Love Me or Leave Me

As a sidebar to the blog tour I took for NOW PLAYING, people contact my publicity gals to see if I want want to write something else. Like 500 words on censorship. Sure, why not. This isn't that piece, of course. This is a blog. But I do have an extra thought or two, and here they are. Do I feel censored when a librarian puts STONER & SPAZ on a special shelf dedicated to challenged books? Not really. I like to be in a little bit of trouble, anyway. And the company is good on those shelves. Mark Twain is usually there, and he's a hoot.

Once or twice in the past, I sat on panels about censorship. Naturally the sponsors assumed I was against censorship, and I guess I was. But I liked the parents who'd read books they didn't want in their homes and were both passionate and articulate about it. Afterwards I told some of them that I admired their position and they were stunned that I wasn't busy dragging their children to the brink of the fiery pit and had time to be cordial.

And then there's the phenomenon called Hardening the Collective. That occurs when Side A of the censorship issue shouts at Side B and B shouts back. Neither can change its mind. Neither wants to. Firm beliefs ossify. Then rigor mortis sets in. I don't want to be part of that. I'm busy being snarky and shouting at slow race horses.

And anyway -- is it really my job to defend what I write? Some people won't like some of it; others will love it. I'll settle for that.