On Writing and Storytelling: Gremlins in ‘Comings and Goings’

📝 Gremlins in Comings and Goings

Midday, Thursday, September 18, 2025 — Orlando, Florida

Hi, everyone.

I rolled out of bed earlier than usual today, haunted by a tiny, mortifying typo I spotted in Comings and Goings just before midnight—a single missing “d” that turned “door” into the vastly less useful “oor.” Call it a visit from the writer’s midnight gremlins. If you’ve ever wrangled words for a living, you know the type: those sneaky little slip-ups that breed in the half-light between exhaustion and ambition.

As a former college newspaper copy editor, I’m usually the last line of defense against such linguistic embarrassments. For every piece I publish, I deploy my trusty Mark One Eyeball—and, for good measure, that not-quite-reliable Word spellchecker—just in case the gremlins are feeling clever.

But sometimes, especially at the end of a long day when my mind is juggling a dozen unrelated tasks, my eyes and brain form a quiet conspiracy. I’ll believe I’ve written the perfect sentence, only to discover later that intention and reality have parted ways. In this case, I was sure I’d typed “door.” I saw “door” in my mind’s eye. I expected to find “door” welcoming me in the published piece. Instead, there was “oor”—no entry, no exit, just proof that the gremlins had tiptoed past my defenses.

I could have shrugged it off, let the typo slip quietly into the ether, and pretended the gremlins hadn’t paid me a visit. After all, these mischievous little errors sneak into nearly every writer’s work—whether your words land on a publisher’s desk or, like mine, make their way into the world via Amazon and other self-publishing avenues. Most readers, I suspect, are willing to forgive the occasional rogue letter, so long as it doesn’t trip them up as they move through the story’s open “doors.”

Still, that little blooper—minor as it was—bothered me enough that I couldn’t let it slide. Before I even made it to the kitchen for my morning coffee, I fired up my computer, launched Kindle Create, and hunted down the rogue “oor.” I fixed it and uploaded the corrected manuscript of Comings and Goings to Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) before 8:00 AM Eastern.

As of 9:17 AM, KDP confirmed the revised Kindle version was live. It may not show up right away, especially for Kindle versions that don’t auto-update. Reading on the browser version of Kindle through Amazon might show the edited version tomorrow. For those with Kindles, Fire tablets, or the Kindle for PC app, you’ll need to check for updates, remove the current version, and download it again if it doesn’t refresh on its own.

📚 Update on the paperback edition:
I had to make the same fix there, too. While KDP uses the same source file, print updates take longer to process. I haven’t heard back yet, but I expect an email confirmation later this afternoon or evening. Fingers crossed.

I’m sure some folks—especially non-writers and occasional readers—might think this is a lot of effort to fix a “minor” typo. After all, it’s been nearly three months since Comings and Goings was published, and no one—not even the author—noticed that missing “d.” Why not just let it be and move on?

But for those of us who care deeply about the craft, even the smallest error feels like a pebble in the shoe—a quiet reminder that our work deserves the best possible presentation. For me, it’s about more than pride. It’s my name on the byline, and I want every page to reflect my commitment to quality. Attention to detail means respecting readers and honoring the trust built, word by word.

Especially in the world of self-publishing—where skepticism sometimes lingers and not every author holds the line on quality control—these small acts matter. Far too often, corners are cut in favor of speed, editing cast aside for profit. But I believe every story deserves care, and every reader deserves the best experience I can offer. Fixing a typo, no matter how trivial, is a quiet act of dedication—to the story, to the audience, and to the reputation I’m building with each book I release.