My book reviews are becoming a great resource for my gun safety mission. One reviewer praised me by saying the book is “an absolutely heartbreaking account of one mother’s struggle to navigate the unspeakable grief of losing a child and to break down the brick walls of investigative feedback and a coroner’s report that her son died of suicide from a self-inflicted gun-shot wound to the head.”
This investigation that I had to do, along with addressing the coroner’s report, were my first steps at being an advocate. I had to stand up for what was right when people in power were telling me otherwise.
Ruthie Jones also said in her review, “If you kick that gun control hornets’ nest, be prepared to get stung over and over again.” I’ve been stung, and I’m putting that mud pack on the stinger so I can move on. That’s the story for my next book.
While the book got praise for the gun safety passages, it also was getting nice notices for its emotional impact.
Leesa’s story, however, is not solely about gun control and safety, although her journey has definitely taken her in that direction. At Close Range is also about internalizing the blame and shame that comes from losing a child due to the lack of gun safety and having it labeled as a suicide.
Thank god I had people who read my book who were gun owners, as well as non-gun owners. One reviewer learned to shoot while in school, and her family owned guns. “Accidents can happen to anyone, as Leesa’s words so clearly illustrate,” said the reviewer at Plain Spoken Pen.
The Clueless Gent gave the book a nice nod when he pointed out the tone is determined. “What you won’t know unless you read the book is the dogged strength this mother portrayed as she investigated her own son’s death — and then recreated her personal boundaries to give a voice to an anguish that would lead her to being a sought-after gun safety advocate.”
The tragedy is easier to see than the mission for gun safety in this first book. That’s why the next book is so essential. Once my book’s pages were off to the publisher, the Texas Legislature was in full session. There was testimony, over and over, sometimes in hearing rooms with people wearing guns. I don’t mind saying I got a little squeamish when I was talking in a room with a full arsenal.
