Liz Kinchen - Author
Books
Light in Bandaged Places: Healing in the Wake of Young Betrayal
When a lonely young girl meets a teacher twice her age, she is seduced into a web of deceit and secrecy; an experience that teaches her that sex in exchange for attention feels like love, even as it destroys her self-worth. Here, Liz Kinchen offers a detailed view of exactly how this abusive experience influenced her adult relationships, and how her eventual healing unfolded.
Distributed by Simon & Schuster and available wherever books are sold: print, ebook, and audiobook
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Media News
Girl Talk HQ: A Global Storytelling Platform Amplifying the Voices of Womxn, Girls, and Femmes
Out of the Storm: Books by Relational Trauma Survivors
Best Self Magazine: Trauma and Betrayal
Books by Women: How I Birthed my Memoir
Writers Digest: Writing, Memoir, and Healing: An Interwoven Path
Hippocampus Magazine: Interview with Lara Lillibridge
Sanctuary Magazine: Chapter excerpt
Natural Awakenings magazine: September 2023 issue
Amazing Authors video interview
Boulder Bookstore: Author Q&A video
Events
August 17, 6:30pm Launch Event with BookEnds Bookstore, Winchester, MA
September 6, 7pm Lowell Book Company, Lowell, MA
September 12, 7pm Grub St/Porter Square Bookstore, Boston, MA
September 14, 7pm Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, MA
September 23, Boulder Barnes & Noble, Boulder, CO
September 25, 6pm The Tattered Cover - McGregor, Denver, CO
October 6, 6pm Busboys & Poets - 14th & V, Washington DC
October 17, 7pm Whitelam Books, Reading, MA
November 26, 11:30am Parish of the Epiphany, Winchester, MA
April 15, 2024 2:30pm The Commons in Lincoln, Lincoln, MA
February 25, 2024 3:00pm Winchester Public Library, MA
May 23, 2024 7:00pm BookEnds bookstore, Winchester, MA
September 19, 2024 6:00pm Dedham Public Library, MA
January 24, 2025 10:00am Ogunquit Public Library, ME
February 6, 2025 6:30pm Concord Free Library, MA
Short video of the launch event.
Click on the Image to Receive a free 31-Day Calendar of Quotes for Meditation and Reflection!
Themes in Light in Bandaged Places include:
Family relationships – both healthy and unhealthy
Spiritual journey – searching for an authentic relationship with the transcendent
Marriage – its struggles and joys
Parenthood – its ability to open the heart
Recovery from abuse – a teen relationship with a trusted teacher
Self-discovery – uncovering hidden truths through therapy
Healing – repairing wounds and finding wholeness
Empowerment – becoming the best version of ourselves
The anthology, Art in the Time of Unbearable Crisis, published by She Writes Press, is available wherever books are sold. My entry is on page 135. I submitted one of my blog posts - Underneath the Heartbreak, there is Love - that reflects my belief in our inherent goodness, even amid acts of war and other harmful behavior. The original blog post is here.
All royalties from Art in the Time of Unbearable Crisis are donated to World Central Kitchen.
Bio
I am a writer, meditation teacher, and Buddhist practitioner. With graduate degrees in computer science and counseling psychology, I worked in software development management for twenty-one years before moving into the non-profit sector for seventeen years as the executive director of a small organization working with underserved children and families in Honduras. My passions are my family, meditation, teaching mindfulness, spirituality, writing, talking with close friends, and walking in nature. I am a contributing author to the anthology Art in the Time of Unbearable Crisis, published by She Writes Press in 2022. I have been published in Hippocampus, Sanctuary, Best Self, Books by Women, and other magazines, and I live in the greater Boston area with my husband of over thirty years. You can find my blog, and information about my meditation teaching, using the navigation menu above.
Contact: liz@lizkinchen.com
Publicity contact: Corrine Pritchett corrine@booksforward.com
Read excerpts from the book in the posts on my Blog tab!
Winner of the Pinnacle Achievement Award for Best Memoir, Winter 2024
Praise for Light in Bandaged Places
"...Kinchen’s memoir is thoughtful and deeply felt." -- Kirkus Indie Reviews
“With kindness, nuance, and generosity of spirit, Liz Kinchen shines light into corners darkened by shame and secrecy. Without any hint of demonization, she reveals the lasting harm that can come from an abuse-of-power relationship that may not feel abusive in the moment. From a childhood of neglect to an inappropriate relationship with a teacher in high school, Kinchen wove a cocoon of disconnection and fear. In Light in Bandaged Places, we watch her emerge, sometimes indelicately, into a life of embodied wholeness in which she is finally not afraid anymore. A gripping, intimate account of a woman’s journey to wholeness.” – Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo, author of Threads of Awakening
“This is a beautifully written, must-read memoir for anyone interested in family dynamics, deception, and resilience. It gives an honest, transparent, first-hand view of the emotional reactions that victims of sexual abuse can experience. In her quest for a meaningful life, Liz shows us how the wound can be a doorway to our spiritual essence, where we find inner peace and joy.” – Sheida White, author of Connecting with the One Consciousness
“Kinchen offers us a meticulously written, honest, and unflinching account of her path from early-on betrayal through her impressively mined history of love to a courageous exultant emergence. This beautifully rendered memoir invites us into the journey of an intrepid woman’s aching need to not only reclaim her story but, just as importantly, to revive her faith in the holiness of one’s lived truth. It is larger than one person’s recovery, it serves as a benediction for all of us seeking wholeness.” – Nina Carmel, MSW, RYT, CMT, Founding Director: The Therapy Center for Mind and Body, Guiding Teacher of The Awareness Training Program, Psychotherapist, Meditation Teacher
“Liz Kinchen's Light in Bandaged Places is a heartfelt, deeply personal, courageous account of the author's transformational journey with faith, healing, forgiveness, and new beginnings. Beautifully written and honest to the core, Light In Bandaged Places reminds us all that there can be light after darkness, and that there are no mistakes in life, just lessons.” – Jane Enright, author of Butter Side Up, and, Jane’s Jam
“Liz Kinchen has written a compelling and courageous memoir that details the traumatic emotional impact of a relationship beginning at the age of fourteen with her middle school English teacher, a relationship masquerading as love. Kinchen recounts with depth and compassion the effect of what, only years later, she learns to recognize as sexual abuse, and its impact on subsequent relationships in her adult life. Kinchen is a fine writer, eloquently weaving together the emotional and spiritual strands that eventually bring her into wholeness and healing. Light in Bandaged Places is a book that deserves to be read, speaking as it does to the resilience of the human spirit and the healing power of authentic love.” – Sarah Rossiter, spiritual director and author of The Human Season, Beyond This Bitter Air, and Natural Life with No Parole
“Light in Bandaged Places is a brave, beautiful book about overcoming betrayal and sexual abuse by a trusted teacher. Liz Kinchen’s healing journey is an inspiration that will resonate with those searching for answers within progressive Christianity and Buddhist teachings. This insightful memoir is full of painful yet poignant stories that illustrate the author’s quest to find authentic love and her true spiritual home." –Vanessa Linsey, Author of Metta Mom, A Mindful Guide to Managing Your Mood and Your Brood
“When her connection with her middle school teacher—one that felt safe and mutually-respectful—crosses boundaries into grooming and adulterous behavior, Liz must overcome the confusion and deceitfulness of this early and intimate relationship as she navigates her passage into adulthood. Light in Bandaged Places offers its readers a courageous examination of the long-lasting effects of trauma during vulnerable teen years.” –Anne Reeder Heck, Author of A Fierce Belief in Miracles
“This memoir is a vulnerable account of the sexual abuse Kinchen, the author, suffered at the hands of a trusted middle school teacher. Not only does she share the way in which she was groomed and her innocence was taken—she details the impact this violative experience had on her subsequent relationships. This is an important book for anyone who is suffering with brokenness from the silent shame and feelings of unworthiness. Through her honesty, she shines a light of hope as she goes through the process of bandaging the wounds of betrayal; she sparks a conversation that allowed her to heal her own darkness that will open doors for others too. Powerful and moving.” –Meg Nocero, award-winning author of Butterfly Awakens: A Memoir of Transformation Through Grief, The Magical Guide to Bliss, and Sparkle & Shine.
"Written with generous vulnerability and uncommon grace, Liz Kinchen's memoir Light in Bandaged Places is an unflinching exploration of self-discovery, faith, resilience, and love. Kinchen's hopeful honesty serves as an invitation to us all to allow light into our own broken places and find strength in the mending." –Julie Carrick Dalton, author of The Last Beekeeper
"A deeply personal look at how a predator's actions reverberate throughout someone's entire lifetime innumerable ways. Liz Kinchen's beautifully constructed memoir shines a light on the insidious nature of sexual abuse by a trusted adult. Her thoughtful examination also provides hope for survivors searching for authentic healing." – Melinda G. McCall, D.V.M., author of Driving Home Naked
“Liz shares from deep in her soul the doubts and almost unbearable pain of survivorship from a menacing child predator. While uniquely her own, her story offers light for many others seeking to swim back to the surface after abuse disguised as “love”. The journey to become whole again—to emerge stronger, wiser and more resilient after suffering—is a universal tale. Read this to feel the strength, power and courage.” –Shirley Eichenberger-Archer, MA, author of Pilates Fusion: Well-being for Body, Mind & Spirit
“Light in Bandaged Places is a moving, introspective, and honest memoir. The first half of the book is the story of abuse by a trusted teacher. In the second half, Kinchen takes us on her journey of healing, from childhood trauma to wholeness. The story is beautifully interwoven with reflections on complex family relationships. Kinchen’s writing is raw, brave, and full of hope.” –Kathy Elkind, author of To Walk It Is To See It: 1 Couple, 98 Days, 1400 Miles on Europe’s GR5
“Liz’s book is an inspirational story of abuse and overcoming childhood trauma. Liz’s story is that of many survivors who may not see the full extent of sexual abuse till they are older. As she tells her story of childhood, teen years, and adulthood her book draws you into her story, feeling the pain that she endured, the confusion, and celebrating her growth. As a fellow survivor, I was reminded of the power of survivors, their incredible gifts, and, their resiliency. A must-read for survivors and their families.” –Elizabeth Sullivan, Founder: EmpowerSurvivors