The other day, I was reading my reviews on Amazon (I know, I know—I should avoid them, but they’re just there), and one stood out that got me thinking:
I did enjoy the book, but there was far too much use of the f word. This word was overdone and for me, it popped up so much that it hurt the story just because the author could have used any number of other more appropriate foul words.
I know exactly which character this reader was talking about, and yes, she swears like a trooper. Probably because she is a trooper. And yes, I could have used other words to express her feelings. Believe me, in the years I spent writing and re-writing this trilogy, I probably considered every single one of them.
So, why didn’t I lose some of the fucks?
Because it would have changed the character’s voice. She grew up on the streets, she trained with special forces, she’s an assassin, and she’s a bitch. Having her say “darn it” or “freaking heck” wouldn’t work, because it’s not her.
I have plenty of other characters, and they don’t all swear. In fact, most of them don’t swear. Lara, the star of Gold Rush even makes a point of not cursing, and says “oh shoot” a lot. But she’s a housekeeper, and so she can get away with that.
More than anything, I want to make my books authentic. If I believe a character would say fuck in real life, then they say it in my story. I could sterilise my writing, but I don’t want to. I’d rather concentrate on finding readers who “get” my characters and understand why they say what they say.
People swear a lot in real life—I know I do. My friends do, my parents do, my colleagues do, and even my clients do. No, I don’t swear around kids. No, I don’t swear at the poor sods in call centres who are only doing their jobs. But in times of frustration, sometimes only a good fuck will do.
And fuck is one of the most versatile words in the English language. You can use it to describe pain, pleasure, love, and hate. Resignation, aggression, disgust, and confusion. Difficulty, despair, disbelief, and denial.
In fact, it’s probably my favourite four-letter combination.
I do put warnings on my books so readers know what they’re getting into, and the strange thing is that the comment above came on book three of a series where Emmy has been turning the air blue since page one of book one. The solution is simple—if you don’t like a style of writing, don’t read it. But have respect for the author for making the choices they’ve made with regards to their characters.
As an aside, do you know what I don’t do in any of the books I’ve published? Blaspheme. Why? Because my mother reads my books and she hates it. Funnily enough, nobody’s ever commented on that.
But while my characters won’t be taking the Lord’s name in vain, they will continue to fuck their way, in all of its glorious interpretations, through the rest of my books. And I’ll damn well let them.
And you shouldn’t give a Fuck……..lol your books are just amazing
Nailed it! This is why we shouldn’t let the fuckers with an opinion fuck with our works.
I’d be tempted to reply with, “Thank you for your review. May I recommend you check out the works of Judy Blume.”
Even our President swears a lot… In press conferences! 😀
I do swear a lot, and I didn’t grow up in streets… How much more, if i did.
I love Emmy’s swearing! It’s genuine… It’s transparency on its finest!
Haha – our politicians don’t swear, they just lie a lot!
Totally agree with you, and very well said!!! It wouldn’t be very believable if Emmy wouldn’t curse like a mad woman. This commenter should move on to other books and you should not be bothered by such comments. You know what you are doing!!! And we love your work! Fuck ’em LOL
I totally agree with you, and very well said!!! It would’t be very believable if Emmy didn’t curse like a mad woman. This commenter should just move on to other books. You shouldn’t be bothered by the comment. We love your writing style and work so fuck ’em!!! LOL
My comment dissappeared. Twice….?
Hmm, no idea – there’s nothing in the moderation queue 🙁
The reason i love ur character is because they are more human then imaginary characther.. All of them have they own way and thats make them awesome….
I do try – they’ve all got flaws, they all make mistakes. Even Emmy’s far from perfect.
Well, the number of 5* Amazon reviews for Pitch Black just went up by one 🙂 I’m with you; you’ve got to be true to your characters and if someone doesn’t like it – well, fuck them!
I used to write erotica, where it’s obviously not such an issue 🙂
I agree. While I don’t use that word….I think its appropriate for Emmy, Black or most of them to use it. However, I have never heard….or read the term ‘for fuck’s sake’. The first time I read it, I literally laughed out loud. And most every time I read it after that. (Sorry I just think its cute.) I just read Gold Rush…..loved it by the way…. But Lara didn’t say it.
Recently I had some disappointing news. My first thought was……’for fuck’s sake.’
Could not agree more. If swearing is part of the character’s upbringing or who s/he is, then fuck it. She’s gotta use the f-bomb.
Sorry. Pushed “post” too quick. Meant to add, I had a reviewer who said, “It was worth the price and well-written, but I don’t know why the killer didn’t get caught earlier.” True story! Moral of this story: no matter what we do, we can never please them all.
I don’t care what anyone says about your writing I love your books and Emmy and Black too! Don’t change anything just keep on fucking writing.
So true – there will always be that one person who can write your book better than you can 😉
Fun fact: I only started writing after reading a couple of ropey books and thinking I could do a better job. It was just words, right? Surely it couldn’t be that hard? Wrong. I had no idea of the effort that goes into writing a novel until I tried to do it myself!
I myself don’t mind foul language.. I use it often enough. .ha. Ha.. But really.. Some ppl are so often offended by swear words.. Smh. I don’t understand what’s so offensive about a little fucking passion.. Lol… Pardon my language.. They should take their delicate self and read something less realistic..
the world has become so politically correct that you can’t do or say anything that does not offended someone somewhere!!!
I myself don’t mind foul language.. I use it often enough. .ha. Ha.. But really.. Some ppl are so often offended by swear words.. Smh. I don’t understand what’s so offensive about a little fucking passion.. Lol… Pardon my language.. They should take their delicate self and read something less realistic..
the world has become so politically correct that you can’t do or say anything that does not offended someone somewhere!!!
I read those comments on Amazon! I was so angry. It was like the person hadn’t even read the fucking book. They wrote that it wasn’t like the character to say “fuck”? That what how did they put it, it was ” unnecessary” and I think someone actually said it was unlike the character. Obviously the person has no idea what Emmy is really like it that’s what they think. Maybe they got confused and they thought that Ash is what Emmy’s really like. Maybe didn’t realize that Ash is just how Emmy was acting. Maybe they just only read the first book. Because that you say, I think it’s in the third book, that ash isn’t really what any was like? That she’s just a pale version of Emmy? Even I can tell before I read books 2 and three that fuck is the word that Emmy WOULD use a lot. I love Emmys character and I loved her a lot better as Emmy, not Ash. I know everyone was all, ” Luke and Emmy should totally be together . Why didn’t you put them together. Mack and Luke? No!” I really love how it worked out though. I love all the ways that you put the characters in the end. It reminded me of the end of a chess match and how all the pieces on the board end up . Not always where you expect them to be, but where they actually are meant to be. If that makes any sense. I really really love your books. Cracked me up. The whole way through. I can’t even read any of your books in public anymore. Anytime I start a book of yours I don’t even bother reading it outside of my own house. Not even my own room. Because I know that I’m just gonna look like a crazy person laughing my ass off . Everyone just looks at me like I’m mad because I’ll just start laughing and laughing and I can’t stop because your books are hilarious . Even when they’re terrible because people are dying they’re funny and I know it’s horrible but you have the morbid sense of humor that runs in my family and I love it! I sent my sister your first book and she loved it too. I really bye series of books. I’m a big fan of books that are not part of long series. But your books are really amazing and I never buy while series but I have bought all of your books. Please please keep writing. If I can only read one author for the rest of my life and that author would keep writing books for the rest of my life I would probably choose either you or Ken Bruen. I don’t know, it would be a tie. That is the highest compliment I could ever pay any author ever. I FUCKING love your books. ;p
So sorry for the delayed reply – my software hid your comment away (probably because of the swearing – there’s irony for you) – and I only just found it! I think because Pitch Black is free, more people pick it up and they just don’t get Emmy’s character. One reviewer described her as too stupid to live, which I think was a little unfair seeing as she was in the midst of a breakdown. Frustrating, but there’s nothing I can do about it. Actually, that’s not quite true. I do have a plan. A polite two fingers, if you like.
I’m so glad you’ve been enjoying the books and my warped sense of humour. Better to laugh than cry, right? Unless you’re crying with laughter, then it’s okay 😉 Sometimes I’m mean to my characters, but I always try to make it up to them in the end. Even Tia. Her book’s coming out in August (hopefully) and she has to deal with a few difficulties. Death and alcohol, mainly. *Laughs maniacally*
What made you decide to do the clean version after writing this post to defend the integrity of Emmy’s unfiltered speech?
Good question! I wrote the clean versions for three main reasons:
1. To prove that I could. One reviewer said that writers who like to curse use swear words as a crutch and are incapable of writing without them. Well, two fingers up to that dude.
2. As an experiment. I wanted to see just how many people would choose the clean versions over the dirty versions. The answer? Not very many.
3. Visibility. Two books instead of one give me more advertising options and a better chance of getting picked up by Amazon’s algorithms. The clean version advertises the dirty version in the front 🙂