It is a powerful love story of a broken relationship, but it's something else-- information about the repercussions on adult males from childhood sexual abuse. I know it's an unpleasant topic but when you write, part of why is to give people a good read but also some information. This one came to me probably fifteen or more years ago because of some things I had seen in my own community.
Many do not understand the problem when it's boys who have been molested. Some even think-- wow hot teacher, what is to complain? Or so what if it was a coach, the kid got something out of it. We saw some of this argument with the Sandusky accusations and now guilty verdict. The boys didn't run away. They didn't tell. They didn't tell as adults. It was all very suspect to some people.
If people more understood that sexual abuse of a child is a crime of control, of taking away another person's power, they'd get what it does and why at the time and even later as an adult the person can have a hard time getting past what happened. There are many emotional ramifications of such abuse.
The story Moon Dust is about a marriage breaking up over that kind of secret. It is also about our educational system and all the conflicts being put upon it right now. It's about how we make a difference in another person's life-- and when we cannot.
Because it is a deep book as well as a romance, it's not had an easy time finding readers. It would probably do better in a straight literary category as such readers might be more open to such a tough topic. I felt though it also belonged in a romance because in the end it is about relationship-- and that is what all romances are about.
I have written two books that dealt with the adult ramifications of abuse. The other has not yet been published as it's a historical and I am not sure I will put it out as an eBook. I'm still thinking. In that one it was physical abuse. In both cases the abuser was in the family and that is the most common source of abuse for boys or girls. Sad isn't it!
So I hope it gets some takers with its free days. I hope that some who read it will learn more about the topic of abuse in a positive sense as we are only victims when we can't change something. Knowledge is power. Abuse is widespread in our culture. It doesn't just happen to girls.
