Fracked If You Do, Fracked If You Don’t

In the Tellaran Series I originally used ‘frack’ instead of the real word. When you read The Princess or go get an updated version (Amazon will probably give you one if you purchased an ebook and ask nicely) of the other Tellaran novels currently out —The Seer, Stardancer, and The Consort—you will no longer see ‘frack’ but, instead, the real four letter word.

So, let me tell you why.

At first I used ‘frack’ in hopes that I would give the reader an opportunity to be more immersed in the story. I wanted to say ‘hey, you aren’t on Earth people!’ And it’s kind of an homage to Battlestar Galactica. They used it on that show, I loved the series and I thought it worked really well there.

But there are over twenty Tellaran novels planned (so far!) and I feel like ‘frack’ was a distraction to readers. Of course, on the other side, some readers might like ‘frack’ better. They might prefer books that don’t have any profanity in them. But the readers I heard from complained that it stopped the flow and pulled them right out of the story. Some wrote to tell me they had bypassed the books completely (despite really liking the writing and the story preview) because they couldn’t get past ‘frack’.

Also, with the production of the Tellaran series as audiobooks gearing up, ‘frack’ just wasn’t working. For me it worked in my head, it worked on paper, but when the narrator said it . . . it didn’t.

I discussed this at length with my editor, fellow writers, trusted friends and the bottom line is—whatever I do here I’m going to tick someone off.

Right. Fracked if I do, fracked if I don’t . . .

I finally came to the decision that this series is really strong and I just don’t want one word to get in the way of (most) people enjoying it.

So to those of you who preferred ‘frack’, I apologize. I hope you will still enjoy the series. For those of you who prefer the real word I hope you enjoy the stories more.

For those of you who are mad at me for doing one thing then changing my mind all I can say is—I made a choice I felt comfortable with at the time and now I’m making a different one. I think I’ve done the right thing by making this change and the books are better for it.

I love the Tellaran series and I can’t wait to share more stories from that universe.

And hey, if you bought the paperbacks they are now collector’s items. ;)