After playing hooky one day in the seventh grade to read Gone with the Wind, Karen knew she wanted to be a writer—or become Scarlett O’Hara. In spite of these aspirations, she pursued a degree in business and graduated cum laude with a BS in Management from Tulane University. She lived in London for seven years and is also a graduate of the American School in London.
After leaving the business world to stay home with her children, she fulfilled her dream of becoming a writer. In August 2000, her first book, In the Shadow of the Moon, was published. This book was nominated for Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA award in 2001 in two separate categories. She has since published eight more award-winning novels. Her new novel, The House on Tradd Street, will be released in November 2008.
We interviewed Karen to find out more about her exciting new book, The House on Tradd Street.
Q. Thank you for this interview, Karen. Can you tell us briefly what your new book is all about?
A. This is my “Moonlighting Meets the Sixth Sense” book. Melanie Middleton is an uptight Charleston realtor who’s in denial about her ability to see dead people in the historical homes she sells. She inherits an old house from a client, and is required to live in it for a year before she can sell it, restoring it to its former glory. The house draws the attention of laid-back journalist Jack Trenholm, who’s researching a book about the disappearance of one of the home’s previous owners and some missing Confederate diamonds. But someone—either living or dead—doesn’t want Jack and Melanie to find out the truth.
Q. The House on Tradd Street is a southern women’s fiction novel with a twist. Can you explain to our readers what that is?
A. I write what I like to call “grit lit”—southern women’s fiction: books set in the south and centered around a southern woman and her family—with a dash of mystery and romance thrown in. My new book is exactly that—but with the added twist of ghosts to spice it up.
