Dear Reader…
The events revealed in Broken are based on a true story—my story—and are shown exactly as I remember them best to my ability. Please bear in mind that Broken only reveals my one-sided perspective and, for the purpose of story telling, certain sections of Broken have been altered to protect the identity of those in the story.
Writing Broken was one of the hardest things for me to write and began as a very personal experience. I needed to remember. I needed to make myself aware. I needed answers that were dependent on a change of perspective. The only way I could gain the perspective I needed was to write Broken. This was all about being honest with myself and coming to terms with what I am.
This interview is like no other I have taken and…in order to get the words out, I had to record it. Broken Uncovered is an interview that covers pedophilia, rape, and abuse. Please proceed with sensitivity and caution.
How much of “Broken” is real?
Play time 2:12
All of the events in Broken are actual events in my mind that took place as I saw them. I did have mental breakdowns that put me in those worlds.
Why write something like this? What compelled you to sit down and write “Broken?” Tell us how you came to write this.
Play time 3:04
“It’s very difficult for me to stay in this world. I wrote Broken to gain perspective…to gain answers.”
You said you went through a similar experience…like Don Quixote looking into the mirror of reality. Could you explain more of this?
Play time 6:15
When I was twelve, when things really started to get bad for me. One of my coping mechanisms was detaching myself from the reality of the situation.”
You talk about triggers. What are some of yours? What is the worst for you?
Play time 2:19
I have been diagnosed with PTSD, Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), Bipolar, Mania, and Hypersexuality. My husband had to take lessons from a therapist to learn how to live with someone like me and also, how to handle me.
What happens when you are triggered?
Play time 1:32
I associate being alone with safety.
How do you write with your conditions? How do you cope and live with PTSD?
Play time1:59
The lifestyle of a writer fits so well into my mental conditions.
When you sat down and wrote Broken, how long did it take you?
Play time 2:14
I wrote 65,000 words in one week.
What was it like writing Broken?
Play time 6:14
My dissociation has provided me with a very vivid imagination to the point where, when I imagine something, it is very much a reality to me. When I wrote “Broken,” I was there all over again.
“I have never smoked ever…” was actually me cutting myself off. I had meant to say “Before Broken, I have never smoked, except the one time when I was 15.” I was very nervous during this particular interview due to the topic.
At one point, you wrote as if you were giving “pedophile lessons.” Tell us about that.
Play time 7:30
“He was able to learn my greatest fear in a very short period of time and he was able to use that fear against me.
A pedophile doesn’t victimize children by abusing them physically. A pedophile manipulates their victims and uses the child’s mental conditions against them. In order to use these mental issues, the pedophile has to cause more mental damage. In doing so, this enhances the mental disorders.
What was it like “dating” a pedophile?
This next question touches down on a very hard subject for you. Please take your time in answering it. Where were you when 9/11 happened? Tell us about that day for you.
Play time 10:13
What do you hope people will learn from Broken?
Play time 4:27
There are so many of us and of those victims who have been targeted and hurt like this, only a handful can talk about our experience. Of those handful that can talk about it, only a small percentage can actually write about it and publicly share it, and I realized I am in such a small percentage of people who had these experiences, but also found the strength and courage to talk about it…but then I can write about it…I realized it would be very selfish of me not to publish this.
This interview was the first time I was able to use the word “victim.”
Broken
Finalist for the 2015 Wishing Shelf Awards. Goodreads Reviews "Broken is graphic, shocking, raw, disturbing, intense, appalling, shameful, and so very, very sad." "This story has the complexity of The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy, but written with the flow of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson." "Your ...
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Sample the first 20% of Broken here
Legal Disclaimer
Broken is a work of creative nonfiction. All events, opinions, and views are that of Angela B. Chrysler and are portrayed through subjective perspective based on the memory of Ms. Chrysler. While all the events are true, names, places, characteristics, and relationships have been altered and/or changed to protect the identity and privacy of the people involved. Some characters have been combined into one. Others have been divided into two, while some have been dramatized to better suit the story. The events themselves remained unaltered to the best of the author’s memory. The dialogue was composed to create the essence of conversations in an effort to recreate the scene and mood best to the author’s memory, and is not to be taken as verbatim quotes.
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