Editing Sense&Sensibility / Edition de Raison & sentiment

We've barely started working on the first edition of Sense and Sensibility, but we discovered that there were many things that were different in the first 1811 version.

It can be "just" punctuation, but it can also be full sentences that disappeared or changed in later versions.

Being researchers, we pointed out the differences in footnotes, but it makes for a dry reading.

We briefly considered printing the differences in a different colours, but this might not suit all our readers.

Then... we thought about underlining the differences. It wouldn't interfere with reading, but it would signal the differences.

We could have a Notes section after the novel, in order to point out the differences in later versions.

What do you think? Do you think underlining would work, or should we use bold characters as well - or just bold characters?  

Do we keep the footnote numbers in the text to point out the differences signalled in the Notes?

Nous avons à peine commencé à travailler sur les premières pages de la première édition de Raison et sentiment, mais nous avons ainsi découvert qu'il existe de nombreuses différences dans la première version de 1811.

Il s'agit le plus souvent simplement de ponctuation différente, mais il y a aussi des phrases entières qui ont disparu des versions suivantes ou ont changé.

En tant que chercheuses, nous avons naturellement utilisé des notes de bas de page, mais cela rend la lecture ennuyeuse.

Nous avons évoqué la possibilité d'utiliser une autre couleur pour les différences, mais il est possible que cela ne convienne pas à tous nos lecteurs.

Nous avons ensuite pensé souligner les différences. Cela n'interférerait pas avec la lecture, mais signalerait quand même les différences.

Nous pourrions avoir un chapitre de Notes à la fin de l'ouvrage afin de signaler les différences dans les versions ultérireures.

Qu'en pensez-vous ? Pensez-vous que souligner les différences serait suffisant ou devrions-nous les signaler en gras également - ou utiliser seulement des caractères en gras ?

Gardons-nous les numéros des notes de bas de page dans les texte afin de faire référence aux différences signalées dans les notes finales ?

That Spy Novel

My plot bunnies tend to be twisted (no surprise here).

Perhaps I decided that the action of An Honourable Spy should take place in the Victorian era because there are so many possibilities or perhaps because it would allow the plot to have some freedom and not be corseted by the current ways of spying (fewer computers, more ciphers and snitches).

I've got in my head all the background info for all my main characters, now, I just need to have a historical timeline, facts, and a plausible plot against Victoria (or other people).

I've decided that the action of my story is going to take place in 1887 and 1888 (plenty to do then!).

When I just blogged about my plot bunnies, I typed: 'An Honourable Spy (a [pseudo-]Victorian piece of nuttiness inspired by History, and too many spy novels)'. The second part was meant to give a general description, but... do you think that it might be fun to keep that in the full description of the book?

Talk? To Whom?

This is a general, honest question about people.
I think that the answer might be in a form of self-protection for most, but I'm still puzzled.

So, before my friends start panicking, I'll state that I'm fine these days, but I still have questions about the way some people react to depression, depressed people and the shadow of suicide.

I'm puzzled because today, I met someone who'd left something in my postbox. He wasn't even surprised that I hadn't opened the box in a week when I said so.
He probably thought that I wasn't home, but in fact, I hadn't left my flat since the day before the one he put the note in my box. I was just working hard to plan my lessons, and since I had a full fridge, I didn't leave my nest.
I could have been unwell or depressed, but he didn't say a thing.
Are we just all being too polite?
"Are you fine?"
"Yes, thank you. And you?"
"Fine, thank you."
Are we drowning in formulas?
Do we care?
This is one thing that disturbed me.

Then, twice in the past, I asked contacts to check on me if I ever became silent on the net.
No one cared.
I could be slime on my floor by now. No one cared to check on me when I did disappear because, yes, back then, I was depressed and needed someone, anyone to wave my way.
That was the Internet, where people care and don't care... Okay.

I've seen people encourage depressed people to speak and contact friends, relatives or complete strangers if they think about death.
Fine.
All right.
Short of phoning the Samaritans, to whom can you turn when you've no contact with your relatives (who wouldn't care anyway), when the people around you are being polite (but not interested in your life), and icing on the cake, when your friends to whom you mention suicide ignore what you just said?
Back when I was feeling down because I'd just lost two people to suicide, I felt extremely low. I did try to speak, and no one listened.
What do you do then?

What's That Novel?

I need help. Really. It's driving me nuts, and search engines aren't helping, so... I need your help.

There's that book I read years ago (it was a loan from my [H]ex from Hell, and I can't ask him what it was), and I can't remember the title or the author  - well, otherwise, I wouldn't be blogging about that... of course.

So, it's science fiction.

It's about a man who finds something (I can't remember what - a machine? A lamp? A magical snail? That's in a complete blur) that allows him to make wishes/make dreams come true.

I can't remember what the first one is, but I think it was something silly and selfish.

He discovers that the 'wish time' gets reduced each time (if Wish #1 lasted for one day, Wish #2 lasts for one hour - or something like that).

At one point, the hero turns into a woman (because he was curious) and he lets his Asian dry-cleaner (or something) take her to bed (because he was curious).

In the end, he's left with a one second wish, and he grants everybody one wish, which leads to some odd situations.

Rings any bell????????????????????????????

Quick Question...

Quick poll, in fact.

 

I'm writing.

I finished a sub-part in my fantasy novel, and now the Sci-Fi P.I. plot bunny is demanding its turn.

I'm working on the details of the nine stories that are going to make this "universe".

Funnily enough, I cannot start writing until I have a title, and so, I am currently working on the nine titles (because, yes, I know where the whole thing is going: the plot's been brewing in my head for over a year).

Would you growl at me, or be tempted to curse me, if the titles were in Ancient Greek (*cough* and not translated *cough*)?

Time to vote..........................................

Я люблю Київ

All right, my silent blog visitors, I can see quite a few clicks coming from beautiful Ukraine... and I've got "bait" to (hopefully) make you comment.

If my health allows it, I'm planning to go spend a few days in Ukraine - probably next Spring.

My main aim is going to be Kiev, but I'd like to hop by Odessa, too.

So, first, confession time: the title of this post might be an attempt at Ukrainian, but I just started Russian in fact (I'll learn Ukrainian once I've tackled more Russian, I promise). Will (very) elementary Russian, fluent English and French and bits of Spanish and German be enough for the trip?

Would you have tips? Things to see, do, eat, avoid like the plague.........

C'mon! Help a fellow Earthling.

Quick Question...

Yep... another one.

So, I get my blood boiling every morning as I finish my breakfast browsing the news. It's silly, but I'm not going to change...

The thing is, we've got some bipeds who do really heartless things, and I'm beginning to think that it might be a good idea to keep track.

I'm thinking about starting a "Wall of the Heartless Ones" or something, with a name, photo and a quick description of the latest heartless deed, and possibly a link to the article that got my blood boiling.

What do you think?

Quick Question...

Since tweet-land was silent on the topic, I'll take my chances here.
So.
I started collecting recipes when I was... seven.
I love to cook, and I'm rather good (my friend Hugo asking to lick the pans clean and fighting with another friend with home-made bread over the last bit of sauce is proof #1).
So... would you like me to post my favourite recipes here from time to time?
Comments welcome in any language.................................... ;)