How do you define success for a novel? I expect the answer differs for readers and authors, but maybe not as much as you would think. Whichever hat I’m wearing, I want the novel to entertain and to provoke thought.
I have additional goals for Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, as I say in this recent interview in my local newspaper. I hope the story of Shelby and Astrid will be a conversation-starter, and that it will help victims of harassment and abuse accept that their experiences, regardless of the “degree” or “severity”, matter.
So I am thrilled with this early reviewer’s take on what she hopes the book might accomplish:
“Reading this book, I felt kinship with the women, having had similar experiences. If this story gives just one woman the courage to speak out, or gives just one man a compassionate insight into how women cope with harassment but have the strength to maintain their lives (constructively and destructively), it will be a success.”
S.D.
