to wish that Cathy Glass would write about me?

[alreadyread]

Or Casey Watson. Or even that new addition Rosie Lewis. No one has actually met these authors in the flesh right? So I wonder if my foster mum could be of them? I had several.

Who wants to write about a kid that never really did much? Just quiet and had run of the mill parents who couldn't cope. Bit of booze. Bit of self harm (if you count hair pulling).

I guess pulling out one hair at a time doesn't make a best seller.

[what2eatwhenurbored]

No but why would you want that anyway? Do you want to tell your story somehow? There must be nicer ways to do it. I've only read one of these sort of 'emotional porn' books and never would again. Your story deserves better treatment and a more thoughtful response.

[ICanSeeTheSun]

Love Cathy glass book, just about to start the 2nd book.

Perhaps you could write your own book about being the child in foster care, I don't think I have ever read a book from the child POV.

[alreadyread]

Right. Maybe. Just wonder if my story is too dull. I just started her how to write book and it says there needs to be drama to keep the reader interested. I could talk more about my parents behaviour I guess?

Can I ask what you love about them ICanSeeTheSun?

[ICanSeeTheSun]

I like how the child responds, I always hope for a happy ending.

In your book there would be a lot of drama for me, only speculating but being a child living with your parents with their battle, being taken away from your home environment and then living with a total stranger how you managed to build up the trust. Possibly moving school, making new friends ect.

[alreadyread]

I guess I don't feel I can trust anyone still. Not properly. I don't feel I've had a happy ending. Neither did I have the drama that girl had in 'Damaged' but people LOVE that book. Maybe I could talk more about what happened before I went into care. People might be interested in reading about that...it was pretty grim. I guess it just seemed normal to me!

[EmpressOfJurisfiction]

Never actually read a Cathy Glass but the charity shop I used to volunteer in was full of them.

It does seem a bit weird, that she's publishing biographies of all her foster children - you'd think at least some of them would have identified themselves and be really unhappy about that.

[alreadyread]

I haven't read her stuff CorusKate but heard she is similar. People I work with read all these sort of books about miserable childhoods. Maybe I should give mine a happy ending. Pretend I didn't end up eating myself into a carb-coma most nights all by myself. No one wants to read that.

[alreadyread]

Maybe I'm weird to be unhappy NOT to be in one?!

[ICanSeeTheSun]

Your not weird, you are trying to find something to read in which you can relate to.

[alreadyread]

You're right. I can't relate to these other books. I didn't find a kind foster mother to change my life, I didn't find hope, I didn't find resolution like Cathy, Casie, Rosie or Torey's kids.

[alreadyread]

I had one offer from a magazine and I'd get a couple of hundred quid for it but I have to back up with story with evidence? Also I'd have to use my real name and have a photo. My abusers never actually went to court so that's probably not an option.

[joanofarchitrave]

I would write your own book. You could even write it as a series of letters to 'Dear Kate Steel/Catherine Tumbler/Kitty China', i.e. to the perfect parent/foster parent that you never had, explaining how your reality differed from the stories that they write and perhaps explaining a little of how it really feels to read all these stories that all seem to end with a neat resolution, when life is nothing like that.

That would be a book worth reading IMO.

[Allie84]

Omg I love Cathy Glass books. Soooooo interesting. Do you think it's possible one of the authors you mentioned has already written about you?!

[MiscellaneousAssortment]

I would be a bit careful about the problems that might happen if you did use all your real details.

You sound a bit vulnerable and I think you need to take good care of yourself - by finding out what the potential negative consequences are, and how to best protect yourself against them if you do want to proceed.

[alreadyread]

I wondered at times Allie84 - I bet thousands of kids have tried that 'It was me' route.

I might just do that joanofA. I'd break every rule in CG's 'how to' book. Starting with grammatical errors. I might allocate a page to each hair I pluck out. Describe the sounds of my foster family in the distance making jokes about my biscuit consumption.

I might even go crazy and tell a postive story about my social worker.

[alreadyread]

Thanks MiscA. I will. I have a feeling my writing will only ever be under another name. Maybe just my username. No one will read my story all the way to the end. No one wants real life to interfere with their real life stories!

[Kidhands]

I agree if you were to tell your story, tell it with your own voice. From what little I've read about CG she seems to create hybrid characters based on elements of stories she's experienced through her foster children, and seemingly they will all conveniently have a very happy Hollywood ending. So I'd hazard a guess the stories are all skewed massively with a ton of flowers and fiction.

If you want your story told accurately, tell it yourself. Or if you worry you don't have the skills, maybe there is another writer better fixed to do this? Someone you can trust.

I am not a fan of CG, don't feel it's particularly moral what she is doing. As otters have stated here, could be quite dangerous to some individuals who ciudad be recognised through her books and could make them very vulnerable.

Profiteering from the people in her care? I am just not comfortable with this at all.

In fact in some small way spotting this thread and hearing from someone who wants to tell their story and wants it to be told through someone like CG gives me small comfort. I suppose I've never thought of it from that perspective before. But I still worry for all the other people in her care who form elements of her stories and can't help some feeling they have been exploited a little? Or a lot?

[candycoatedwaterdrops]

If it makes you feel any better, Cathy Glass is known in certain circles as a complete bullshitter. Torey Hayden, on the other hand, I think is fab.

[frogslegs35]

Cathy Glass is known in certain circles as a complete bullshitter

Really? I'm not saying that I wish all of those children to have gone through what she's written about but I honestly feel quite shocked and let down if it's true. I've read all her books and have cried through most of them willing the happy ending to come.
I think it's pretty fucking disgusting if it's all based on lies.
Hope I managed to articulate that how I meant.

[candycoatedwaterdrops]

frogs Well, she is a foster carer and no doubt she is experience and has doubt with complex cases but her stories are indeed stories and very sensationalised. Obviously there is an issue of privacy for the children, so some details have to be changed but IMO, a few too many details have been changed for them to be real life stories about fostering children.

I was always a big fan of hers, so I was pretty gutted to find out they were more sensationalised that I had thought but in hindsight, I'm not surprised.

[frogslegs35]

Thanks candy
I knew that everything wasn't exactly what she said. Like you said there's a need for privacy so I'm ok with her changing some details when needed but it just doesn't sit well with me to think some/all could be utter bullshit.

[EmpressOfJurisfiction]

I wouldn't have thought writing about the children could be justified without their permission and they couldn't really give that until adulthood. It all just feels dodgy.

[Burren]

I've never heard of her, but in the abstract I think that a foster carer profiteering from the experiences of vulnerable children in her care is morally despicable.

OP, you do sound vulnerable, as suggested by how affected you are by this woman's happy ever after stories. I would seek out therapy and make sure you are strong and feeling balanced before making any steps towards publishing a book based on your own story, as anything put out in the public domain can attract negative as well as positive attention. A friend of mine, a professional novelist, was recently upset by reviews of her novel which criticised as unrealistic the depiction of an abusive relationship that was a disguised version of her own childhood.