Strong At The Heart

Twenty years ago I wrote Promise Not to Tell, a novel for children about a girl who tries to tell about being molested. For years I kept one particular letter from a young reader on the wall above my computer, a reminder to myself of the reader at the other end of the book writing process.

Now I am hearing through this website. Web inquiries are a very different kind of reader response, but like letters in the old days, they let me know the impact of Strong at the Heart on readers.

It might be the speed and anonymity of email, maybe just better distribution of Strong, but I am hearing from a wider range of readers. Our conversations are much more intimate than reader letters I received in the past.

My correspondents include male and female survivors of different ages and stages in dealing with sexual abuse, some asking for advice on getting out of ongoing abuse, others wanting to share insights learned from years of their own work.

Therapists write to tell the ways that they’ve used the book with clients. Other writers and survivor activists find me through the site. And there are many people who write to ask me to speak in their community. Recently I heard from the organizer of my high school reunion who found me through google and discovered that we are both writers.