Social Issues Aspect of “Beautiful & Terrible Things” Recognized

Contemporary novel Beautiful and Terrible Things has been awarded an Honorable Mention in the Fiction-Social Issues category of the 2024 Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Contest.

This award means a lot to me for two reasons. The first is that Readers’ Favorite, which is one of the largest book review and award contest sites on the Internet, draws thousands of entries for its contest from more than a dozen countries, yet awards are not given at every level in every category if no book scores high enough. In other words, their goal is not to manufacture a PR opportunity for authors but rather to reward and recognize quality through their comprehensive judging process.

The fact that they’re not filling slots but instead are rating the quality of each and every book, and you only win an award if your book scores high enough, makes this recognition particularly meaningful.

Social Issues Recognition

The second reason this award means to much to me is that it was in the Social Issues category. The social justice aspects of the novel were in the forefront of my mind as I wrote the story. In fact, two of my goals in writing Beautiful and Terrible Things were (1) to remind readers that no matter your view on a controversial issue, for example immigration, there are always real people behind the statistics; and (2) to show that there are many paths individuals can take to greater social engagement. (Other goals included showing the power of friendship to validate, destroy and save lives; and to entertain!)

Social Justice Reviews

The social aspects of Beautiful and Terrible Things have also been recognized by professional book reviewers. What do they say exactly? I’ll let them speak for themselves in this video. (Don’t forget to turn on the sound on Instagram if you want to hear the awesome music.)

Many readers and subject-matter experts (immigration, mental health, etc.) have also weighed in on the social justice elements of the novel; here’s a video with their reflections and observations:

Why I Write About Social Issues

My fiction tends to have social issues-related themes: My novel Horseshoes and Hand Grenades addresses incest and workplace sexual harassment; my award-winning novelette The Wallace House of Pain (which features the same characters as Beautiful and Terrible Things), addresses sexual orientation and touches on immigration and racism.

I write about social issues because it’s important. At least to me. And it makes for compelling fiction. At least in my book, pardon the pun. Fiction has always been a great way for me to broaden my horizons. It’s a safe way to step into new worlds, explore new ways of thinking, and enter someone else’s mind. While I love a good beach read on occasion, I prefer fiction that challenges me and my ingrained patterns of thinking, so that’s what I try to write.

Having six friends share the limelight in Beautiful and Terrible Things allowed me to explore multiple viewpoints on social engagement. Introverted Charley feels overwhelmed by the number of issues needing supporters, while Buwan enthusiastically goes along to protests more for the entertainment value than the actual cause. Xander, a professional organizer for a nonprofit, is the paragon of social commitment. He pontificates, he nudges and sometimes pushes his friends, and he is sometimes irritating in his unrelenting passion. Yet even he can’t always identify what’s right in front of him because try as he might to have the broadest view possible, he can only see the world through his own lens. (I’m referring to a specific scene in the novel. I wonder if anyone knows which scene that is…)

The Way Forward

I feel compelled to confess that I am not nearly as socially active as Xander. I live far removed from the cities where protests and rallies occur. Before that, I had an intense job and kids to raise and dogs to walk. Sound like excuses? To some extent they are. I’m much like the parents in BATT, who prefer to donate money to the causes they believe in rather than hold a sign and chant at a rally.

One of the messages in the book is, That’s OK. Everyone who wants to be more engaged in helping make the world a better place can find their own path to do that. As Jess says to Xander, “Not everyone has the stomach you have for protesting.” For Terrance, a Black man, his caution has a different origin: “Let’s just say your right to protest is more protected than mine. When I attend a protest, I become a target.”

But as Xander says, “Every body counts. Literally. Every single person who stands up in protest makes a difference. Simply by being there, you help.”

So yes, I hope BATT inspires readers to take a more active stand in support of the social issue causes dear to them, in whatever way they are comfortable with. Or maybe even a little uncomfortable.

(Read the Readers’ Favorite 5-star review of BATT here.)

The post Social Issues Aspect of “Beautiful & Terrible Things” Recognized appeared first on S.M. Stevens.