The greatest compliment you can pay an artist is to share how their work has affected you. Imagine how blown away I was when a reader shared how Honey’s journey in SONG OF LYRAN inspired her to be a hero in her own life.
Last weekend, the Davenport Beach Book Club invited me to Zoom in and answer questions after they discussed my book. After sharing stories about where the idea for SONG OF LYRAN came from and talking about my process, one woman, who I’ll call J, spoke up.
The day after finishing the novel, J went to a meeting with a male colleague to meet with legal counsel representing an organization. When it was time to discuss sensitive matters, they asked for her male colleague to leave the room to discuss the matter with them.
The man demurred, telling them that they didn’t need him. J was the person they needed in the room.
”Oh, we don’t need her, he’s here, we’ll just talk with him,” was their reply.
”No, you need me,” J said. “I’m the head of the department.”
In spite of J’s obvious seniority and relevance to the matter, the other men kept insisting that they didn’t need to talk with her, they preferred to talk to her male colleague instead.
Fed up, she emphatically pounded the table and announced that they could not meet without her in the room. It took a while, but they finally understood that J — the woman, not her male report — was in charge.
“Things like that happen all the time,” she said. “But it’s not usually so obvious. I had just finished reading the book. I couldn’t believe what they were doing. And after I stood up for myself, I thought: Oh, I just had a Honey moment!”
Hearing how my words inspired another woman to call out prejudicial behavior and assert herself made my day.
If SONG OF LYRAN has inspired you to act differently or if it’s helped you see or think about things in a new light, I’d love to hear how. Share your stories and thoughts in the comment section below.
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