Yes, I think violation is a bit to strong a word. Quite honestly, I don’t have a word for what I felt, beyond ‘overwhelmed’.

Sometimes it takes a while and distance to frame the experience in a sane manner. We want very pat answers in life. Sometimes – when it’s truly real – there just aren’t any.

(By the by, I no longer get the option to ‘subscribe’ to comments on any of the posts on your blog. Is this just the way you want it, or is it a problem on my end? A little annoying as it means I often miss good discussions… just thought I’d ask.)

It’s funny, in a way, because I hear a lot on writers’ lists and in discussions about the desirability of drawing your reader in to a familiar experience; the desirability to the reader, I mean. “Write characters and situations a reader could identify with.” We talked about that a bit in your session on setting–the question of whether a reader would prefer a familiar or an unfamiliar setting.

With your story I had a feeling of… well, “violation” is too strong, but it had that flavor. Exposed without permission. All that ‘being careful,’ gone to naught. “Pinned” was accurate.

Reading is risky business.