Tim and I headed out to Sisters, Oregon, on Tuesday. As an anniversary gift, I got us tickets to hear The Kruger Brothers at The Belfry (no bats included). Music is one of the few areas of our lives that we are in kinship over.[..]
I remember watching the video on Instagram. Daughter Konnie told me about it. "Tommy is very ill," she said. "They thought it was Covid but it isn't." The boy that I know as Tommy is the man tens of thousands know as Rivs, that[..]
Some men were just born beside a river of melancholy. Some men live a lifetime there - Rick Bragg/The Speckled Beauty It's her birthday today. We used to celebrate with vines of red licorice. She introduced me to the treat while we were in[..]
Did you hear about the Oregon Oncology nurse who posted a bragging video on TikTok about how she travels as she likes, doesn't wear a mask when she's off work and lets her kids have unfettered play dates? You can get the story here. [..]
When the neighbors moved in next door, the very first thing I asked was that they keep their Great Dane on the north side of the house. Their Great Dane is huge. I worried about their dog tearing up the new privacy fence Tim[..]
Apparently teenagers-in-chief Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump haven't yet blown us all to smithereens. It isn't for a lack of trying. Thanks a lot for absolutely nothing, Lindsey Graham. Don't you just love it when folks who couldn't pass the entrance exam to[..]
I pulled into the driveway, dropped my head to the steering wheel and wept a hurricane of tears. I wept for Senator John McCain. I have stood in the room in Hanoi where he was imprisoned, saw the photos of the POWs of Vietnam. I've[..]
While millions tuned into the Grammys last night, I re-watched a movie I haven't seen in some 20 plus years. I'd had my fill of Kanye Lost from his weekend Twitter begging like a wayward Prosperity Gospel preacher on a midnight binge. Good for Taylor[..]
Race Elder sat in his Nashville law office alone on yet another Saturday night. He'd taken up working on Saturdays after his wife of 23 years died. One minute they'd been planning a trip to the South of France, and the next they were[..]
He's a family member, this veteran I know. But he'd have you know that he was never on the front lines, never fought in combat the way so many of my veteran friends did, the way my own daddy did. So for far too[..]
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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