I have a huge backlog of ridiculous emails to share with you, I just haven't had a chance to go through them. But here's one that just came in moments ago…
Hi, I have read the first four books in your Diagnosis Murder series and loved the story and characters. I attempt to only have family friendly books in my home and these books met this criteria with the exception of two of the books containing the word God followed by d***. Can you tell me if any of the last four books in the seriers contain this word? If not, I cannot wait to order them.
I replied that I've written eight DIAGNOSIS MURDER books and can't honestly recall if or when the word God followed by d*** shows up in them. I don't keep track of individual words or phrases from among the 75,000 words in each book. But if you're so easily offended by the coupling of those two words under any circumstances by any character that you find an entire novel unacceptable as a result, I would play it safe and avoid the rest of the books in the series. Come to think of it, and with no offense intended, you might want to avoid books by Ernest Hemingway, Herman Melville, J.D. Salinger, Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich, Harper Lee, Joseph Heller, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Bram Stoker, John Steinbeck,. A.B. Guthrie, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Barbara Kingsolver, Larry McMurtry, perhaps even Mark Twain…heck, if I were you, I'd stay away from just about every book that ever won the National Book Award or the Pulitzer Prize or is considered a classic of literature (not that I am in their league, of course). There's a very high probability that the word God, followed by d*** appears in the majority of them.
Too funny, Lee. Unbelievable someone took the time to write that.
Well, God d*** it! Now there’s a bunch of books I need to read if only to find that phrase in it. I wonder who taught this 16th Century prude how to use email? I also wonder if they’ve actually read the Bible, since I suspect there’s that and more foul language and situations in that dirty book as well!
I also wonder if they know what Century this actually is..?
According to Amazon’s “Look Inside” function, Diagnosis Murder #7: The Double Life has the word “damn” 6 times. None of them, however, follow the word “God.” Diagnosis Murder #6 has 7 “damns,” but not one “Goddamn.”
So maybe that makes them ok? 😉
If you’ve ever visited John Sandford’s website, somewhere on there is a series of graphs that show the number of times various curse words appear in each book. It’s hilarious.
Holy S***! That’s a helluva list.
(I figured it was okay to use the helluva, since it’s a brand name.)
One of my pals can sympathize.
Her uber-religious mother won’t read her books, but a neighbor did, and with schadenfreude-like relish informed the mum just how many times various vulgarisms were employed in each title by her little darling.
Both ladies wailed mightily over the number of eff bombs that were deployed, probably enjoying the whole process. Then the elderly mum had “a talk” with my 40+ year-old pal about having a potty mouth in those devil books.
My friend decided to be amused.
You can let your fan mail writer know that in the King James version that the word “damned” appears a number times. Whether it’s close to the word “God,” I’m not sure about, but clearly the fan writer must get rid of THAT tome if he wants a family-friendly bookcase!
It is often best to avoid Hemingway and Melville already. I’m not too keen on Kingsolver either.
That reader should avoid Scott Phillips at all cost.
Too funny. I always wonder how people with that level of sensitivity get along in the world. It’s so much better to grow a thick skin about other people’s behavior and just keep your own actions/words under control.
Obviously this person is a little out of step with contemporary morality – but really, that’s their choice, isn’t it? It doesn’t offend me but I’m sure there are books out there that I wouldn’t read because I find them offensive. It’s just a question of where the line is. And this reader seems to have been very polite about it, too.
It’s nice to know that murder is family friendly material.
I’m glad someone else noticed that too.
I’m still PO’d that Disney KILLED BAMBI’S MOTHER!!!
Hope he doesn’t have any Disney films lying around. They’re too danged violent for my taste.
What’s hilarious about this whole issue is that my religious French-Canadian mother in law, who’s 88 and proud of her son-in-law, has copies of Playboy magazine where my short stories have appeared prominently displayed in her magazine rack for all to see… So far, no coronaries from her visiting friends have been reported…
Actually it is offensive to Christians when God’s name is used in vain. The third commandment says not to and millions of Christians are irritated by it. It’s not some weird thing that only “uber-religious” people hold to.
In fact, Hollywood wasn’t allowed to us God’s name in vain until 1968. It was called the Hayes code and it’s the reason movies were so decent in that time. And many classics were made that not only don’t have God**** but don’t even have “oh my God.”
Many great movies are made nowadays as well without including those words, or even “oh my God.” Not just kids movies either. The first three Pirates movies, the Star Wars movies, movies like Toy Story (number 3 made a billion dollars).
And as for classic books. Narnia doesn’t have any. But those are kids book. But Lord of the Rings doesn’t have any. Jane Austen’s don’t. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s don’t. Daniel Defoe’s don’t. H.G. Well’s don’t. Mark Twain cusses, but I don’t think his books have blasphemy.
And books nowadays: Clive Cussler’s don’t include that expression. Ted Dekker’s don’t (Bride Collector was named one of the top 50 killer thrillers by NPR).
There are countless great books that don’t include any blasphemy at all.
Actually it is offensive to Christians when God’s name is used in vain. The third commandment says not to and millions of Christians are irritated by it. It’s not some weird thing that only “uber-religious” people hold to.
In fact, Hollywood wasn’t allowed to us God’s name in vain until 1968. It was called the Hayes code and it’s the reason movies were so decent in that time. And many classics were made that not only don’t have God**** but don’t even have “oh my God.”
Many great movies are made nowadays as well without including those words, or even “oh my God.” Not just kids movies either. The first three Pirates movies, the Star Wars movies, movies like Toy Story (number 3 made a billion dollars).
And as for classic books. Narnia doesn’t have any. But those are kids book. But Lord of the Rings doesn’t have any. Jane Austen’s don’t. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s don’t. Daniel Defoe’s don’t. H.G. Well’s don’t. Mark Twain cusses, but I don’t think his books have blasphemy.
And books nowadays: Clive Cussler’s don’t include that expression. Ted Dekker’s don’t (Bride Collector was named one of the top 50 killer thrillers by NPR).
There are countless great books that don’t include any blasphemy at all.
And when the KJV says damned it actually means damned to hell. As in, if you take the Lord’s name in vain your damned to hell. I’m not talking about you personally, that’s just what the Bible says. Any sin, according to the Bible, will send a person to hell. Lying, stealing, adultery, murder, blasphemy. I wasn’t trying to zero in on blasphemy. It’s just one of many ways to choose one’s fate.
At the same time, one must know that God, according to the Bible, doesn’t one anyone to go to hell. That’s where Jesus comes in…