Full Moons and Fibs

Last night there was the most wonderful full moon. It lit up the whole street more vividly than a street lamp when I was taking the dog for his last stroll around the block. I wrote about such a moon in Kissing Mr Wrong, a scene when Lu, my main character, was making some momentous decisions (and coincidentally also taking the dog for a wee).

After I finish writing the first draft I work out the dates and make sure that weekends and bank holidays are in the right place and so on. I checked the state of the moon on the date. Oops. No full moon, in fact there would be only a tiny sliver to hang in the sky. Three choices: change the date, change the moon, fib.

Readers, I decided to fib.

Yes, I have deliberately and in cold blood put in an incorrect fact. I am sorry, but I really couldn't change the date, and having such a round, shining, glorious moon in this crucial scene was important. I try to be reliable with the facts - if I say it's the 76 bus for the Protestant cemetery in Rome then it is - but this time my standards have been lowered. Will anyone notice, or care? Will I be accosted at lit fests with angry readers clutching lunar calendars and demanding their money back? Somehow I doubt it. But even if no one else notices, I know, and it tugs at my conscience like a healing scab.

(Though not enough to change it...)

At Chipping Sodbury Library tonight at 7.30pm, ready to be accosted by angry readers clutching lunar calendars.