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NTRWA October
2004 Spotlight On...
Karen
has sold 2 novels and a novella this year and has just signed another 3
book contract with Kensington Brava. And it couldn’t have happened to a
nicer lady. Karen is very humble about her success and marvels at her
triumph over what seemed like incredible odds. After reading romance for years, Karen secretly started “closet” writing in her early 30’s. But with 2 children and a full time nursing career, it was slow going. And when she mentioned writing to her mother, her mom told her she wasn’t smart enough to write a novel.
After that, Karen stopped writing for 10 years.
Then
one day her son happened to find and read her old manuscript and asked
her why she had quit. When Karen couldn’t come up with an answer, she
started writing again. She joined RWA® in ’93 and learned the craft. In ’99, she sent her full manuscript to Kensington. This was on a Tuesday. By Thursday, she had sold that book. BACHELOR PARTY was a June 2000 Precious Gem.
Then the Precious Gem line folded and both her father and mother became gravely ill. Karen became their sole caretakers. Once again, her writing had to take a back seat. But Karen kept her RWA® membership up and stayed active on the loops and it’s a good thing she did. In 2003, she read about a contest on the Cata-loop given by Lori Foster on her website. Write 750 words of a story and submit. Karen entered and though she didn’t final, Lori loved her writing so much, she sent it on to Kate Duffy of Kensington anyway. After Karen made a few revisions, Kate Duffy offered her a 3 book contract on proposal of that story!
Karen’s marriage is also fairy tale material. At 14, she took one look at Karl and knew he was the man she would someday marry. A year later, they did. Now, 35 years and 2 children later, they thrive on each other’s love and encouragement.
When Karl was only 25, doctors diagnosed him with Marie Strumple’s Disease, a rare and crippling type of arthritis. They told him he’d be in a wheelchair within 5 years. This prompted Karen to enter the field of nursing. Over the last decade, while working as an intermediate paramedic for an ambulance service, she's been caught in a flash flood while transporting two accident victims from the scene of a wreck, stood by at hostage situations, gotten ambulance calls when a tornado was spotted in the area, and gone to shootings and stabbings---always with the knowledge that the perpetrator could still be close by.
Today, Karl, though in constant pain, is still walking. In fact, he’s serving his second term as Fire Chief and is also a licensed paramedic. Karl has always told Karen she could do whatever she put her mind to and has tirelessly worked to promote both her and her novels.
Karen’s
August release, SOUTHERN COMFORT, is a sexy romantic suspense and her
November release is the novella, ANYTHING YOU CAN DO, in the anthology,
BAD BOYS WITH EXPENSIVE TOYS. Her next novel, SOUTHERN EXPOSURE is due to
be released in April 2005. And TEMPERATURE RISING is the first of her
next 3 book contract. Karen’s story inspires us all to believe—if we work hard and remain persistent, fairy tales CAN come true.
Visit Karen’s website.
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