By Sharon K. Gilbert
Because the novels are in many ways an homage to the beautiful British novels of the 19th century, I chose to use British spelling throughout the books. As an American writer, that presents a challenge, because I don’t tend to use those spellings on a day to day basis. Of course, I don’t generally say ‘whilst’ instead of ‘while’ either, but my characters do. In fact, because I have been using a more archaic form of speech ‘whilst’ writing the books this past year, I sometimes find myself speaking that way, and when writing or reading my first choice sometimes is the British version of a word.
So whilst reading the books, you may also be learning how Brits in the 19th century spoke and ‘spelt’ their words. Here’s a link to a site that’s helped me navigate these unfamiliar linguistic waters. If you spend much time here, you’ll soon find yourself writing ‘favour’ rather than favor and ‘licence’ rather than license.