Greetings and Salutations. I am Laurie M. Rauch, Owner and Chief Code Nerd of 
Jan 11, 2008
Something new
I promised yesterday that I’d have a new feature today.
I did a little rearranging of my blog. I took out the what I’m reading page, because I never remember to update it and I never seem to be near the computer when I finish a book. But to give you an idea, I have a bunch of the books on the go right now. I’m re-reading Bridget Jones’s Diary, because the CBC ran the movie and the sequel like a million times last week, and I’m part of the way through: Eve Kenin’s Driven, Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, and something else I can’t seem to remember. (Tho, I have Megan Hart’s Broken, which I’m dying to start, but am holding off ’til I finish one or more of the other books I’m in the middle of.) And I just finished Rachel Caine’s Stray, and Jacqueline deMontravel’s Escape from Bridezilla.
And I added a new page. I know I’d initially intended for Fridays to be Ask the Grammar Geek day, but people stopped sending me questions. But what’s funny is that where so many people get random sex-related search words that bring people to their blogs, almost all of my search terms are grammar-related.
So I created a new page… Ask the Grammar Geek. That page is going to be a giant Q&A free-for-all. Post a question in the comments and I’ll answer it. (well, within reason. I obviously won’t answer questions about a specific submission or manuscript. And I may be secretive about personal questions. *grin*) But grammar? publishing? editing? writing? even web design… hit me with your best shot.
1 Comment • Posted in Ask the Grammar Geek, Editing, Grammar, News
Hi,
I’ve noticed a lot of people using the form, “I wish I never would have done this.” This is wrong, the correct form is “I wish I never HAD done this.”
Can you tell me why the former construction is wrong? I find myself unable to explain to people, except to say, well, it sounds wrong and it’s obviously wrong. I think the words “would have” imply that a person *didn’t* do “this”, so the sentence doesn’t make any sense. Am I right?
Thanks for your help.