RedStar

If so, what were the results?

In the book I'm writing, a girl of 15 spends some time in hospital. Now, with the kind of injury she has, she'd initially be in an intensive care ward, but once she's well enough, I suspect she'd be moved to an ordinary ward.

My brother was in hospital when he was 15, and he was on the men's ward, but that was over 20 years ago and I don't know if things have changed. What I want to know is would a 15-year-old be on a children's ward rather than an adult one?

Also, are children's wards for children of all ages, or are they split between younger and older kids?

Essentially I want to know whether a girl of 15 could be stuck on a ward with a bunch of whining, puking little ones.

The book is set in England.

I've already asked this question in the Parenting section but thought I may as well put it in here as well...

In the book I'm writing, a girl of 15 spends some time in hospital. Now, with the kind of injury she has, she'd initially be in an intensive care ward, but once she's well enough, I suspect she'd be moved to an ordinary ward.

What I want to know is would a 15-year-old be on a children's ward rather than an adult one, and also, are children's wards for children of all ages, or are they split between younger and older kids? My brother was in hospital when he was 15, and he was on the men's ward, but that was over 20 years ago and I don't know if things have changed.

Essentially I want to know whether a girl of 15 could be stuck on a ward with a bunch of whining, puking little kids.

The book is set in England.

I ask this because I often see people here saying they're looking for a professional editor to edit their manuscript before they submit to a publisher.

And yet, no reputable published author works in this way. They may seek critique (which is of course a different thing entirely) or get someone to proof-read, but they don't ever pay editors prior to submitting to a publisher. They edit and re-write their own work and then of course, further edits are done *after* they have an agent and/or a publishing deal.

I'm not convinced that someone who just spews words on to a page and lacks the critical faculties to edit it themselves understands enough about writing to be publishable. To write well, you need to have an excellent grasp of pace and structure and a near-flawless command of language. If someone needs to pay an editor just to get their manuscript in enough shape to be readable, they probably lack those skills.

I would be interested in others' opinions.

(Bear in mind that 'editing' is not just proof-reading and grammar correction, of course. It includes structural changes, suggesting rewrites, querying characterisation and so on.)

I've already asked this in the Music section, which is the obvious place for it, but just thought I'd also post here on the off-chance that any people in B&A are also violinists.

There is a character in my book who plays the violin. He's right-handed, and I would like him to have a finger missing from his left hand. However, I'm not sure if this would stop him from playing the violin. Which hand would a right-handed violinist use to hold the bow, and which hand do they use for finger-placement on the strings?

If it's the left hand that's used on the strings, would a missing finger stop someone from playing the violin altogether, or would they able to adapt to playing with three fingers and a thumb, or three fingers and a stump and a thumb?

If necessary, could he swap hands and learn to the play the other way round, as some guitarists have managed to do after accidents?

Also, would it make a difference which finger it was that was missing? For instance, is there a particular finger that's more dominant in violin-playing?

(If it makes any difference, the character in question is a self-taught fiddle-player of the kind you see in English and Irish folk bands, not a classical violinist.)

As you can probably tell I am a musical dunce and also struggle to tell left from right, so all help is gratefully received.

If the violin-playing was a really major part of the story or had to be described in detail, I'd obviously do some more in-depth research, but it's more something that occurs in passing and I just need to know if it would be possible. If it isn't, he will get lucky and be allowed to keep his finger...

I am writing a book in which one of the characters plays the violin. However, I also want him to have a finger missing on his left hand. When playing the violin, which hand does a right-handed person use to hold the bow, and which hand is used for finger-placement on the strings?

If it is the left hand that's used for the strings, would having a missing finger prevent him from playing altogether, or would it be possible for him to adapt his playing technique accordingly?

(If it makes a difference, the character is a fiddle-player in an English folk band, not a classical violinist.)

Lots of people get stinging, watery eyes when they chop onions or shallots, me included - even though I probably chop onions for cooking at least three or four times a week, they still make me cry, sometimes really badly. I know not everyone has this problem, but quite a high proportion of people do, and I was wondering if this is a problem for professional chefs or whether their bodies somehow adjust to it from daily onion exposure.

We were going to get Icelandic kroner here in the UK, but I've seen a couple of sources that suggest the exchange rate will be more favourable if we take £s with us and exchange it when we arrive in Reykjavik.

Does anybody know if that's the case or have any advice?

I've been having stomach problems for a couple of years, mostly in the form of nausea, discomfort and mild pain on the right of my upper abdomen after eating anything containing fats. After determining that I didn't have an ulcer and putting me on a drug to suppress excess stomach acid, my doctor eventually referred me for an ultrasound scan.

The scan showed that my gallbladder was very tightly contracted even though I had been fasting. Consequently, the radiologist and surgeon believe that I probably have gallstones or a damaged/diseased gallbladder and I am waiting for a date for surgery to have it removed.

What concerns me slightly is that everyone says that the usual symptoms of gallstones are frequent bounts of severe cramping pain in the right side. I have only experienced this once, and it didn't last more than an hour or so (although it was extremely painful). My usual symptoms are much vaguer and milder, although still rather debilitating and unpleasant.

I've also started to feel pain in my lower abdomen as well now.

Has anyone else experienced additional or unusual symptoms with gallstones, beyond the classic symptoms of a typical attack?