CASEY WATSON

[shdaveed]

Re : Giveaway NOWHERE TO GO

I have been in the safeguarding services for 20 years and currently involved in the commissioning of services. Harper Collins are selling these pulp fiction books as fact. I would like to know why? This is HarperCollins misleading the public not only in the books content but by categorising them under 'self help.' These books are simply about profit.

If the cases Watson refers were genuine she would not be in a position to use the cases for profit or disclose the facts. I doubt that she is actually a foster carer rather more an opportunist. If these were true stories we would all have heard about them in the media and there is no doubt serious case reviews would have followed.

The ultimate abuse in my eyes is a false portrayal of vulnerable children and young people by a large publishing company simply for profit. These books offer no insight into the life of any child only the self styled Walter Mitty 'expert.'

Yes, I agree 100%. I have inside knowledge of social care and publishing so was quite mystified to read the synopsis and biography for this book.

We are told by Harper Collins that Casey Watson's true identity must be kept secret to protect her and the children in her stories from the public gaze, yet they state she worked as a behaviour manager for her local comprehensive school, went on to become an expert foster carer with a multitude of shock horror stories to tell. If any of this fantasy was true Casey Watson would be easily identified in her own catchment area at the very least and her self proclaimed expertise would be called on by academics.

I have no problem with fiction but I have to agree with others who take issue when these fictitious stories are classified as true life, as experienced by Casey Watson, clearly they are not. I agree this is misleading the public in the most exploitative cynical manner.

I know Casey Watson's books are churned out on a HarperCollins imprint 'Harper Elements.' From experience I would say that any element of truth in these stories is taken from accounts easily researched and accessible in the public domain on the internet. Also from unsolicited and uploaded manuscripts submitted to HarperCollins of first hand accounts from adult victims of child abuse.

I hate this misery porn genre and agree with you, OP. Have you taken it up with the publisher directly?

I am aware that first hand accounts from child abuse survivors in the form of unsolicited manuscript submissions are handed over to anonymous writers by large publishing companies to maximise profit. An abuse I abhor.

The fact that Casey Watson's books are categorised as 'self help' is appalling and misleading. I will certainly contact HarperCollins to ask why these books are marketed as real life/biography by a person masquerading as a self proclaimed expert.

Questions we should all ask.

I have to agree with you Philipa1000. Five years ago my cousin uploaded a rather good, original novel on Harper Collins on-line writers community Authonomy. I was overjoyed when she rang to tell me she had seen her novel in print. Then she told me that it had been published and she was not the author.

We sought out any information on the subject by searching the Authonomy forums and many people took the view that the practice of using uploaded inspirational/original stories by people contracted to Harper Collins was not unusual. In fact many authors only uploaded 1 chapter and repeated it to comply with the website word count in the hope this would lessen the chances of their work being cloned.

Harper Collins will not take your query seriously and to be honest once you make a novel/autobiography public it allows any parasitic author and unscrupulous publishing company to take your ideas. Authonomy is known to be an ideas website for this reason and their authors will not cite their sources.

I remember when Casey Watson joined Authonomy. My cousin and I thought it was rather unusual when we noticed that she was asking other members for ideas for book titles etc. I'm sure these posts are still on the website along with original titles that have been cloned by her. All you have to do is search under the genre memoir/true life.

Philipa here is some additional information.

I also recall a memoir on Authonomy that had received an excellent review and much excitement from Harper Collins, it was taken under consideration for publication. Emails to this effect were circulated to the Authonomy community world wide. one of the reasons I remember it so well and why I took the time to read it. The author later revealed she did not want her story to be commercialised for profit in the way Harper Collins intended.

Extract from Harper Collins review: I have replaced the book title with asterisk’s because I do not have the permission of the author to comment on this:

From the first lines of there is a powerful sense that this is special. would make a fantastic publishing project...* should stand as a testament to one woman's incredible will and faith, at the very least: evidence that terrible things can be survived and tales can be told to make others aware.

A condensed comparison:

*: A 6 year old child with sole care of a very ill mother in the 1960's. The child is traumatised, suffers from OCD. On the death of her mother she is sent to live with her aunt.

Watson's version: A toddler with sole care of a very ill mother in recent times. The child suffers from OCD. Her mother's health deteriorates and the child is sent to live with her aunt.

*: The child is so traumatised she does not have a voice.

Watson's version: The child who does not have a voice.

*: The child self harms.

Watson's version: The child self harms.

*: The child has been seriously neglected and has poor personal hygiene. This continues into adolescence.

Watson's version: An adolescent with personal hygiene problems.

*: The child is one of three siblings trapped in poverty, neglect, deprivation who are ostracised by their community. The child has head lice, is dirty and has never used a tooth brush.

Watson's version: The child is one of three siblings trapped in poverty, neglect, deprivation who are ostracised by their community. The child has head lice, is dirty and has never used a tooth brush.

*: As a young adult the girl finds parenting difficult because she has never been nurtured or cared for.

Watson's version: As a young adult the girl finds parenting difficult because she has never been nurtured or cared for.

*: The child is living in squalor, neglected and has an abusive father. The social services do little to help.

Watson's version: The child is living in squalor, neglected and has an abusive father. The social services do little to help.

*: A child whose mother is very ill and addicted to prescription drugs. The child is forced to witness the slow death of her mother. She writes about her earliest recollections from the age of 6. One of the siblings becomes very violent.

Watson's version: A child forced to watch it's addicted mother die and has recollections from the age of 3.

Casey Watson's cloned stories would have undoubtedly received wide media coverage and discussion.

The point is HC are a very large faceless organisation who are driven by commercialisation, profit and greed and they go unchallenged.

*doggyinthewindow' (love the name)

I know the book in question the title is Breath in the Dark. I read this book on the Harper Collins website Authonomy around 2010ish. Having done some research I know this book has received excellent reviews from many academics and organisations. Where are Casey Watson's reviews? for the alleged severe child abuse cases she has been involved with.

I would actually go further than your comparison because In the original book the siblings were 2 boys and a girl, living in a closed community, ostracised by their community, neglected etc, the girl is sexually abused by her father, cousin and several males and the social services don't pick up on this, you could describe this as a paedophile ring. The 'in house' social services don't pick up on this.

Suspiciously, in Casey Watson's book; the siblings are 2 girls and a boy living in a closed community, ostracised by their community, neglected, the girl is sexually abused by several males and the social services don't pick up on this. Watson describes this as a paedophile ring.

There is more than a feeling of deja vu here.

As for Harper Collins I am sad that they are exploiting abuse victims this way but not surprised!

Doggy

in the original book the girl is so traumatised by the relentless sexual abuse she believes it is normal to have sex with family members etc. This thread is alo used by casey watson.

I do enjoy playing the Devil's Advocate so I was drawn into this conversation. I disagree slightly with the OP but only in the sense that she/he did not pick up on the possibility that Casey Watson's stories are based on real life experiences that have been made public on the HarperCollins website-writing community by authors who are themselves survivors of child abuse. In all other respects the OP is correct.

Thank you Doggyinthewindow for posting details above. I have checked on the HarperCollins writing community and at this point Casey Watson has been a member for 4 years 4 months and the author who wrote the original account has been a member for almost 5 years, her story remains in situ.

What I find most disturbing and unpalatable when reading the posts above is the fact that not only are Casey Watson and HarperCollins not content with the financial aspect of using the stories of abuse survivors for money. They are also attempting to take credit for making theses stories public when these issues have been already been covered with great dignity and insight from author's only interested in raising awareness.

Also, as squeezycheese points out this never ending cycle of this 'porn genre' takes away from the gravity of what some children have to endure in life.

I also think it's important to include part of the original review from HarperCollins for the original story for the same reasons as Doggyinthewindow I have replaced the author's name with asterisk as I do not have the author's permission to comment on this matter.

HarperCollins wrote 3 years, 11 months ago

"From the first lines of Breath in the Dark, there is a powerful sense that this is special. The simplicity of *'s style, the clarity of the child’s voice and the intensity of emotion fired in those few words had me hooked from the start.

From the first moment, we know that there is much that is outside our comprehension; that we are inside a child’s mind. expresses the beautiful mix of confusion, faith and fear that characterises her childhood effortlessly. The dark, misty night that hangs over the opening scene hangs over the whole story, like the glow that is just as likely to be the danger of fire as the safety of a streetlamp. The opening image is apt – if not inspired – as ’s story constantly oscillates between these peaks of hope and despair, yearning to be mothered by, but always playing mother to, a woman teetering on the brink of death.

Breath in the Dark would make a fantastic publishing project, and there would be no one better placed to bring it to the world than the Harper True team. Not only does it contain all the elements of a highly moving memoir, ’s rendering of these is so original as to give the impression of never having read them before. There are few things as fascinating as the comfort and consolation derives from things that seem so repulsive to the outside world.

The relationships between and her mother, her father, the outside world are all utterly (even morbidly) compelling. We are shown that she is not only the victim of her mother’s condition, but the creator (or at least prolonger) of it: a terrible compromise creating a constant battle between life and death. The suspense that this battle creates and the darkening relationships between and those around her is the heart of this story: it is a portrait in trauma.

Slowly we realise the effects this existence has – and will continue to have – on : not only through the occasional comparisons we can draw with her peers, as she comes into contact with the outside world, but also through the changing thoughts and feelings she relates. We don’t notice the passage of time in the story, because herself has no concept of it, but the observer sees patterns developing and scars forming. ‘Monsters’ turn into real people on the bus; food that once was dumped on the floor must now be painstakingly arranged; numbers must be counted repeatedly; walls must be touched and clothing fixed in one place in order to avoid her mother’s death. With a little knowledge of the problems that a difficult childhood creates, we can foresee the profound effect this will have on *'s later years.

There is so much more I could say about Breath in the Dark, its excellent narrative, incredible intensity and the unfakeable ring of truth it carries. It is fascinating and heartbreaking in equal amounts."