Grammar, Mutts and Coming Attractions

I have decided that this blog should be more than just random musings on the writing life. So, instead of--or perhaps along with!--nattering on about publishing and craft, I am going to structure some blog-shops on writing topics dear to my heart.
     Warning: I am not a Grammar Warrior. I am a storyteller, and I will happily murder the English language along with anyone else who gets in the way of my telling a story! Then I will have a few smart, educated people go over my book and point out my grew-up-in-rural-Louisiana mistakes. I may or may not listen to those fine people. The responsibility, along with the name on the cover, is mine.
    Language is not sacrosanct. The English language has the pedigree of a junkyard dog. You look at the ears and think one breed, look at the tail and think another.

     "English is the result of Norman men-at-arms trying to make dates with Saxon barmaids, and no more legitimate than any of the other results."
                    --H. Beam Piper, "The Other Human Race"

     So get thee gone, Red Pencils! I'm here to instruct--and natter on about--the only thing that matters to me.
     The Story.
     Coming next week: Chiaroscuro and the Art of Characterization Part 1. (Yes, it's a word. Wiki it.)