The dark side of social media:
Herta Feely draws on her global perspective and keen interest in contemporary issues to shape her fiction. In her latest novel, Strange Shape of Love, she explores the perils of social media, sexual harassment, and human trafficking, while weaving in themes of love, identity, and resilience. Enjoy her What, Why, How!
What:
Longlisted in Uncharted Mag’s novel excerpt contest, Strange Shape of Love is a suspense novel that tackles the dark intersections of love, trauma, and technology, and explores the aftermath of revenge porn and the resilience of a woman who refuses to be silenced.
In this twisted story of revenge porn, aspiring reporter Charlotte Cooper has two weeks to find the person who threatened to post five nude photos of her online if she doesn’t submit to their demands. Her secret past has come to haunt her and rob her of her recent on-air TV reporting job, her lover (reunited after six years), and the home she’s made in London.
Kathryn Dare, for the Manhattan Book Review, describes Strange Shape of Love this way: “From the opening pages, Strange Shape of Love roots us in mystery. Charlotte receives a manila envelope containing a nude photo from years ago, unaccompanied by any explanation. This unsettling moment sets the tone for a narrative steeped in reckoning with hidden secrets, lost love, and a past that refuses to stay buried.”
Why:
Several issues preoccupied and inspired me in the period just before and after the Covid pandemic, and they found their way into this novel. First, Strange Shape of Love explores the dark side of social media and the internet. Why? Because it’s an important topic that intrigues me. As we all know, social media – for all its positives – has many negatives, and it has ruined more than a few lives through cyber-bullying (as in my last novel—Saving Phoebe Murrow), revenge porn, doxxing, and a host of other damning and damaging information revealed on the Internet for the world to see.
For example, there was a story about several celebrities’ phones being hacked and nude photos of them going viral. That this happened raised my blood pressure. First, because people behave so maliciously, and second, because our technology can so easily be used as a weapon.
After reading Ronan Farrow’s Catch and Kill, his fascinating book about high-level sexual predators like Harvey Weinstein, Roger Ailes, and Jeffrey Epstein, I wanted to include sexual harassment in the novel. The #MeToo movement, which brought workplace sexual harassment into the news, also inspired me.
Linked to this is human trafficking, which we know Jeffrey Epstein was guilty of, and which affects millions globally, primarily women and children. By having main character, Charlotte Cooper, work as a reporter, I could have her focus the spotlight on and unearth a variety of such nefarious activities.
Finally, I was obsessed with the idea of an interracial couple and weaving a love story into my novel. In this case a white woman (my protagonist) falls in love with a black man, a sculptor and graduate student she met during her year abroad at Oxford University in England. I think the Black Lives Matter movement may have influenced me, as did the actor Idris Elba and President Barack Obama. (That I’m an ardent fan of Idris Elba is no secret! My husband knows.) Sculpture and art also play a role, as you’ll see when you read the novel.
How:
I had a slightly different vision for this novel when I began writing. My protagonist, Charlotte Cooper, was older, in her early 40s, and worked in the human rights field. She spent a significant amount of time in the ruins of Turkey along the Syrian border, where her husband was an archeologist. The human rights violations she focused on occurred mostly in the Middle East. My UK publisher wasn’t crazy about that version and so I went back to the drawing board. Finally, I wrote a more contemporary novel with a single Charlotte, age 30, working as a reporter, and with a sketchy past, and facing revenge porn, et cetera.
In terms of process, when I begin writing, I spend several hours each day working on the novel or memoir to keep the ideas flowing. I use Scrivener as an organizing tool, which I find extremely helpful. That software allows you to see a brief outline of the story in the left-hand column, and you’re able to move entire sections easily. There’s no cutting and pasting. I’m quite fond of it and have used it several times now.
“Propulsive, escalating, and ultimately explosive.” Author Wayne Johnson, The Red Canoe
Bio:
Herta Feely is the award-winning author of Saving Phoebe Murrow (2016), a gripping debut published in the US and UK that examines the dark undercurrents of social media and modern parenting. Her new novel, Strange Shape of Love (Castle Bridge Media), continues her exploration of digital culture’s influence on our most intimate relationships. Her short stories and memoir pieces have appeared in literary journals and anthologies.
Her personal essay, “The Wall,” a poignant reflection on immigration, received the American Independent Writer’s Award for Best Published Essay. Herta is the recipient of fellowships from both the James Jones Literary Society and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
Born in Yugoslavia, raised in Germany, and immigrating to the United States at age seven, Herta brings a global perspective and deep empathy to both her storytelling and editorial work. Her passion for cultural identity, social issues, and emotional truth infuses every project she takes on. When she’s not immersed in words, Herta can be found nurturing orchids, chasing butterflies and grandchildren, or planning her next journey abroad. She lives in the Washington, DC area with her husband.
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Thank you for visiting! Author Linda K. Sienkiewicz is a wrangler of words and big messy feelings. Her second novel, Love and Other Incurable Ailments, is coming October 27, 2026, from Regal House Publishing: When love letters from a despondent stranger land in her lap, an anxious overthinker becomes convinced she’s the cure, and sets off to save him, and herself, blissfully armed with nothing but magical thinking.
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