Hi Sigrid, this is an interesting topic you have initiated. I consider myself spiritual, but that has nothing to do with how I write a book. It has a lot to do with what I read because I tend to read non-fiction. As for writing about drug addicts, you would be correct in saying that swearing is a part of the culture. But I chose to depict drug addicts I knew (in Beyond the...) without using their swearing because, as the author, I did not want to offend anyone! One of the characters is my cousin Annie, who died an unrehabilitated alcoholic and drug addict. In our "real" lives she could not compose a sentence without swearing. Yet, in the book, I do not repeat a single curse word she used. I didn't think it was necessary. Hmm, makes me wonder if I cheated her of her true character? I just read Sting's autobiography "Broken Music." He is a heck of a writer.. and told his entire story of rock and roll with very few swear words. The ones he used were in context. He is much more spiritual than I would have assumed, had I considered assuming! Love and Light, Lynn