I checked the speedometer

FROM A NOVEL: It was only two miles between villages, and I checked the speedometer when we left Cold Brook.

I love this author's work, but I have to disagree here. The narrator didn't check the speedometer; he checked the odometer, for distance, not speed.

FROM ANOTHER NOVEL: Just short of Connecticut I turned right on Route 123, glancing at my speedometer. When I had gone a mile and a half, I started looking for Iron Mine Road, and in another two-tenths there it was.

It must be an epidemic, and this is another of my favorite authors. Again, he looked at the odometer, not the speedometer.

I'm making a point; if you can, be accurate.

LINKS: On my web site, I have links to some of my stories online.

EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com  TWITTER: EDITORatWORK.

More EDITOR@WORK blog entries

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers  

•  Editor with no experience

Blog entries by Tom Gillispie

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie

• Good Samaritan

• The PRESS cap and my friend Mike

• Watching TV

• No luck with Billy Sims

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer outta there!

Entries from The Dog Blog

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2015)

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• 12-plus years with my dog Lady

• OOH! OOH! The stereophonic huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

Blog entries from The Auto Racing Journal

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing