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What I'm writing in YEAR OF THE DOG

I just finished writing Year of the Dog ! It had a massive plot hole that I had to fix which turned out to be more work than I expected. Here’s a snippet: “Hey, Auntie Nell.” He wrapped his arms around her, bussing her on the cheek and breathing in pikake flowers and shortbread cookies. And suddenly he was nine years old again, and her solid presence had made his chaotic world stable once more. “What are you doing here?” He usually took her to dinner on Wednesday nights, but today was Tuesday. The edges of her smile faltered a little before brightening right back up again. “What, I can’t visit my nephew?” She angled around him to enter his home. “Is this your new house? Looks lovely.” Which was a blatant lie, because the fixer-upper was barely livable, much less acceptable to a neat-freak like his aunt. She also left four matching pink and purple floral suitcases on the stoop behind her. Only then did Ashwin notice the cab driver standing slightly to the side of the walkway. “Can ...
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Cussing

Captain's Log, Stardate 12.08.2005

Terry Whalin brought up an interesting discussion topic on his blog today. I've read lots of discussions on email loops with authors lamenting the fact the CBA doesn't allow cussing, despite the fact it's "realistic."

Well, yeah, it's realistic. But I've also heard all the stupid reasons people return books to bookstores. You wouldn't believe what offends some people, and even worse, how some bookstores react to their griping.

It's the publishers who have to deal with all this negative feedback. And if it saves them some headache to omit a few words from a book, why not?

Terry discusses this with more eloquence than I. He's also an industry professional and knows what he's talking about.
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