For the life of me I will never understand how the people for whom this was a theme song of the Draft era: Some folks are born made to wave the flagHoo, they're red, white and blueAnd when the band plays "Hail to the chief"Ooh,[..]
How we name things matter. My husband once had a student named Vodka, her parents's nod to her conception. I don't know what happened to Vodka but that name was a burdensome thing to her during her school years. She became the focus of much[..]
Clay McConnell and his daddy Billy are preachers. They wear or carry crucifixes and if you don't yet consider yourself saved they will explain John 3:16 to you and how you, too, can be washed in the Blood. They are also on the receiving end[..]
I don't even know the name of the town in Virginia where I met her. It was just one of the stops I made on my way to somewhere else. I needed a manicure and asked Siri for directions to a nail salon. He, my[..]
Before leaving Charlottesville, I took an intentional walk. One of the panels I attended at the Virginia Book Festival featured Media historian and professor Aniko Bodroghkozy. Aniko has written a book that draws parallels between the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and the "Unite[..]
Here's the tour schedule for the month of March. There will be more dates in April as I bring the tour back to the Pacific Northwest. Meanwhile, do check out this Friends & Fiction interview I did with Patti Callahan Henry. We started out in[..]
Sometimes, if you are lucky enough, life is patient with you. It gives you time to learn the lesson of what it means to love others. I don't mean in that romantic way of Eros. I don't even mean in that Agape way of God's[..]
It does not surprise me in the least that Republicans have made a young woman the focus of their fears. When they fail to get wins in every other area of their lives, this political group has always focused their attention on young women. It[..]
It was his tweed cap that I noticed when he saddled up beside me. I was seated at a table inside Roundabout Books as part of an autograph day for local authors. I recognized the fabric of the cap. I'd seen a man wearing a[..]
Karen Spears Zacharias is an Appalachian writer, a former journalist, and author of numerous books, both fiction and non-fiction.
She holds a MA in Appalachian Studies from Shepherd University, Shepherdstown, West Virginia, and a MA in Creative Media Practice from the University of West Scotland, Ayr, Scotland.
Her debut novel Mother of Rain received the Weatherford Award for Best in Appalachian Fiction from The Loyal Jones Appalachian Center at Berea College, Kentucky.
Zacharias was named Appalachian Heritage Writer in 2018 by Shepherd University.
Her work has been featured on National Public Radio, CNN, the New York Times, Washington Post and in numerous anthologies.
She lives at the foot of the Cascade Mountains in Deschutes County, Oregon, where she’s an active member of the League of Women Voters and Central Oregon Writers Guild. She is a member of Phi Beta Delta and Phi Kappa Phi. A Gold Star daughter, she is a fierce advocate for democratic principles and women’s rights.
Zacharias taught First-Amendment Rights at Central Washington University, Ellensburg, Washington, and continues to teach at writing workshops around the country.
Her forthcoming novel No Perfect Mothers will be released by Mercer University Press, Spring 2024.
For more information on Karen and her books, click here
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