The Lost Children Charity Anthologies: a little about... Lynn Beighley

Thursday, October 27, 2011

a little about... Lynn Beighley

Lynn Beighley wrote the short story "Probably, Right?" that indicts our inaction in the face of crushing poverty.

What inspired your story?
I was, for a very short time, a teacher in a very poor school district. Kids would come in unfed, unwashed, and ignored. There wasn't much we could do beyond giving them a few meals, and a calm and safe environment for a few hours a day. Imagining one of them on the street corner was not a big leap of the imagination for me.

What makes this cause important to you?
Every child deserves basic human needs: food, clothing, safety. And love. It's awful enough that we don't offer such things to adults, but even more horrendous that even one child can be forgotten. I hope that this small contribution I've made can help in some way.

Tell us a bit about yourself and where to find more of your writing.

I'm a fiction writer stuck in a technical book writer’s body. My stories often involve deeply flawed characters and the unsatisfying meshing of the virtual and actual world. You can find more of my work at http://www.fictionaut.com/users/lynn-beighley and on Twitter as @lynnbeighley. And, of course, I'm working on a novel.

1 comment:

Fiona JohnsonOctober 29, 2011 at 4:42 PM
Lynn, teachers see so much and we can only do the little that we can but never underestimate the power that this can have. Thanks so much for your love and support.
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What's the story behind the project?

Protectors:
The Lost Children Charity Anthology was such a success, that Thomas Pluck decided to collect stories from a variety of authors to benefit PROTECT, a lobby whose victories against child abuse include the PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008, the Hero to Hero program, and Alicia's Law. He collected 41 stories from all new authors. Thanks to the inspiration of goodhearted people like Fiona Johnson, and the people of PROTECT who fight the abuse and exploitation of our children every day, the book is a reality, and 100% of proceeds benefit PROTECT.

For the first anthology:
The challenge began on Flash Fiction Friday, when author Fiona Johnson was guest writer for the fiction prompt, and asked us to write about the lost children. She asked photographer Danielle Tunstall for permission to use the arresting photo shown in the right sidebar, and said:

Some children are lost before they have even started living. Some children are a throw-away commodity like a burger box that’s left to blow down the street in the wind and rain.

I offered to donate $5 for each story submitted to PROTECT: The National Association to Protect Children, and Fiona would donate $5 to Children 1st, a children's charity in Scotland. Together we raised $300 for each of the charities thanks to the generous and creative writing communities of Flash Fiction Friday, Fictionaut, and the crime fiction community on Twitter.

It was such a success that we thought we could go further. Ron Earl Phillips, Fiona and I chose 30 of the best stories to put in a charity anthology, all proceeds of which will go to PROTECT and Children 1st.

100% of royalties donated to two causes:

OUR DONATION RECORD

PROTECT and The National Association to Protect Children (USA)

The National Association to Protect Children is a national, pro-child, anti-crime membership association founded on the belief that our first and most sacred obligation as parents, citizens, and members of the human species is the protection of children from harm.

PROTECT is a bipartisan pro-child, anti-crime lobby whose sole focus is making the protection of children a top political and policy priority at the national, state and local level.

You can read about PROTECT's Victories here.

100% of the proceeds of Protectors, and 50% of the proceeds of Lost Children: A Charity Anthology, are donated to PROTECT.

This is an independently organized event, not officially sponsored by [NAPC/PROTECT]

Children 1st (UK)

Children 1st has 125 years experience of working with children and families, previously as the Royal Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children (RSSPCC). Today, they support families under stress, protect children from harm and neglect, help them to recover from abuse and promote children's rights and interests. You can read more about their work with children here.

50% of proceeds of the Lost Children Charity Anthology go to Children 1st.

This is an independently organized event, not officially sponsored by Children 1st.