My friend the always witty and brilliant Celia Rivenbark reached out to me to ask what did I think of all the "Karen" memes going around on Social Media. She is the only person besides my husband who has asked how I felt about having my[..]
There are times when grief feels selfish. Today for instance, on the seventh anniversary of my mother's passing. It feels like an act of selfishness to even admit that I associate the holidays with her death, and that such an association leaves me feeling conflicted.[..]
I was not born in the United States. I am, in fact, the only family member who was not born in Hawkins County, Tennessee. My mother, my father, my sister, my brother - all born there. As far as I know all my aunts and[..]
Things have been busy around these parts, what with a wedding approaching in two weeks, Spring Break this week, sick kiddos last week, and finally buying a new (to us) rig more suitable to this region. The stuff of life. Car shopping is such a[..]
Under Arizona law, the task of replacing Senator John McCain falls to Governor Doug Ducey. Political pundits far and wide are speculating on who the governor might appoint. Frontrunners include Jon Kyl, the former Senator from Arizona (1995-2013). Kyl has taken the lead on the[..]
She was telling a story, as people do when they gather together on a porch, or around a dinner table. Just a funny story, something that made her laugh, that made us laugh as she recounted it. But right in the middle of her story,[..]
I had an opportunity recently to go around the neighborhood and meet my neighbors. We are all new here. I met a nurse from Texas, a soldier from Portland, a retired life flight fella who is Jewish, an immigrant from Germany, two moms of toddlers.[..]
There I was at my desk working my way through some pretty awful crime scene photos. A girl I once knew splayed out on the floor in a pool of blood. They aren't the first crime scene photos I've seen. I've witnessed a bloated[..]
The first thing I usually do after preparing a manuscript for publication is to read new work. That's right. I start reading all the books I didn't have time to read prior. Currently, I'm reading MY NAME IS LUCY BARTON. The book got great reviews[..]
Author/Journalist Karen Spears Zacharias is a Gold Star daughter and an alumni of Oregon State University.
Karen's work has been featured in the Washington Post, New York Times, CNN, National Public Radio, and Good Morning America.
Her debut novel, Mother of Rain (Mercer University Press), received the Weatherford Award for Best in Appalachian Fiction from Berea College and was adapted for the stage by Georgia's Historic State Theater, The Springer. In 2018, Karen was named Appalachian Heritage Writer by Shepherd University, and Mother of Rain was chosen as the One Book One West Virginia Read.
Her first true crime book A Silence of Mockingbirds was chosen by the city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as the One City Read.
Karen's upcoming book The Murder Gene, is her second true crime work.
Karen and her husband, Tim, make their home in Deschutes County, Oregon.
For more information on Karen and her books, click here