Ok, the THREE topics you can't discuss are religion, politics and...

   In a previous post I quoted the old adage that polite conversation should exclude the topics of politics and religion, which I didn't shy away from in Earthen Vessels. Add to that the third topic of sex, which also pops up with great regularity.
   While they were under construction, the sensual aspects of the story were confined to the privacy of my little home office. When it was just me and my keyboard, these elements provided believable developments in the plot and painted an intimate portrait of the characters. In the garish light of a reader's Kindle screen, I worry they will appear tawdry and titillating. I hate to think that the sexual content might embarrass some members of my family, especially the younger and older generations. No kid wants to go to school and hear, "Hey, dude, I like how your mom worked condoms into chapter sixteen."
   Recently I was chatting with an older relative, a lady who summons up an era of white gloves and veiled hats. I told her that I'd been invited to speak about my novel at a book club of "mature" ladies. "I hope they're not uncomfortable with the spicy parts," I told her. To my surprise she responded, "Well, it isn't all that spicy." That was the one reaction I never expected from her. It made me wonder instead if I should go back and turn up the heat on my love scenes. My conclusion in her case is that some of the sexual innuendo went over her head. This is the woman who went shopping for fluted paper cups in which to serve cashews for high tea. She asked a teenaged clerk at the discount store to show her to the nut cups and was thoroughly disgusted when she was led to (you guessed it) the athletic supporters.
   When Fifty Shades of Grey tops the bestseller list alongside Beverly Lewis' latest offering on the Amish, an author is prone to ponder where to draw the line, or draw the curtain, as it were. I once saw an interview in which Katie Couric asked John Updike, "Why is there so much sex in your books?" Without missing a beat Updike replied, "Because there's so much sex in life." I don't think I can add anything to that.