population, mostly church trained, for very particular and narrow purposes. Historical linguists reconstruct what they can, but any one of them will tell you that it's a vague, partial image of the language as it must have been used.

When you correct your kids' language, it's akin to making sure they are dressed in a way you find socially acceptable, or insisting that they eat with a fork instead of their fingers. It's a social thing, not a language one. If you don't want them to use 'ain't' then you'll tell them that, but my point in EwaA is that what you are doing is passing on a social convention; in linguistic terms, there's nothing wrong with 'ain't'. It's not incorrect, it's just out of fashion and is associated with social groups you may or may not want to claim membership in. As far as the use of 'aks' is concerned, it's well documented back as far as Beowulf. Some examples: (from Chaucer 1386) I axe, why the fyfte man Was nought housbond to the Samaritan? (from Coverdale 1549 ) He axeth not whether good workes are to be done or not. (1803 PEGGE Anecd. Eng. Lang.) A true born Londoner, Sir, of either sex, always axes question, axes pardon, and at quadrille axes leave.

Basically what you have here is the fact that two forms (ask/aks) co-existed peacefully for centuries and then with the introduction of printing, things eventually were standardized not because one was better than the other, but because that was more cost effective for the printers. 'ask' prevailed. The other form has stuck around in many varieties of English. There are many, many examples of usages that have remained in one variety or another of the spoken language but disappeared from the written language. For example, 'ain't' is often heard as a upper-class colloquialism in England (or it was; this may be dying out with the older generation). Multiple negation strategies (put as many negatives in the sentences as possible, as in 'ain't no cat cain't get in no henhouse') were the norm through the history of English until somebody decided (oddly) that the mathematical two negatives equal a positive should be applied to English.

I think that covers your main questions? At any rate, this is a big topic, and a complicated one.