Charles A. Carroll

Rest assured, after reading what happened to my brother and me at the hands of state officials, you’ll come away never trusting the “Powers that be” again with your loved ones without very careful scrutiny. Hence, here’s…

WHY I WROTE MY BOOK

‘IF I WAS CONDEMNED TO LIVE AS LONG AS GOD, I’D NEVER FORGET IT, NEVER!’

When I set out to write HARD CANDY I wanted to believe in the system. I wanted to believe things had changed, and I wanted to believe the public myth that is doesn’t happen anymore. Had I learned it was otherwise, I would not have written this book, because with my story alone the reader would have come way concluding, oh, well, that was more than 40 years ago, it doesn’t happen anymore. Ladies and gentlemen, the evidence is clear. The atrocities are current, ongoing, and tragically appalling—a sour tasting elixir that injected iron in my backbone and sulfur into my blood—to be the voice for victims who, today, are still trembling behind closed doors awaiting redemption from their abusive reign of hell at the hands of trust civil servants.

HARD CANDY is a human portrayal of an uncommon nature. No one thing contributes more to its value than its authenticity, but be forewarned, you will not find literary frills, polite language, soft corners of prose, soothing seams of dialogue, happy jingles, or joyful songs. You will find, however, a thread of love that weaves together the entire story—a story about a special devotion shared between my brother and me and how we cared for each other when no one else would, how we understood each other when no one else did, and how we desperately clung to the needed components of love and friendship to survive—together—the horrific reality.

HARD CANDY will give you a glimpse into the bleak world of institutional “bad guys”—administrators, trusted civil servants, and resident monitors that stood side by side with idiots and madmen who deliberately committed atrocities against these children, causing many to flee into an unconventional brand of protection, which was a futile attempt to gain some semblance of refuge because there was no legitimate protection for them. After suffering a decade of abuse, and equipped with barely a third grade education, I was released from the mental institution at sixteen years old carrying the scars from having been denied my civil liberties, a right to an education and any semblance of a humane existence—and because there was no habilitation, I felt lost and floundered for a number of years within the broad public spectrum of human progress

Nevertheless, I managed to succeed against horrific odds, eventually entering adult night classes at Hollywood High School in Los Angeles where I earned a diploma, but wanting to make better sense of the social system, I transferred to Los Angeles City College and there, at the age of 27, I earned an Associate’s Degree in Sociology. Having not learned enough about the social system, I transferred to California State University at Los Angeles. Two years later, while attending the last quarter of my senior year, and having completed all major requirements but abnormal psychology and two electives towards earning a BA Degree in sociology, I received a formal letter from college administrators announcing cap and gown arrangements for graduation. I paused and reflected. Not professionally interested in obtaining a degree, but now satisfied with what I had learned about the social system, and better equipped to eventually write HARD CANDY, I left college.

After having worked my way through college as an electrician’s helper, I immediately took the California State Electrical License Exam, passed, and opened a successful electrical contracting business in Hollywood, California—and subsisted on that business for the next 25 years, but not without the daily reminders of the tormenting screams of yesteryear’s children trapped within the walls of my soul, begging that I one day redeem them. Finally in 1989, I heeded their calling, closed my business, and began a six-year journey investigating New Lisbon Developmental Center and other state mental institutions like it across the country, thereby learning that little had changed from the time my brother and I were committed to such places—and that's when set out to write HARD CANDY with the hope of making a profound difference.

Please bear in mind, what happened to my brother and me stained our psychology, wrecked havoc with our spirit, and incubated an emotional worm that drilled holes in and out of our psyches until what was left of our psychology resembled the appearance of Swiss cheese. We had to fight off, not only the sexual predators of the past in our photographic memories, but also deal many variations of emotional dysfunctions, gender deficiencies, sexuality, masculinity, bonding, trusting others, and a host of other psychological issues mandated from having been chronically abused. But however psychologically wrenching our experiences, quitters we were not, fighters we were who, like two wild horses, we refused to be broken—and that is the essence and strength of our remarkable story of survival.

BUT WAIT!
This is not just a true story of yesteryear. HARD CANDY also dispels the myth that it doesn’t happen anymore. Read all about the current U.S. Justice Department investigations in the appendices of the book, or go Google: hardcandyblog to locate my website. There you will uncover what was found behind closed doors. You won’t believe the findings.

Charles A. Carroll
Author, Victim/Victim’s Advocate

A TRUE AMERICAN TRAGEDY
BESTSELLER
On September 18, '2006, HARD CANDY made #1 on the Canadian Amazon bestseller list for the genre, Family/Childhood. In the U.S. on February 1, 2008, the book took #3 on the Amazon bestseller list for the genre, Memoir/Biography. On October 20, 2008, the book made #2 on the Amazon bestseller list for the genre, Dysfunctional Relationships, and on October 23, 2009, HARD CANDY made the Amazon bestseller list for the genre, Child Abuse. SPECIAL NOTE: These genre bestseller lists are the avenues by which some of its "better books" become national bestsellers.

BOOK AWARDS
HARD CANDY won the 2005 MIDWEST BOOK AWARDS (MIPA)
www.mipa.org/uploads/MIPA2006_Summer.pdf
HARD CANDY won the 2006 HOLLYWOOD BOOK FESTIVAL AWARDS http://www.diyreporter.com/news/news2.asp?news2_id=373
Please note: HARD CANDY received HONORABLE MENTION for both awards.

SEE AND HEAR THE AUTHOR ON TELEVISION AND RADIO. CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINKS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=k25LZCZaxhk
http://share.ovi.com/media/HARDCANDY.public/HARDCANDY.10001
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HGY9xA5RaY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxRI7dlPd-w
http://share.ovi.com/media/HARDCANDY.public/HARDCANDY.10007?sort=0
http://share.ovi.com/media/HARDCANDY.public/HARDCANDY.10008?sort=0
http://share.ovi.com/media/HARDCANDY.public/HARDCANDY.10009?sort=0