Sam, he who was famously, but never actually, asked to ‘Play it again,‘ was the piano player in Rick’s bar in Casablanca. To my mind, that is whom he is, ‘The Piano Player’, he has never been ‘The Pianist’.

That may seem like an odd distinction to make because frankly, it is an odd distinction to make. It’s also one I have never thought much about before. But if you were to ask me ‘Who was Sam in Casablanca?‘ I would, I have no doubt, say ‘He was the piano player.‘  Because bars have piano players, they don’t have pianists.  Its why the sign in the bus station window in ‘Passing Place‘ reads :

Because advertising for a pianist to play at Esqwiths Bar and Grill, just seems utterly absurd… Okay, I know, a Piano Player at a bar and grill equally seems a little absurd, but it feels right to me or did when I wrote it, and it was being Sam from Casablanca that more or less was the job that was being advertised… Sort of, though the bar is not a bar, and it’s location,,, well that’s all relative…

Why am I tell you all this, eclectic readers? Well because I got back the proof-read copy of ‘Scar of Avarice’ this morning and while I have been working through it and seeing what my proofreader has changed one of the things he changed was Richards ( the main character in ‘Passing Place’, who is also featured in ‘Scar of Avarice’ ) job  Piano Player to Pianist, and as I worked through the manuscript for an hour or so  that kept happening. Most of the little changes here and there that my proof-reader has made add to the overall novella. He has done a fine job. But I found myself stuck on this one change. (there were others of course, but this is the one that stood out.)

I found myself questioning if it should be Piano Player or as my proof-reader insisted (though only in the proof, not actually in person or anything.) Pianist.

Pianist is the right word for a person who makes there living tickling the ivories. I know that, I have always known that. But after letting it bug me for a couple of hours I realised something very important. Something every writer realises on occasion. The right word is not always the right word. Sometimes you have to go with the word that actually feels right…

So, with nothing but love and respect for my proof-reader, who has done a fantastic job for me, Richard will remain, The Piano Player…

In other news:  Scar of Avarice, or A Scar of Avaris (damned if I can decide which is right, with the ‘A’ or without it… going to end up going with my gut on that one, once my gut decide’s ) is that much closer to being published … yay …