Meet Karen Jenner

Karen Jenner is a thirty-year old middle school teacher and younger sister to Erin. She is the main character, I should have profiled her first Karen is 5’5 with chestnut brown hair and green eyes. She is quiet, modest and uncomfortable in her own skin. She loves her sister and her small group of friends with fierce loyalty. Memories and Lies is the story of her journey into the deepest, darkest places in her mind as her world starts to crumble.

EXCERPT:

"You are a dirty lying ungrateful child!" My mother lashed out, her wrists jerked furiously against the chains. "Your lies put me here! Your sick twisted accusations. You ruined my life when you were born! Everything was fine until you came along. I wish you had died!" Her screams resounded in my ears. "All you had to do was keep your fucking mouth shut!" Her face the color of a ripe tomato, spit flinging from her lips. "You just had to keep your mouth shut. Why did you have to live?" I remember how surprised I was to receive a stab of pain at her words even though none of it was anything I didn’t expect to hear. She spoke with such passion-fueled hatred I couldn’t help but feel it. The platinum-haired woman took my hand as a set of large men rushed in with a syringe and injected her in the thigh. I wanted to sit and watch her thrash. I wanted to see her hurt herself, see her foam at the mouth and pass out chained to the wall. Some children from abused homes maintain an attachment to their parents, a sense of loyalty. I remained disconnected and filled with rage. It’s why no one ever wanted me. I shook off the memory as I turned toward the sign that pointed left: BROOKHAVEN SANITARIUM MEMORIAL GARDENS and pulled up to where I knew Helen's grave would be. I sat in the car staring at the massive graveyard. Erin got out of the car and looked for the plaque on the ground with our mother’s name and prisoner number. It was more than some patients got, many were just a number. I didn’t know who paid for the privilege and I didn't care. There were fake flowers covered in dust, they had been expensive silk flowers at some point. Once vibrant petals and leaves faded and weather-worn. Helen D. Avery, the words graced a plaque with grass growing around it, BELOVED MOTHER AND SISTER. A sickness lurched in the pit of my stomach. I didn’t want to be there, I didn’t want to remember these things. "Say what you have to say, Erin. I want to go." My fingers trembled, and the world was spinning, my head became light. The anxiety worsened since the last time I was there and I took it as a bad omen. If remembering my past caused that much stress then I was getting worse and not healing like I hoped. I wondered how my sister could keep calm, how she harbored no ill will toward this woman who put us through hell. Erin brushed off the grave, and I saw a tear. I suppose if the person who tortured you had some sick sense of love for you, maybe you would experience the same sick sense of love for them. I didn't know, mother never loved me. Our mother and her friends ruined our lives. We may never be capable of normal functioning relationships, never be able to experience real love and never be able to trust. I faked it as well as I could and I am convincing most of the time, but I trust no one. My life consists of waiting for the next shoe to drop, paranoid everyone is plotting against me and wondering who will leave me next. If you want to learn more about Karen Jenner and her journey feel free to download Memories and Lies today! https://www.amazon.com/Memories-Lies-Book-S-M-Starley-ebook/dp/B07D5JXJKL/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=S.M+Starley&qid=1568405190&sr=8-1