Nitpicking from the Peanut Gallery

I think that I will now refer to my mother as the peanut gallery. You know, just for a change from what I usually call her (take that how you will...she does).

But her nitpicking was correct. I know, because I went and verified it. That's what my family does to win arguments or to assure ourselves that the other person is--sadly enough--right. We research. We provide facts and references. It's like our own high school research paper. Dad would believe me that it's more fuel efficient to shut off the engine than to leave it running until I provided him with several sources to back me up--AND why he used to be right (that's the other way we win arguments; tell the other person they used to be right, but then things changed).

But I digress. My mother, who even from 6000 miles away knows my reading habits (admittedly, she did mail me a box of books) pointed out that I have read some books written in first-person in the last six months. Specifically Elizabeth Peters's "Amelia Peabody" and "Vicky Bliss" series (serieses? what is the plural to series?). What I've found interesting in about 5 minutes of research, is that most, if not all of Peters's "stand-alone" books (ie, not part of a series) are written in third-person, as is her Jacqueline Kirby series. However, Ms. Peters did decide to write her most prolific and popular series--Amelia--and her secondmost one in first person. She also does an exceptional job keeping the realism. Which is somewhat less necessary, as both characters are a bit over the top. The first-person voice also works naturally for Vicky, as she's often a bit over her head, so keeping the reader in the dark just helps us to feel what Vicky feels.

Peters takes a slightly different tact with Amelia, however. The Amelia Peabody books are actually supposed to be a series of journals, a fact that becomes more apparent as the series continues. This works well for the first person voice, as the author of the journals writes/narrates the events after they have happened, thus allowing for more information to be filled in than would be if it was being narrated exactly as it happened. That said, it feels current to the reader. It is a subtle, but helpful distinction. Additionally, as the series continued (and I imagine it got harder to hold the voice AND to keep the plots interesting) journals by other characters "surfaced" and were included in the "final publications." This makes it much easier to write in first person, because Peters is now writing not only as Amelia, but also as her son Ramses, and whomever else had a journal at the time of the events. So as the reader we now get lots more information, from the viewpoints of different people. Fun, interesting, and effective.

With all that duly noted, I'm rather inclined to go through and make a list of all the books I've read since I landed in England in February. It may not be complete, but I think it will be enlightening. To me, at least.