I have written and published eight poetry books, so far, for children, teenagers and older readers, and a past life story, Beyond Mercy.

These books were checked meticulously by me and proofed by two other people. So, I was quite shocked when I had had ‘Choice for Teenagers’ printed to find that one of the poems had been duplicated – albeit under a different poem title.

I had not noticed, yet I almost know my poems backwards. One of the proof readers said that she had thought it was a different poem at the time, and only later, after the printing of the books, did she realise it was the same poem. Yet, she is highly intelligent, and someone with a very diligent nature and with a wide, trained knowledge of English writings. The other had simply not noticed.

When I came to convert the books into eBooks, as you can imagine, I was extra careful.

However, months later, having just bought an iPhone, I was wondering how an ebook would look, so I randomly downloaded this book. I could not believe that the same poem was duplicated yet again – this time even with the same name.  This was even stranger, as the poems were sorted alphabetically and were quite near together in the table of contents. How could this duplication have been missed? The inbuilt virtual ‘reader’ of the Kindle, should anyone choose to ‘hear’ the poems, does not take breaths nor knows about phrasing, and only responds to commas, full stops and question and exclamation marks. Considering that, when preparing the eBook for the Kindle, I read through every word of every line of every verse of every poem in order to put in extra punctuation to my normal mode of writing poems, it becomes even more surprising that this was missed.

The poem in question is called ‘Aspirations’. It talks about the importance of having a ‘mind that is free’, so that abilities are able to be used to the full and any individual potential is not limited. It is one of the most important messages for anyone, and in particular, for teenagers in the present climate. All, in my opinion, should prevent or avoid the distortion of beliefs by religious doctrines so that the truth of God and the role of individual responsibility on earth can be understood. All should prevent the devastation which can be the result of mind altering drugs or/and avoid  the  destruction which can occur through indulging  in  excessive alcohol intake.

As it appears we were all unable to notice the ‘error’, the duplicated poem will remain. It has a message worth repeating, and maybe I am not the only 'one' who thinks so!

In ‘Beyond Mercy’, again after the books were published and printed, a mistake on one page, regarding three names was found. I and two people had all missed this error, and I add, two others who I asked to read the book in a critical, observant manner. Now, there are many characters in the book so that lapse could be excused by the proofers. However, I provide a family tree and list of all the people in the book for any reference needed. For me to miss that error was quite remarkable. I ‘lived and breathed’ the lives of these people, in particular one of them, and the error simply would not have entered my head to write.  I read that particular section to check its contents many times, and I would surely have noticed the mistake. But, I didn’t.

I know now, that we were not meant to see these errors.

I could easily change the PDFs for the books for a reprint, and for the Print on demand PDF for The Book Patch and the prepared eBooks, but I am not going to do so. Why? For a simple reason. These errors were meant to be. We were ‘blinded’ to them.

I have written an appendix regarding this ‘error’ for ‘Beyond Mercy’.

I believe there is an identical book (to the book ‘Justice’ within my book ‘Beyond Mercy’) which was written in the fifteenth century. To write a story from 1497, without research of any kind, and which I believe is true , is one thing. To write the errors as well, is quite another! When the proof of what I write is found then I believe this error will also be found in the ‘original’ book. I too, must wait and see if I am correct! But, if so, how did I do that?

For the third 'error', let me turn to my poetry book – ‘A Spiritual Journey’.  One poem has been duplicated in the book, entered as ‘Cavalcade of souls’ and as ‘The Cavalcade of Souls’. Yet again, it was missed by me and both my proof readers. One ‘never noticed’ and the other thought they were different poems.

There is a ‘history’ for this poem, ‘Cavalcade of Souls’. I wrote it from a ‘dream, or vision’, I had. Soldiers, dressed in tattered Roman uniforms were returning from battle They had died and their spirits were arriving to enter the spirit world. Each man was questioned, by a man sitting at a table, as they walked slowly to the ‘gate’ which led into the spirit world.  So, I wrote ‘what I experienced’ in the ‘vision’. So, the poem is in my book ‘A Spiritual Journey’.

This poem also seemed totally relevant for my book, ‘Beyond Mercy’. In the book, it is translated by the loveable and generous character, ‘Uncle George’, from ancient Latin to English. He was a scholar who loved poetry, and he wanted to use a line from a poem as an epitaph for his nieces who were murdered in 1497. The epitaph was for the book that was being written about events in 1497 and the subsequent search for justice. So, I used my poem for that purpose in my book. (read Beyond Mercy). I can say now that I feel a debt of great gratitude to ‘Uncle George’ and readers of 'Beyond Mercy' will eventually realise why.

Though I have done no research into the matter, I am convinced that the poem, which I wrote from the ‘dream/vision’ had been written, originally, centuries before by a Roman named Atticus! His name was also ‘given’ to me as I am ignorant about ancient Roman times. I now believe that Uncle George (in 1497) had a book of Atticus’s poems in his extensive library, and translated this one. In ‘A Spiritual Journey’ two slightly different versions are printed, which reflect the original and the translated. Strange indeed! But, when the inner book of ‘Beyond Mercy’ is found, I am sure I shall be justified in what I say.

I do not believe that these were errors, but that they were meant to be, and so they will all be left in future editions of these three books. However, I have written an appendix to ‘A Spiritual Journey’ and for ‘Beyond Mercy’, giving explanations, and these appendices will be added to future editions of the books, and are already included in the book on The Book Patch and the eBook.

More apparent errors may emerge.

I put my very best effort and a lot of work into producing perfect paperback books and eBooks. At first, I was, naturally, concerned, puzzled, and rather upset, until I was ‘given the understanding’ - each time.

I trained as a doctor, and having specialised for 35 years in psychiatry, I don’t think of myself as a writer or poet, despite the evidence of my books. I  doubt I ever will. I see myself more as a ‘translator’ of information which is ‘given' to me, and as a communicator with knowledge and much experience. When I nearly died in 2006, I arrived at the ‘gate’ which only the dead can actually enter. But, just in time, as my body was beginning to feel the coldness of death, I was sent back and given the command to write what I know. So I do. Why my brain was not affected by the long and measured lack of oxygen, is another story all together and one I have not yet written.

I was told, several years ago, by someone with ‘different’ abilities that in my life there was no such thing as coincidence!

Truth can, indeed, be stranger than fiction.

To read about Beyond Mercy and to buy the book from UK go to the website www.buybeyondmercybook.com 

To buy from USA go to The Book Patch

To buy eBooks by Audrey Coatesworth , go to Amazon or the Kindle store

To read and buy 'A Spiritual Journey' and 'Choice for Teenagers' go to PLP Publishings 

CopyrightACoatesworth 2011.