Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, Funky Feminist & The Handmaid’s Tale
I’ve always wanted to play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, so humor me while I mash together the literary and acting worlds for a lightning round of the amusing game, all designed to connect my new novel, Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, to—of course—Kevin Bacon.
- Horseshoes and Hand Grenades…
- …was recently reviewed by Funky Feminist (see below). Funky Feminist highlights the mantra Nolite te bastardes carborundorum on its website, which is from…
- …Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale. One of the actors in the TV adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale is…
- …Joseph Fiennes. Joseph Fiennes starred with…
- …Elisabeth Shue in the movie Leo. In the film Hollow Man, Elisabeth Shue acted opposite…
- Kevin Bacon. Ta da! Six degrees of separation are all that lie between my new novel Horseshoes and Hand Grenades and Kevin Bacon.
Now, chances are you know of The Handmaid’s Tale. If you’re reading my blog, you’ve heard of Horseshoes and Hand Grenades. But you may not be familiar with Funky Feminist.
I only discovered this fantastic site a few months ago, and I was an instant fan. A website that blares “What My Menstrual Cup Taught Me About Fear” across its homepage is a winner in my book.
Funky Feminist is, in their words, “an online platform dedicated to empowering those who identify as women, girls and their allies to push the limits, fight for what they believe in, and be unapologetically themselves.”
The site combines a blog, discount codes for very unique health and beauty products, freebies like printable notecards and bookmarks, and merchandise boasting ultra-strong female messages.
Clothing items from Funky Feminist include a “bloody tampon sweatshirt” which is not for everyone, including me, but I do appreciate the effort to de-stigmatize feminine hygiene products. One of my faves is the T-shirt pronouncing, “I Believed Anita Hill, and I believe Dr. Ford.”
But the blog is the heart of Funky Feminist, in my opinion. No topic is too tough to tackle, and many views come from perspectives you won’t find in mainstream media, e.g. a genderqueer perspective on menstrual care. The blog writers are not afraid to tackle tough subjects ranging from racism and mental health to gender, body positivity and sex.
As the website proclaims, Funky Feminist is “Feminist as Funk”. It is blunt, unashamed and in your face. It is not, however, a place to send your grandmother unless she’s really, really cool and you think she would like a vagina bookmark.
Here’s what Funky Feminist wrote about Horseshoes and Hand Grenades on Instagram:
I want to tell you about a book I recently finished called Horseshoes and Hand Grenades by S.M. Stevens – this #metoo novel follows two women as they overcome abuse and learn how crucial it is for women to support women. I’m a pretty harsh critic when it comes to works of literary fiction, but this book gripped me from the very beginning. No, I was not paid to say this. Yes, this is my genuine opinion. Please go buy and read this book.
And in case you’re wondering, I was not paid to plug Funky Feminist. I just admire what they’re doing and how they’re doing it.
(Read my guest post for Funky Feminist here.)
