We’re here today to celebrate the launch of the Hope anthology last weekend. ( All of the contributions donated their stories. And all profits from the sale of the book will be donated to Beyondblue and The Anika Foundation).
I’m interviewing Karen Henderson who writes as Karen Lee Field. Karen has three fantasy books aimed at 9 -12 year olds.
Q: On your blog you say:
‘“Hope” is a project that is close to my heart. I have wanted to do something since I lost my son to suicide in 2006. In many ways, it gave me purpose, which in turn gave me hope. So the anthology is aptly named.’
As a parent of six, four of them boys, I was very happy to be involved in this project. I understand you had a good response from authors?
Yes, I was overwhelmed by the positive response, even from the authors who couldn’t fit Hope into their busy schedule. As many of them were also parents they felt it was important to raise suicide awareness and they sent me heartfelt messages encouraging me to keep going with the project. At this stage, I must sincerely thank the authors who contributed to this project because I couldn’t have come this far without them. They are an awesome bunch of people.
Q: When did the idea for this anthology first come to you?
As a writer, I started writing about what was happening to my family and how everything was affecting me emotionally, physically and mentally soon after my son’s death. It helped me put things into perspective and allowed me to let other things go. It was good therapy. When I came out of the darkest place a parent can be in, I started thinking about how I might be able to help other parents from going through the same thing. I tried writing a manuscript about my own experience but found emotionally I couldn’t stop myself from sobbing every time I sat at the keyboard. Eventually, I decided the next best thing was to ask other writers if they would help me by donating stories and adding ‘snippets’ of information on suicide between the stories, which would raise awareness.
Q: The Hope anthology contains stories, but it also contains snippets of information suicide so that parents and friends may be able to recognise the signs if someone they know needs help. Are the stories specifically aimed at young adults or could they be read by any age?
The stories are certainly not suitable for children. They are aimed at young adults and adults. All the stories fall within the speculative fiction genre. They are fictional and are written to the theme of ‘hope’, yet are down to earth and cover a wide range of issues. The authors have done a brilliant job in showing that even in the direst of circumstances there is hope.
Q: You run an Indie publishing house, Kayelle Press. What inspired you to establish this publishing house and what do you hope to achieve with it?
I know how hard it is to find a way out of the enormous piles of manuscripts sent to large publishing houses each month. Over recent years I have attempted to find ways to help aspiring authors to build their publication list. I started Kayelle Press for two reasons: 1) because I have known for several years that Hope (although I didn’t know the name of the anthology at the time) was in the pipeline, and, 2) because I love helping people reach their goal, it gives me a buzz.
Kayelle Press will hopefully publish at least two anthologies a year to start with and I will consider all manuscripts submitted on its own merits, not on how long the writer’s bio is.
Q: Having published Hope, what advice would you give aspiring anthology editors?
It’s hard work and will take many, many hours of dedication to reach completion. Yet the rewards of seeing a simple idea grow into a published book is worth every second of the blood, sweat and tears (actually there isn’t usually any tears, but there might be plenty of times you want to pull your hair out instead). My best advice is to keep communication channels open and stay true to yourself.
Karen has kindly donated a copy of the HOPE anthology as a give-away.
The question is: If you could go back and give your teenage self some advice, what would it be?
Copies of the Hope anthology can be purchased here.
Catch up with Karen on Twitter: @karenleefield
Catch up with Karen on GoodReads
The biggest thing would not to be in such a hurry to grow up! And work harder at achieving those dreams. It’s amazing when you look back and wonder what the heck you were thinking lol.
Cecilia, I’m the other way around. I meandered along for ages before deciding what I wanted to do!
I knew what I wanted to do but self doubt had me too scared, took me to 28 to finally buck up the courage and make a start
Glad you found yourself, Cecilia. I’d much rather be the age I am now.
I can relate, Cecilia. I thought adults had it so good and never realised how good I had it until I looked back at my childhood. I wish I’d worked harder at school.
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Good looking cover!
Thank you.
My best friend killed himself eight years ago. We’d kept in touch, when I moved away from Tasmania, by email and we caught up every now and again when I was back in Tassie. I thought I had a pretty good idea of what was going on in his life.
I didn’t. When I turned up at his funeral and spoke to people there, his sister and brother and a few others, I realised I’d had no real idea what had been happening in his life and I felt really, really terrible. Since then I’ve made a point of keeping my friends close and the rest of our group is still tight, even though wwe’re scattered around the world – more so because of Martin’s death. But if I could go back, I’d tell myself to not let things slide with people I love – even when things seem great. Because you never, never know.
Chris, this is so true. Knowing how to appreciate what we have is a great gift.
I’m sorry to hear about your friend. {{hugs}}
When something like that happens in our life it does change the way we look at things. It gives us a wake up call. I never assume I know how people are feeling anymore. I ask. It’s amazing what is said when you ask a simple question showing how much you care.