Yep, I'm a Word Whore: What About You?

Why am I a word whore? Very good question. The answer, quite simply, is this: I can't help it. I am what I am. There have been days, weeks, even years when I fought the compulsion to spend my life in bondage to words, but I now regret every lost story, every stillborn idea that slipped away during those dead times.

Never the less, when Jeffe and Allison asked me if I would be interested in being part of the Word Whore blog, my initial reaction was mixed. On one hand, there was the thrill of excitement at being connected with this stellar group of writers. On the other hand, there was that word. The W word. The one that is either pronounced sort of under your breath - whore – or in all caps, like this – WHORE – depending on the circumstances and the company.

What would people think if I started calling myself a whore?

My carefully protected childhood and all of the religious training thereof, kept tightly chained these days in the cellar of my subconscious, lifted up its voice and howled.

In my circle back then, we didn't speak of whores, unless we were reading Revelation and then it became the all caps whore, WHORE, she of Babylon who was going to meet an unspeakably dreadful fate due to the extent of her evil. My introduction to this word being strictly biblical, I find it still resonates differently with me than its more pedestrian synonyms: hooker, ho, prostitute, street walker. A woman might fall into these traps out of desperation and still be eligible for salvation. Not so with the WHORE, who is wanton through and through.

What would my mother say, should she suddenly become internet savvy and discover me taking part in this blog? What about my high school friends – and enemies? My extended family? Even my employer came to mind. After all, we of the mental health profession have an image and a standard to uphold.

I mentioned these fears to my resident Viking, and he laughed at me, as he often does. But then, he gave me wise advice, as he also often does. "If you can't have a little fun," he said, "something is very wrong somewhere."

Whatever the internal battle, you'll notice that I am here, proudly proclaiming myself today to be a Word Whore. Let me be honest. There was no way in hell, or in any of the many alternate realities that I can imagine, where I would have turned down an opportunity to hang out with other writers of this caliber and display my wares to a wider audience.

If somebody out there should happen to think less of me for being a whore – so be it. It's not the first time I've compromised a belief, or traded something of value in order to pursue my passion for words. Money, career development, further education, time with family and friends, fun, music, art - at some point in my life I have without question chosen words over all of these things.

Let's face it - we all have a selling point. Either one special thing that we will sell out for, or a particular price. Which brings us to YOU, the blog reader. Are you a Word Whore? Or some other kind of Whore? What is your selling point?

We've had a wonderful first week here at Word Whore Headquarters, with posts that explored multiple facets of this question. Now it's your turn. Leave a comment about why you are a Word Whore, or any other kind of Whore, and your name will be entered into a drawing. The lucky winner gets to choose from the following:

ARC of Brush of Darkness, by Allison Pang
Petals & Thorns, by Jennifer Paris, aka Jeffe Kennedy
Arcane Circle, by Linda Robertson
Embers, by Laura Bickle
Sparks, by Laura Bickle
Dark Oracle, by Alayna Williams, aka Laura Bickle
Enemy Within, Marcella Burnard

Good luck! And may the best Whore win.