Ask the Author: Karleen Koen
Answered Questions (18)
Karleen Koen
Well, how American can I be? My mind just went automatically to that civil war. So, a story about Jerusalem's saga is what you're asking. That could be interesting, yes? In the novel I'm working on, I reveal another piece of her story. What happened, as you know, is that once Charles II was on the throne, some royalists had estates returned, and that's basically what happened with Tamworth. I'll think about your suggestion. Thanks so much for it.....Karleen
Karleen Koen
I wouldn't be able to do that because Jerusalem lives in the 1600's, and the Civil War is 1860's. And Tamworth is in England, not the United States. I could base a character on Jerusalem or have a great great more greats granddaughter. Thank you for your comment on the minor characters. I love Aunt Shrew myself. Oh, and Jerusalem has a big part in the novel I'm working on now....but it's set in 1673 and placed in Holland and Paris.
Karleen Koen
Pieces of characters did: the way they looked, the way they responded to certain things. I would take a piece and then a web grew around the piece, a web that had to do with the plot and how the characters acted in situations. Characters always feel like paper dolls for a long time as I write them. Then one day they live. I know them as well as I know friends. No character is an actual person with slight changes. The characters are some small piece that grows into its own thing. Thanks for your question.
Karleen Koen
Dear Kim, first apologies for this delayed answer. I just haven't come to the site. I'm sorry. There will be a full blown Audible of TAGD. I don't have a date yet but will post it on my website and Facebook. www.karleenkoen.net and Facebook: KarleenKoenWriter
Thanks for asking about it.
Thanks for asking about it.
Karleen Koen
Lea, big apologies for the delay of this answer. I only today found this stream of old messages. Shame on me. I didn't decide to become a writer. I always had a talent, and I was a voracious reader, a vampire kind of reader. My jobs and education all involved writing, but nonfiction, marketing kind of writing, or news kind of writing. I just jumped into writing fiction to see if I could do it. For me, it is the very hardest kind of writing. I don't do it easily and I don't do it quickly. Karleen Koen
Karleen Koen
Valerie, big apologies to you. I only today saw all these messages. So one prequel to TAGD is done, Dark Angels. Before Versailles is also a prequel, only no Tamworths are in it. I'm working on a fifth novel, an Alice and Richard story, and I'm in the middle of a final rewrite. It is a very big story and has taken me a long time to wrangle. Thank you for your question. Karleen Koen
Karleen Koen
Well, Lauren, I have to apologize again. I think it is important to visit the places written about. There is a spacial sense that is absorbed. That being said, I haven't seen every single place I write about. Tamworth is made up, a combination of research and imagination. Karleen Koen
Karleen Koen
Lauren, big, big apologies to you. I have only today discovered all these old messages. I'm so sorry. I don't really know enough to answer your question. What do you think? I'd really be interested in the answer. Karleen Koen
Karleen Koen
I just now discovered all these messages! Apologies. I will email you answers. And yes, Mom is still alive but very far advanced in her Alzheimer's.....Karleen
Karleen Koen
Again, another apology to you. I recommend starting with the first book. But it really doesn't matter because I try to write each book so it doesn't need the other ones. Before Versailles actually starts the series if you want to go by time it takes place. I think for the best imaginative trip for a reader, they should be read in order. It's like a dream that fills out that way. But it really doesn't matter. Karleen Koen
Karleen Koen
Hi, Shannon. My apologies for not answering this sooner. I didn't see it; Goodreads didn't notify me or I overlooked it or something. Again, apologies. To your question: very likely as you say. If I don't write out a scene, it's because I think the reader's imagination will do a better job than I could. And I think yours has. Karleen Koen
Karleen Koen
Hi, Chrissy....thanks for your question. There are three other books out there besides TAGD, one more about Barbara, one about Grandmother Alice as a young woman, and one about three months in the life of Louis XIV. The last one doesn't include the Tamworth family and yet it is part of the sage. I am working on a fifth book, again about a young Alice and a young Richard. Alice has my imagination right now. And yes, wouldn't it be fun to see TAGD as a series. But so far no one has offered. Karleen Koen
Karleen Koen
Meditation. Not taking it seriously. Work. And there are days when it slays me anyway................
Karleen Koen
Being on your own and crafting a really good scene.
Karleen Koen
I have no advice.
Karleen Koen
A story set in 1673, in the middle of one of Louis XIV's Dutch wars.....Alice misses her wedding date with Richard and puts herself in jeopardy looking for a poisoner............and involving herself where she shouldn't in Louis XIV's court............
Karleen Koen
I don't get inspired. I used a great Julia Cameron quote on my writer Facebook site......don't trust mood, trust process...........
Karleen Koen
Once I started writing about the Tamworths, ideas for a certain set of stories evolved. On my blog site at Wordpress, there's an old blog called Psychic Order that talks about it. Although I am writing about a young Alice and Richard Saylor, what I am really writing is a piece of Louis XIV's story that I am really interested in. A piece is in Dark Angels. Before Versailles is a piece. And this book now, Our Bed is Green, is the last piece.........
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