My Learned Friend by Heather Parker

Heather Parker · 01-02-2012, 02:12 PM

Please could I introduce my new short story, My Learned Friend, just published by Untreed Reads? This is a traditional English village mystery.

When James Whitman moves to a small village in the English Lake District, he thinks he is leaving the world of crime behind him in the courtrooms of Manchester. Surely folks here wouldn’t find themselves in need of a good defence lawyer – even one of the most highly respected in the land.

Yet, when an old lady dies in mysterious circumstances, James finds himself working to protect a young boy accused of her murder. A local social worker, Katy, becomes his unlikely ally, and the pair begin to investigate. They soon discover life in the isolated village may not be as peaceful and innocent as it seems...

A short mystery from the Untreed Reads Fingerprints line.

Untreed Reads Publishing
Amazon

HarryT · 04-23-2012, 01:24 AM

I do hope that you haven't called your protagonist a "defense lawyer"? In the UK, we have defenCe lawyers or, more precisely, barristers. The thought of a story set in England but written in American English is just... wrong.

Heather Parker · 04-28-2012, 02:27 PM

Hi Harry,

Thanks for this but no problem - the spellings in My Learned Friend are all the correct UK versions. (Defense was just a spell check error in my message - I'll correct it now!) James is definitely a barrister/defence lawyer in the actual story and the publisher, Untreed Reads, always uses UK spellings for books set here.
Like you, I do prefer UK spellings for UK set books but your reply raises an interesting question for authors. I write a lot of stories for US magazines and some publishers do insist on American spelling. It's very difficult to object to this if you want to have them published - but I wondered what other authors (and readers) feel about this?

Thanks for raising it.
Heather

01-02-2012, 02:12 PM	#1
Heather Parker Nameless Being	My Learned Friend by Heather Parker Please could I introduce my new short story, My Learned Friend, just published by Untreed Reads? This is a traditional English village mystery. When James Whitman moves to a small village in the English Lake District, he thinks he is leaving the world of crime behind him in the courtrooms of Manchester. Surely folks here wouldn’t find themselves in need of a good defence lawyer – even one of the most highly respected in the land. Yet, when an old lady dies in mysterious circumstances, James finds himself working to protect a young boy accused of her murder. A local social worker, Katy, becomes his unlikely ally, and the pair begin to investigate. They soon discover life in the isolated village may not be as peaceful and innocent as it seems... A short mystery from the Untreed Reads Fingerprints line. Untreed Reads Publishing Amazon Last edited by Heather Parker; 04-28-2012 at 02:29 PM. Reason: US spell check error (defense instead of defence)

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04-23-2012, 01:24 AM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	I do hope that you haven't called your protagonist a "defense lawyer"? In the UK, we have defenCe lawyers or, more precisely, barristers. The thought of a story set in England but written in American English is just... wrong.

04-28-2012, 02:27 PM	#3
Heather Parker Nameless Being	Hi Harry, Thanks for this but no problem - the spellings in My Learned Friend are all the correct UK versions. (Defense was just a spell check error in my message - I'll correct it now!) James is definitely a barrister/defence lawyer in the actual story and the publisher, Untreed Reads, always uses UK spellings for books set here. Like you, I do prefer UK spellings for UK set books but your reply raises an interesting question for authors. I write a lot of stories for US magazines and some publishers do insist on American spelling. It's very difficult to object to this if you want to have them published - but I wondered what other authors (and readers) feel about this? Thanks for raising it. Heather