Editor's Note: The following is an interview I did with author Terry Kay upon the release of his latest book - The Forever Wish of Middy Sweet (Mercer Univ. Press). Set in rural Georgia, the story contrasts the present with the past and the ways in[..]
When author Susan Orlean sat out to write her latest book - The Library Book - she typed in libraries burned into the search bar. She was surprised to find that Wikipedia had a whole list on libraries that had been destroyed with intent. The most[..]
I asked a classroom full of high school students: How many of you grew up in a home where your parents read books? Two students raised their hands. Two. Each one answered that "my mom reads." I asked again: "Anyone here grow up in a[..]
Perhaps the one thing we can all agree on in today's current political climate is that Barbara Bush is beloved by people from all walks of life and all political persuasions. I guess I always thought George would die before Barbara. So when the news[..]
Unable to read for days on end, I lay in a dark room imagining all the books yet to be read. It was awful, not being able to read. My mother, who loved to read, who read several books every week, lost the ability[..]
It's Spring Break around our house. You know what that means? Plenty of free time to read books I want to read, instead of books I need to read. Here's the thing I think people need to understand about reading - the reason so many[..]
During a recent visit to my grandson’s home, Pistol Pete invited us upstairs to his bedroom. He refused to take one step until we were all lined up and following him – Pa, me and his momma. It wasn’t his toys that Pistol[..]
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