January 2023 Newsletter
| Dear Friend, Happy 2023! I hope your holidays were filled with a perfect blend of excitement and peace, camaraderie and solitude. So much happened so quickly for me in December, I had more than my share of excitement: 1) The publisher completed my cover design, and before I had a chance to send you a sneak peek… 2) I received my box of ARCs–Advance Reader Copies–which are unedited print copies of my book that I’ll send to reviewers. I hadn’t expected to receive it so soon! You can watch my emotional box-opening video here. 3) My book was quickly posted to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop (which supports independent bookstores) and IS AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER. Holy moly. Preorders are important because they signal to an online retailer’s algorithm that a book interests readers, which results in the book being shown to more customers. I would truly appreciate YOUR preorder! If you lose these links, don’t worry–just type my name in the search bars and my book will pop up on the first page. Surreal. (And super cool.) All this excitement is tinged with fear because reviewers and my book launch team–real people–are reading my full story. But this is what I set out to do. This is my life’s purpose, at least at this stage of life. So through the fear I go. Next, I’ll be busy marketing my book to media outlets, podcasts, libraries, and bookstores, and pitching my story to virtual and live markets. Authors must be Jills of many trades. If you have a contact to share or a marketing idea, please let me know! Stay warm and well, Karen |
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| Growth: A Mother, Her Son, and the Brain Tumor They Survived. When her eight-year-old son begins to exhibit increasingly bizarre behaviors, a happily married mother of two must meet the overwhelming demands of motherhood and wrestle with her fear of conflict if she and her son are to survive. Forthcoming from Apprentice House Press, May 2023. |
| Karen is a happily married, slightly frazzled working mother of two when her eight-year-old son, Matthew, develops a strange eye-rolling tic. Gradually, her high-energy kid becomes clumsy and lethargic, her “Little Einstein” a gifted program dropout. Karen knows something is wrong. But she can’t get anyone to listen and lacks the backbone to crack the resistance. After three exhausting, desperate years, finally, an MRI reveals the truth: a brain tumor, squishing Matthew’s brain into a sliver against his skull. Following a delicate surgery, doctors predict a complete recovery. But the damage from the delayed diagnosis prolongs Matthew’s recovery, challenging Karen to grow in ways she never imagined. A fast-paced page-turner told with candor, insight, and wit, Growth takes you on a rollercoaster of painful truths and hard-won transformations. |
