I have been somewhat remiss in blogging… My husband and I have been enjoying the past few days immensely. We have both of our grown children at home, and the holidays make us more aware of how seldom in the future we will all four be under the same roof.

Our son will be graduating with his accounting degree this December, and hopefully will be finding a job soon. He is planning on working while taking the courses he will need in order to take the CPA exam. So, my husband and I are all too aware that he might be moving out of town (let alone out of the state!) very soon. Obviously, we are hoping that he is able to find something right here in San Antonio.

Our daughter will be graduating this May with her degree in aerospace engineering, and has just been accepted by one of her top three choices of law schools… So, she will be moving out of state for her three years of law school. Going so far from home for the three years reminds me of when I attended a college that wasn’t close to my parents’ home. Luckily, I had my beloved grandmother with whom I could spend the shorter college breaks. Our daughter won’t have that luxury. Hopefully the school gives a whole week off for Thanksgiving, rather than the traditional two days. That way she will be able to fly home.

For those of you with young children… ENJOY!!! Remember, they grow up all too soon… It sometimes literally feels like they go from the excitement of watching an ant hill to the excitement of their first driver’s license, to the excitement of going off to college. ENJOY all of the precious moments that will make up your lifetime’s catalogue of memories!

This next blog is going to sound like I am really getting old>>> BUT, here goes anyway!

Why do authors feel the need to inject profanity into their novels?

I am going through a lot of Ellis Peters, Agatha Christie, and Ngaio Marsh audio books (and enjoying all of them immensely!) right now, and I am struck by their lack of profanity. Years ago, I wouldn’t have even noticed the lack of these “choice words” as that seemed to be the common practice.

So why is it that it seems like authors truly feel like they have to include “harsh words” into their novels to make the dialogue seem realistic? >>>   Words that years ago would have prompted your mother/father to wash your mouth out with soap.

Do you think that it’s because we, as a society, have become relaxed? OR Do you think that it’s because it seems like it is now acceptable for major network television channels to feature child actors who say things like “Up Yours!” to their on-air parents (to which the laugh-track man/woman inserts huge peals of laughter)? OR Could it be that people really do talk like this? OR Is it that our vocabularies have gotten so poor that we now feel like we have to add these verbs, nouns, adjectives (etc.) to get our points across to our listeners? (Or in this case, the readers?)

I have been out of the work force for many years, so I have to rely on other people to tell me if their offices are inundated with people who … let’s just call it what it is… swear. And, of all the people I have asked, not a one has responded that it’s common-place to hear obscene language at his/her office. So I wonder why it is so common for authors to have their characters swearing.

What I’d like to know is this: How would you feel if Miss Marple’s response to the Inspector’s clumsy line of questioning went something like this:

“Get off your    *##&^#*      *%##@*     and get to the   *^#@&*    point, you   *^$@&^**    !!! ”

Do you think that Agatha Christie would still have become the grande dame of mysteries?!?

Something that I have (quite obviously) noticed is that most of the authors on the Cozy Mystery site are women. That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy mysteries written by men… But, I think that it gets back to the fact that female authors simply have a better grasp of what women want to read, and also of what women find “acceptable”… The women authors tend to “play down” the rather unrealistic … let’s just call them… “male fantasies.” (You know the type… gorgeous blond with legs that don’t stop on Monday, beautiful brunette with over-developed bust on Wednesday, phenomenally sexy red head with… whatever! on Friday… only sleuthing while taking a break between the “knock ’em dead women” >>> or better said “girls” … who quite obviously love the leading men.)

I hope that this does not make me a female chauvinist cozy-reader… I am more than happy to read books by men who write cozies… and indeed I do!