The Shame Reaction

There’s good news—and there’s bad news. First, the good news: Perry Huckworth has just won the ‘Self-Published Novel of the Year’ award, and with that comes a substantial monetary prize—in the amount of $50,000. The bad news, though, is this: Dorothy Simeon is attempting make him feel guilty and ashamed for it—especially after her son, Daniel Simeon, was publicly slapped in the face by Perry’s best friend Trevor Cavenmeyer for asking Perry for some of it right then and there that very evening. This sets off a chain reaction of events that involve allies for both Perry—namely, his neighbours, an older Italian couple named Abello and Maribella Marcielli, Dorothy’s ex-husband Maxwell Hensenheiser, and a would-be bodyguard named James Conrad—and the Simeons—specifically, retired couple Agnes and Donald Bayfield, and new neighbour Thomas Carroway. The Shame Reaction is a story that serves as a reminder that you cannot—and should not—make anyone feel guilty about or ashamed of their accomplishments—and neither should you guilt or shame people out of their rewards for their work.