I Invent a New Word - Fartical!

This is too funny not to share.

As I was researching some background information on pagan publishing, I stumbled upon a blog entry entitled The Search for a Better Pagan Bookmarket. In it, Jason Pitzl-Waters does a very nice job summarizing recent trends by publishers and expressing what he'd like to see different.

I wrote and invited him to expand on his theme for our OAM book. In my e-mail to Jason, I complimented him on his "farticle".

I didn't realize I inserted that stray "f" until after I sent it, and immediately sent a profuse apology! Jason replied with some questions about the Occult Authors Market and, I have to assume, accepted my goof as a simple typo and not a critique on his writing ability. He didn't actually comment on the error itself. I guess he was trying to be polite. I, on the other hand, was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down my face!! On the one hand, I was embarassed by making such a potentially insulting error on a piece of work that I actually admired. On the other hand, the word itself is so damn funny.

I've told this story to a few writer friends, who also thought it hilarious. One of them, a college professor, encouraged me to create a definition for the word and submit it to a competition. Who knows, maybe it'll make linguistory!