“How I Killed Karen” is the title of my first collection of non-fiction stories. I stopped working on it after entering an abusive relationship however I’m trying to get back on track with final edits. The following is my back jacket blurb:
Pressured by her family and only seventeen she gave her newborn daughter to Catholic Social Services trusting the couple they had selected to raise her child. Her new parents called her Karen, and while her name meant “pure” they collectively stripped away her innocence in just a few short years. Isolated in her early childhood Karen did not realize how unusual her life was until she entered elementary school. But when she finally shared stories of her home life Karen quickly learned that her cries for help would be ignored or interpreted as disturbing fabricated stories by her teachers, counselors, social workers, and even the police because of her parents societal status. After surviving years of sadistic and emotional abuse Karen eventually realized that death was only way to escape the pain.
This non-fiction work is more than the simple story of an abused child. It highlights the broken realities of adoption processes, and how authority figures convince themselves that seemingly normal people could not perform such heinous acts.
The stories included are not meant to shock and sadden, but rather to make you want to take action to ensure abused children are given the chance to be heard, loved, and succeed in life.
Hopefully I can wrap things up this year – thank you to everyone for your support!
peace, love, and good booze ~ chase
