The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #29: Censorship, Children vs. Adults, and Raffle Winner

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast

This episode originally aired on Feb 29, 2016.

https://13thhr.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post-new.php?post_type=post&jetpack-copy=3263

-I get asked this question occasionally and am still refining my answer, which is generally, "adult, though teens over 16 may enjoy it as well." The only ones who generally seem interested in the answer are parents or grandparents not interested in the book for themselves but as a present for the children in their lives. I feel it's better to let them know what to expect first rather than have them surprised when little Johnny lets them know that someone in the book said, "oh, shit!"

That said, there are no f-bombs (sort of the king of English curse words), but, in the fine tradition of the 80s movies from which it drew inspiration, there are a few four letter words sprinkled in the text for emphasis. No one has sex, either on or off the page. No one loses a head or has organs ripped out. But there are some fight scenes, as well as some introspective narrative passages on more adult-oriented things like growing older, waxing nostalgic for the seeming simplicity and innocence of childhood, the inevitable regrets along the way, the aftermath of traumatic experiences, the complicated and halting way romantic relationships start, and the struggle to become one's own person ... stuff that may not necessarily be the most interesting to an eight year old. I sometimes say that if it were a movie, it'd probably get a PG-13 rating, which coincidentally, is what the movie The Martian is rated, and that does have a few f-bombs :)

Anyway, sometimes I think we protect children in very weird ways (e.g. banning books and other kinds of media). But that is a different topic altogether and dangerously close to real world activism, which this corner of the internets strives to steer away from.

Onto other things ...

-Although I've had guests on the show before (e.g. authors Lo-arna Green and Coreena McBurnie), I've not had live guests yet. That is, until next week, when my brother, who writes about video games, will be joining me live! We'll be discussing the video games we tried to make when we were kids (as I discussed previously in this post which has a collection of Tomb Raider sprites I made for a game I never finished).

-Starving Artist section: make some passive $$ by watching videos on your phone (you don’t have to watch ’em!) on Swagbucks! See this guide on Reddit for the apps you'll need to get in order to maximize your points:

https://www.reddit.com/r/SwagBucks/comments/229bf6/detailed_guide_about_swagbuckscom_for_the_newbies/

-Lastly, today I announce the winner of last week's raffle hosted by Kelly St. Clare, chosen at random by the gods in the Rafflecopter machine:

Jeremy J., you're the big winner! (You'll be receiving an email from me with more info). Congratulations!

As always, thanks for listening!

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