Nadia–yes, exactly. I was a journalism major in college, and censorship is a real and insidious danger–we have to be watchful all the time that it doesn’t creep up on us.

Bernita–Don’t you miss Miss Snark?

Rebecca, thanks. Yeah, sometimes “oh, shucks!” just doesn’t fit the situation.

Taylor–well, I have to admit I am not a big fan of the news myself, especially TV news, because it’s so sensational. I’m not sure I need to learn about celebrity sex scandals! So I can’t totally condemn your friend. I scan headlines and if something sounds like it might have a bearing on my life, I’ll read. Otherwise I don’t. Don’t be too hard on your friend, as she might be more prone to depression or super-sensitive. For those of us who fall in that category, depressing news can be extremely painful.

I have my rose-colored glasses firmly in place. Numbing yourself with excessive spending, though, not good, but escapism via fiction–I’m all for it! Thanks for your comments.

Thats kind of funny knowing at least 2 writers, errr, “romance writers” (even though work sites block their blogs labeling as “pornagraphic”) who have said they protect themselves from reality (IE don’t watch the news or TV, or god forbid, politics (err,whats that and whose running?) for any education…and actually rely on their husbands or friends to tell them wtf is going on in the world. They “can’t handle the sadness or bad news”, so they live in a world of fiction, unable to handle the real outside world, and when something does make them feel bad, they try to compensate by shopping, wasting tons of money on stuff they already have too much of! I swear, it’s true. The same 2 gals (One a buddy of mine in FLA) and she is a friend, but bless her heart, she lives in a make belive world…everything is great…life is good…yummy…haha. She is pretending…. thats what little girls do. She wastes so much money on traveling as well.. She lives in a make belive world, all her books are make believe, her marriage doesnt even seem real … but he looks the other way…anything to make sure she is happy (Even though he doesnt seem happy to me, but he would NEVER tell her, burst her fragile bubble and all that) and yet she can’t “visualize” her scene, so she uses it as an excuse to travel, burning all his hard earned money. She uses explicit words, but her stories are odd…I wonder where she is coming from at times, and too bad theirs not CW (Clueless writer label) Sorry K! lol I have told her that, but she just goes on! We had to agree NOT to talk about her books when we visit! TG for alcohol!

For what it’s worth, I like readers who are intelligent, informed, & imaginative, and stick up for themselves!(Who cares how “real” a scene is..It’s fantasy! Make it up! No one is going to compare reality to your books! It’s not a “research” required topic) maybe she is using it to get away from the rare reality she has…hubby and kids. Who knows…. But you gals who spoeak out…keep on speaking out. Love the rants!

Taylor

The covers of my books indicate that the story may contain some violence (hence the blood), so I hope that readers can conclude (without the guidance of a rating system) that the murderers in my books are not concerned with keeping their language PG.

Overall, I think that if a person is turned off by the language, they probably aren’t enjoying the story all that much anyway. Most authors who have a flair for storytelling can work in the language without it making much difference to the reader. One of my favorites, Janet Evanovich is great at using profanity to place what I consider to be appropriate emphasis on the character’s emotional status. Sometimes, you gotta say WTF and go with your gut.

Again, I really enjoyed this post.

I’m sorry for the mess, and hope the blog admin can clean that up.

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