Swearing Well

 I'm super busy right now. Overwhelmed with work. I'm an obsessive reader and when I get in this state I turn to fast-paced mysteries and thrillers. Stopping reading is not an option. I would probably have a nervous breakdown. 

For the past three weeks I have been reading David Baldacci's books. He is amazingly productive and has quite an amazing personal story. His first published novel received a record two million dollars advance and another million for foreign rights. Now he write two books a year and keeps several excellent series going. 

There is little profanity in his books. I am aware of this because people cuss too much in the historical novel I'm writing now. A reader who vetted the manuscript told me so. 

According to the folks who instigated the Will Rogers Medallion Awards, men didn't cuss around women before 1962 and ladies never swore at all. 

Times change. And change back. We've gone through a period when a surprising number of persons swear all of the time. 

However, Gary Goldstein, the editor in charge of the western genre at Kensington, informed the audience at the Western Writers convention in Montana last year that Wal-Mart did a search of his books and if they contained the f word or the s word, they would not stock that book. Seriously! He has a three-page single spaced printout of suggestions for replacements. 

I don't know if Wal-Mart's scrutiny applies to other genres. I'm going to play like it does. In my current work in progress only one person cusses all of the time and another only occasionally. What can it hurt?

It's certainly made me more creative.