Boner Needs Love, Too

No Agatha Christie. They had an array, but not the one I wanted, and what they did have was in poor condition. So I gave them a pass. I did find four Kathy Reichs novels and two Patricia Cornwell Kay Scarpetta novels. I've never tried Cornwell, but I've heard good things about the early Kay Scarpetta books, so why not?

While I was perusing the Cornwell books, I read the prologue to Book of the Dead. In it, the killer was tormenting his victim. As part of his creepy ritual, he was naked, and Cornwell made note of his "excitement" numerous times. As in, "She saw my excitement and feared it.", or "Her gaze dropped to my excitement, and she feared its use."

Now, look. It's quite possible that I've become inured by more than ten years of fandom's fantastical descriptions and loving metaphors for boners, and perhaps it's impolitic, as a professional writer, to use such coarse terms as "stiffy" or "love truncheon", but what's wrong with plain old "erection" or the more artful "arousal"? If you're too delicate to admit that men have penises, then maybe writing about grisly sex crimes isn't your calling. Writing about a killer's mysterious "excitement" makes it sound like a pushy vacuum salesman menacing a timid housewife.

On the plus side, more books! On the minus side, my to-read pile is now five shelves. At least I'll be ready when a solar storm causes the collapse of the technological age.