Q1. Hello, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.
A1. My name is Karen Lee and I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I’m a retired clinical psychologist and management consultant who now writes, and teaches memoir. I just had my third book published, The Village That Betrayed its Children.
I have lived in Canada, England and Hawaii and have travelled the world for work and to live. I believe that travel is essential to keep one’s perspective.
Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing your book “The Village that Betrayed its Children”
A2. The incidents that are in my book mainly happened in the 1950s and 60s. Also, they didn’t just happen to me, but to all the children in the two-room country school over a period of about eleven years. Our teacher/principal was a pedophile – that is, he was sexually attracted to, and molested girls under the age of twelve. So, most of the girls in the school were molested.
This is a topic many people don’t want to discuss and, indeed, even now, over fifty years later, some people still wouldn’t discuss what had happened in our school and village. But I managed to interview thirty people who talked freely about their experiences.
Also, because so much time had elapsed, people’s memories could be unreliable, so it was good that I had so many testimonies.
Physically this book was difficult because I now live twenty-four hundred miles from my home village. I had to interview people by flying back, connecting on Zoom, phoning and emailing, and had to locate people via word of mouth and Facebook.
Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?
A3. Memoir books in general. I love Tristine Rainer’s book, Your Life as Story, and have read many memoirs. I also love to research and did some in order to write this book. I researched pedophilia, and also denial to see why people don’t report or do anything about pedophiles.
Q4. What’s your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?
A4. I still love the small villages in the area I grew up in, in Southern Ontario. I’m comfortable there, it is familiar. But I also love the west coast of British Columbia.
Q5. What inspired you to write the book ‘The Village that Betrayed its Children’?
A5. While I was writing my first memoir, The Full Catastrophe, about domestic violence in my two marriages, I realized that my early childhood experiences in my village two-room school were formative. Because I couldn’t escape my school, where the teacher was a pedophile, I went into denial and that had a huge effect on my choices in life. Through therapy, I have learned not to shut down so much and now am happily married.
Q6. How long did it take you to write your book ‘The Village that Betrayed its Children’?
A6. From start to publication, about five and a half years.
Q7. On what platforms can readers buy your books?
A7. Mainly Amazon.com or .ca but also on my publisher’s website, AOS Publishers, Montreal
Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘The Village that Betrayed its Children’?
A8. The cover of my book shows the setting and the issue – there is an illustration of a small country school, two young girls skipping rope, and a male teacher standing in the shadows beside the school. Many have said it really does represent the issue of our teacher.
The title I first thought of was “Permission to Molest” because I felt that the village in some ways gave this teacher “permission to molest” because they knew what he was doing, but didn’t get him fired. My publisher thought that was too provocative so we changed it to “The Village That Betrayed its Children” which accurately says what happened.
Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?
A9. I only write things that are of importance to me – not for the commercial value but the human value. I write very carefully and love paying attention to my words, sentences and grammar. I love the process of writing, especially when I am writing something of social import.
A friend calls me “Karen the Revealer” and I like to think that I uncover things of importance to society in general.
Q10. What is the most valuable piece of advice you’ve been given about writing?
A10. The old adage “show, don’t tell” is absolutely essential. Give lots of detail to help the reader immerse themselves in the action or thoughts of the story.
Also, keep things simple. Don’t indulge in flowery language, tell it like it is.
Pay attention to the words you use – no adverbs, no repetitions of important words.
Buy The Village That Betrayed Its Children on Amazon
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