S.M. Stevens's Blog, page 28

How Women Speak Up

One reason I wrote Horseshoes and Hand Grenades was to open a window into why many women (and men) who are victims of workplace sexual harassment, incest, rape and other forms of sexual abuse, often don’t speak up. Frankly, I was pissed off reading much of the Harvey Weinstein coverage, because it seemed the more steam #MeToo picked up, the more BS was hurled at the victims.

“Why did you wait so long to speak up?”

“It couldn’t have mattered much if you waited this long.”

“Why are you really saying something now? What’s your ulterior motive?”

I’ll blog more in-depth at some point about how Horseshoes and Hand Grenades came to be, but my point today is that in the past, women often had to settle for, or were more comfortable with, indirect means of speaking up.

In a recent, wide-ranging interview with Nicole Cliffe in Self magazine, Alanis Morrissette talks at some length about her song “Hands Clean”. Turns out, despite the poppy camaraderie of the accompanying music video, “Hands Clean” is about an older man’s grooming and abuse of the singer/songwriter. As she says, “that’s the story of rape, basically.”

Not surprisingly, 15 years ago when the song was released, very few heard it for what it was. That raises all kinds of questions that point to the difficulties inherent in speaking up, and in being believed. I have taken the liberty of offering my own answers to some of those questions:

Was Alanis at fault for putting her troubling words to an upbeat tempo? (No, artistic license means she can do whatever the eff she wants with her own creation. And to me, the catchy tune is indicative of society’s tendency to sugarcoat and gloss over things we don’t want to hear.)

Is she at fault for not being more direct in her accusation? (No, she said as much as she felt she could at the time. Props to her for even addressing it at all in song.)

Why didn’t the record company stand behind her and support a music video more in keeping with the troubling topic of the song? (Because their goal is selling records and in those days, public accusations of rape usually didn’t end well for victims, much less move product.)

#MeToo and #TimesUp aren’t going to change society overnight. But let’s hope that their momentum continues until the day women no longer feel the need to slip their accusations into veiled lyrics layered onto smooth foot-tapping uptempo songs.

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Fun Photo Friday: HAHG Business Card!

OK, I know that this Friday’s Fun Photo may not be deemed “fun” by all.

But I can’t look at my new business cards for Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, which comes out September 27th, without smiling. The cover of my book in miniature form is just so darn cute.

Yes, I have a thing for little representations of bigger items. I have no idea why or what it says about me.

But I used to give my kids mini-meals every now and then for fun: 2-inch-wide hamburgers on bread cut to size, with minute carrot sticks, and milk served in shot glasses.

And if you read this blog regularly, you know I rambled on recently about a friend’s small book of The May Queen by Alfred Lord Tennyson.

I once created a miniature passport for my daughter by repeatedly shrinking a color copy of the cover and photo page of her actual passport. I then added a few “stamps” inside. Why did I go to this trouble? I wanted her Chirstmas present to have more than just the money I was giving her for her travels, so I created the mini-passport to put in the envelope with the cash.

But I can’t show you a photo of that adorable travel document because my daughter loves it so much, it travels around the globe with her. Apparently, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!

Defining Success for A Novel

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.

#Metoo #TimesUp

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Fun Photo Friday: Sensitive Squirrel

This awww-inducing photo of a sensitive squirrel being soothed by a flower, or perhaps he’s communing with the blossom, was posted by Clima Extremo on its Facebook page. I found it by way of Lions, Tigers and Hamsters. Find them both on Facebook, at @ClimaExtremo and @LionsandTigersandHamsters, respectively.

Clima Extremo monitors extreme weather — no shortage of subject matter there.

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And Lions, Tigers and Hamsters is an amusing and touching collection of animal stories from my friend Mark Goldstein, DVM, who has worked in the animal welfare, zoo and veterinary fields. So he’s seen it all, as the title of the book suggests!

If you’re an animal lover, you should check it out.

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Clinton Item/Worcester Telegram Previews “Horseshoes”

Thanks to my local paper, The Item, for writing up a very nice overview of Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, which also ran in the Worcester Telegram. (Although, can I say, one never knows how much forehead one has until you see a photo cropped this closely, haha!)

Following is the text of the article, or view the online version of the piece here.

Clinton woman writes novel on sexual harassment

CLINTON – Watching all the #MeToo publicity, Clinton resident Susan Boucher was struck with an idea for her third book.

Under the pen name S.M. Stevens, Boucher’s book, “Horseshoes and Hand Grenades,” will be released on Sept. 27 It is available for pre-order now on Amazon (ebook only).

Boucher moved to Clinton in April after 14 years in Boylston (where she raised her two daughters) and three years in Berlin.

Writing books came to Boucher in times of pain.

“I’ve been a business writer for what feels like my entire life, and I started writing fiction during back-to-back health crises,” she said. “I wrote ‘Shannon’s Odyssey’ for my middle-grade, animal-loving younger daughter while laid up with a shattered pelvis for three months. Then I wrote the Young Adult Bit Players series for theater-loving teens like my older daughter while in treatment – successful, I might add – for ovarian cancer.”

A press release described “Horseshoes and Hand Grenades” as a #MeToo book on workplace sexual harassment.

“I love writing in different genres and had always intended to write fiction for adults, too. In fact, my first manuscript, dismal though it was, focused on a young woman dealing with childhood incest memories,” Boucher said. “The new novel, ‘Horseshoes and Hand Grenades,’ was born as I watched the media coverage of Harvey Weinstein and the #MeToo movement. I was dismayed to see society asking the same questions of workplace harassment victims that it asks of incest survivors. I decided it was time for a novel that helps people understand why many women in those situations don’t speak up when their abuse is occurring, if at all.”

But Boucher said the book is not necessarily dark.

“Believe it or not, it’s a light-hearted coming-of-age tale, even though it has intense themes,” she said. “One early reviewer described it as a ‘safe place to explore tough subjects.’ That makes me very happy because I want it to be accessible and enjoyable, as well as thought-provoking.”

The title comes from the old saying that “almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades,” she explained.

“I really want this novel to be a conversation-starter, and to help victims of harassment and abuse acknowledge that their experiences matter,” Boucher added. “The first has already come true. An early reviewer told her husband something she’d held secret for years, after reading the manuscript. I can only hope the second comes true as well.”

This will not be Boucher’s final writing project.

“My hope is that ‘Horseshoes and Hand Grenades’ is successful enough for me to justify the time it takes to write another novel,” she said. “But I’ll always be writing something, even if it’s just for me.”

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Fun Photo Friday: Whiskey a Go Go

This Friday’s fun photo doesn’t have a deeper meaning and it won’t provoke a belly laugh. It’s just a neat photo. But the whiskey isn’t “neat” – it has rapidly melting ice cubes as you can see, because it’s sitting on a weathered dock in 85-degree New England summer weather. Enough said.

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TouchPoint Press to Publish Horseshoes and Hand Grenades on Sept. 27

Yes, we have a release date!

My publisher, TouchPoint Press, has announced that Horseshoes and Hand Grenades will be released on Sept. 27, 2019. Here’s the press release they issued recently:

S.M. Stevens’ Horseshoes and Hand Grenades Discusses Overcoming Abuse and the Power of Friendship in a #MeToo Context

S.M. Stevens’
novel, Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, is a contemporary
novel set to be released September 27, 2019. It is one of
the first novels written with a workplace sexual harassment
theme, and follows two women as they reach new highs
and lows in life, work and romance, while struggling to
make sense of the abusive relationships that haunt them.

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Stevens’ book is a fast-paced story for the #MeToo
generation, and transcends many genres, including
Women’s Fiction, New Adult, and Contemporary Fiction. It
will appeal to women and men, especially those who have
experienced workplace harassment and incest. While it
touches upon these subjects, it does so sensitively and is
ultimately a story about healing and building healthy
relationships.

The book critiques society’s treatment of sexual harassment victims and of the
power dynamics that lead to exploitation. Unlike other books, Stevens makes these
struggles the centerpiece of the novel and discusses harassment and abuse,
especially in the workplace, thoughtfully. The book also validates all victims of abuse
and depicts how women can support one another through friendship and love. While
the two women are in their twenties, a critical age of change and identity-formation,
their struggles and uncertainties will resonate with readers of every age.

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S.M. Stevens began writing during back-to- back health crises: a shattered pelvis
and ovarian cancer. She has authored Shannon’s Odyssey (Middle Grade) and the
Bit Players series (Young Adult). When not writing, she provides marketing and PR
to solar energy companies. She lives in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. You
can find her at www.AuthorSMStevens.com. For additional information, contact
media@touchpointpress.com or order the book at info@touchpointpress.com

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Fun Photo Friday: Squeaky Sand

For today’s fun photo (actually, a video), we travel to an Australian beach, where I was lucky enough to have a stroll with my daughter.

Listen to the sounds in the snippet of a video. What sounds like mice squeaking is actually the sand! We were so enthralled with the beach talking to us that we shot this video. Plus we didn’t think any of our friends would believe we walked on squeaky sand without proof.

According to Leave Only Footprints, this phenomenon occurs “when quartz sand is well-rounded and shaped in spheres”. Of course, a bunch of additional factors play into the creation of this perfect storm (perfect squeak?). Read more here if you’re interested.

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Cover Reveal: Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

After months of worry and anticipation, Horseshoes and Hand Grenades has a cover! And may I say, in my humble opinion, it is stunning! Like the story, it combines lighthearted whimsy with harsh, bold lines. It’s ambiguous: is she at peace? Contemplative? It’s only upon closer inspection that you notice her hands are tearing out her hair.

Making it even more satisfying is the fact that my daughter, who is an illustrator, created the image on the cover. The talented designer at TouchPoint Press did the rest. But I would have loved the image no matter who created it.

Many thanks to the amazing bloggers who took part in the cover reveal over the past few days, either on their blogs or their social media. They include:

Celtic Lady’s ReviewsB for Book ReviewLost in the Land of BooksRae’s Reading LoungeSandra’s Book ClubThe Writer’s Alley.

You may not know it, but there is an amazing community of book review bloggers uniting authors and readers. Gone are the days when the big publishing houses decided who read what. With so many independent book review blogs available today, readers have a seemingly limitless choice of reviewers to advise them based on their preferred genre. So if you love reading and want more suggestions on what to read, follow a book review blog or two!

Back to the cover, font fiends like me might be wondering what crazy type was used for the book’s title. It’s Priscilla Script. I absolutely love it.

(And if you’re in need of an illustrator, contact Natalie Simone at nataliesimone97 at gmail dot com.)

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Blogging Break

Hey there!

I know lots of you — especially Pinterest fans — are still stopping by to see what Bit Players is all about. I appreciate that! Please check out the home page and book page to learn about the only book series for Young Adult (and not so young…) musical theatre-lovers!

[image error]I’m taking a break from blogging, as you may have noticed. The spirit is willing but the timetable is weak. Too busy working, paying for college, etc.

(Public service announcement: I’ve also been reading The Skimm — the best thing to happen to the news media in ages. If you don’t know it, read The Skimm here  and sign up. It might change your life. At the very least, it will make you smile or even laugh while you get your daily news, which is more welcome than ever these days.)

But I still hope to finish the Bit Players series with the fourth and final book, when demand calls for it. After all, we can’t leave Sadie and Alex in the fall of senior year forever! We should take pity on them and let them graduate.

So if you know someone who writes book reviews, let me know and I’ll send along a copy of Bit Players.

See you when I see you.