Thanks for the review. :) I’m sorry my book wasn’t to your taste, but I do appreciate your write-up and thought-provoking points. I will say that the name “Faye’ was a very deliberate choice; it means “fairy or elf,” and relates to the book’s overall theme of the magic of love, and that love has the power to heal all wounds. Brant is an Old English name that means “Proud One,” which I feel suits his character.

Again, thanks for the opportunity for the review, and best wishes,

Catherine

As for the other, imagine saying that in response to a witty snark?

Reader: Perhaps Ms Augustin conveniently forgot that ‘fait accompli’ is not a galactic standard term. Or maybe that’s the French trying to influence yet another galaxy! ::implied witty little chuckle::

Me: Yes, I can understand your concerns, Reader, but I felt I couldn’t render an exact Cirlian Formal translation of what my heroine said, so I substituted what I thought was a colloquial equivalent that an English reader could understand.

Is it just me or does my answer sound rather turgid?

I think I may just have to ::hand to forehead:: suffer silently. ;)

As for your sci-fi stuff, can’t you say something like, “well, I couldn’t render an exact translation of what my heroine said so I substituted what I thought was an appropriate English equivalent.” After all, the whole book is being written in English anyway, right? [G]

At the other end of the scale, I’m constantly struggling with this in my sci-fi stuff. When is it okay to use a term? Especially when a reader may later point out, “Oh yeah, and she wrote that the heroine called the hero a fucking bastard, when we all know those are Earth terms. Since when did a galaxy 40,000 light-years away know how to swear in English? *snort*”. And, of course, such a reader would be perfectly correct and I would be/am defenceless against such criticism. I’m curious…when does language go from “authentic” (even though we know it isn’t, right?) to “too intrusive/over the top”?

Brant does not sound right although I didn’t check and Faye really doesn’t sound right. Morgan le Fay (Morgan le Fee) meant Morgan the Fairy and frankly meant something dark and unchristian. She’s been rehabilitated a bit by feminist reinterpretation of some of the stories, but go back to the Matter of Britain and to the folk tales of Brittany and you can see her dark beginnings in a Celtic Goddess.

Custom dictated that one did not ever name the fairies for fear of summoning or offending them– calling them the Fair Folk or the Pharisees was one way around this. The Pharisee thing is from Sussex– you can see it used in Kipling’s Puck of Pook’s Hill and Rewards and Fairies and has nothing to do with the Jewish group except conflation of the two words. Therefore the idea of christians of the period actually naming their child “Faye” is close to mind boggling.

Gawd, I know so much useless stuff.

Brant is kind to small animals and pock marked whores.

Oh. So. Dry. *gmbo*. But tis true, tis a loverly cover.