*Written with Veridion Smart

 There are some realities too painful to face head-on. We avoid them in conversation. We turn away when news headlines break our hearts. We even convince ourselves they happen ‘somewhere else’ to ‘someone else.’

But fiction refuses to let us look away.

When we step into a story, we do so willingly. We open ourselves up to experiences we might otherwise resist. That’s why novels like TIP THE PIANO MAN matter so deeply. The story of child psychologist Dr. Madison Wagner, little Piper Davenport, or her mother, Lacy, inspired by real-life trauma, does more than recount the pain of exploitation. It creates a space for readers to feel, to recognize, and to stand in solidarity with the countless real survivors whose stories are rarely told.

Fiction gives us courage to see. It takes the unbearable and reshapes it into something we can touch without turning to stone. A novel can whisper truths that a news article cannot, because it doesn’t just inform - it transforms. We don’t just know. If it’s a well-written story, we care.

And caring changes us.

The unspoken – whether it’s generational trauma, child exploitation, or the silent battles fought behind closed doors – deserves a voice. Fiction dares to give it one. By reading, by bearing witness, we refuse to let silence win. And maybe, just maybe, we begin to imagine a world where the spoken truth becomes the first step toward healing.

*You may purchase TIP THE PIANO MAN at Amazon or many other online retail stores. Thank you!

https://www.amazon.com/Tip-Piano-Rosetta-Diane-Hoessli-ebook/dp/B0CW19VFR4/