Sorchia's Universe

I’m venting today about obtrusive dialogue tags. But first—a story: Back in the day when I taught the King’s English to the masses, I worked at a small school in deepest, darkest southern Missouri. The native language of the area is a combination of Scotch-Irish Appalachian, a little Elizabethan, and a smattering of modern slang and inventive metaphors and is known as the Ozarkian dialect. I grew up in the area but my folks were from ‘away’, so I speak two languages—English and Ozark. The two are not always interchangeable. If you want to talk to locals and get anything done, you better sound like they do.  If you want to get gainful employment outside of the area…well, there’s no accounting for people’s prejudices, but an Ozarks accent tends to give other people delusions of grandeur. For a Tale within a Tale, go HERE . Anyway, one of my favorite kids—a large, young man of the redneck persuasion—got suspended. I ran into him in the hallway and asked about the incident, hopin...

Let’s take this premise: The apolitical author sells more books. I see the point. Right now, expressing a view on any given subject may indeed alienate people who feel differently. I have myself avoided the products of some celebrities who are rabidly opposed to something I am just as rabidly for. I don’t make a habit of it, but I do it from time to time. Just as often–even more often–I have gone out of my way to support artists and businesses who embody values I support. Writing stories with political overtones, no matter how subtle, does invite comment. Lately, some comments have taken on an ugly tone. If you don’t write about controversy, you do avoid that negativity.  Who isn’t tired of name-calling and ugly innuendo—and this comes from every side of every issue. So here’s what I think. Having different opinions is perfectly acceptable. It is possible to disagree without being disagreeable. My opinions find their way into my books, my blog posts,...