Pondering Profanity

I've never been big on profanity, but back in the day, I wouldn't say my language was squeaky clean. Somewhere along the way, though, I stopped swearing.  Not sure whether it was graduating law school, or getting married, or pondering kids or having them, but I just stopped. These days I am busy doing one last edit of my forthcoming novel BLACKBERRY GIRL and I am pleased to say that I still love the story and hope and pray you will too. But upon rereading my manuscript, I was struck by the existence of profanity in its pages. Hmmm.

Now the use of profanity in my book is quite sparing and very intentional.  The protagonist is an introspective and lost soul, treading that poetic bridge from childhood to adulthood and every now and then when life gets up in her face, she lets one fly.  So the periodic use of profanity is part of who she is at that point in time.  So, it makes sense to keep those F-bombs in there, right? Right?

This strikes me as a genuine dilemma.  As a person, as a mom, I am for the most part anti-profanity. But as a writer, as a conveyer of authentic stories, I believe that there are times when profanity is appropriate, important even.  And yet, my writing, however fictional, is ultimately a reflection of who I am.

What the Fudgsicle am I supposed to do?  :)