ABOUT KAREN'S WRITING

             My passion for telling stories began before I could write. I made up songs on the spot and entertained family members. In school my best subject was English. I was a good speller, liked to read, and always did well on written assignments. I took a turn away from creative writing and studied journalism in high school. That served me well when I worked as a freelance writer during my grad school years. My beat was interviewing artists and gallery owners for a couple of small, free Chicago papers. Later, I wrote press releases for a gallery. Eventually, I turned to creative writing again. I read poetry, heard some of the best read their work, then began writing it myself. I made my open mic debut at a little place called Café Aloha at Lincoln and Montrose in Chicago. That became my base, though I read at a few other venues. I joined Shelley Miller in the duet Moon Lodge. We started as poets but branched out into songwriting, appearing together at several venues and even doing a radio broadcast where we performed live. Shelley pursued her music while I figured out what to do next. I wrote a book of poetry called Possibilities (Shelley based her award-winning song “Everyday Shine” on the title poem). And I performed at music open mics on my own for a while.