Censored by Facebook...Malicious Moi! #Only Trollops

I should have written the first draft of an article about my recent trip to Italy today. I should have worked on a poem to share at my daughter-in-law's writing group, Poets & Dreamers, next week. I should have begun to shape a story for Chicken Soup's upcoming book on random acts of kindness.

Instead I spent my day promoting today's official release of Only Trollops Shave Above the Knee. I updated my Amazon Author Page in include the title. I tweeted on Twitter...my first tweet in months...using the hashtag we'd agreed on...#OnlyTrollops. I posted the release on a number of nonfiction writing sites. And then I ran into trouble.

The weekly newspaper in Colville WA posted a photo of me and a press release promoting the book, and a link to it showed up on a private Facebook group contributors to this book have created. I tried to share that link, and the Facebook fascists promptly jumped in and censored my attempts. Facebook suspects that my link ontained "malicious content."

Maybe it's a bug...sometimes I've learned these descend on Facebook, little gremlins that prevent sharing of certain posts. Or maybe it's a distaste of the word "trollop."

I love the 17th century sound of this word. Trollop! It means a woman who is regarded as vulgar, slovenly or unkempt. Or a playgirl who trades sexual favors for cash...or valuable remuneration of some form...diamonds? Trips to the south of France? A penthouse apartment in Manhattan?

Those were indeed the women our mothers warned up not to be. For some reason, they dared to shave above the knee. This book, in time for Mother's Day, collects the wisdom of the things our moms told us. You may have heard some of the warnings yourself:

What I learned from my mother I relate in "She Hankered for Hankies," which is an elaboration of one of my earlier Facebook posts. Mama didn't care so much about what we shaved. She did warn me not to order chicken in good restaurants, though. We weren't used to eating it with knives and forks at home, and ladies didn't eat with their fingers in restaurants. Understand, Mama lived in the pre-fast food era.

What she instilled in me was that when it comes to gifts, it's the thought that counts, not the monetary value of the gift. She wanted to keep it simple. She wanted cards enclosing hankies. My story is heartwarming rather than hilarious.

But about "malicioius content.": I like "trollop". I much prefer it to "strumpet" or."prostitute" or "hooker" or even stronger nouns. I wonder what Facebook would have thought if our editor had decided to title this hilarious collection, Only Whores Shave Above the Knee. 

Here's the link to the Statesman-Examiner article that got me censored this afternoon:

http://www.statesmanexaminer.com/content/blogger-contributes-only-trollops-shave-above-knee

And here's where you can get your copy of this racy book that made Facebook tremble and shudder:

http://www.amazon.com/Only-Trollops-Shave-Above-Knee/dp/0989955362/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1430432032&sr=1-1