We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Karen K Brees a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Karen K thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.
What my parents did right was respecting my independence, engaging my curiosity, and letting me follow my own interests. Throughout my schooling, the educational establishment was focused on group work, with the assigned roles of facilitator, recorder, and whatever other assistive positions were necessary to give a subordinate role to everyone in the group. Independence was frowned upon as it was the learning style of Europeans and ill-suited to the new world in which we would all be co-learners, co-workers, co-everything – the learning style of other ethnic groups which was touted as superior and desirable. I didn’t fit. Truth be told, not everyone embraced this socialistic, Marxist ideology, and, human nature being what it is, somebody always had to take over in the group and do most of the work while the rest coasted.
When my parents were called to the principal’s office because of my desire to read and think independently, they supported me. For this, I am grateful. After all, even in socialistic states, there is a ruling class who make the decisions. The rest is social conditioning of the masses.
Interestingly, I became a teacher. I saw my students as individuals with talents to be developed, not molded. Today, I write. An historian by training, I seek out events from the past with relevance to the present and implications for the future. I write historical fiction set in the WWII era. I also write crime with a modern day setting. The two seem to get along quite well. Writers must be independent thinkers, as are all who create.
Karen K, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
It’s always taken me a while to prove myself. in whatever venture I’ve undertaken. Part of that, I expect, is because I am female. I do love a challenge, however, and I’ve ultimately succeeded in what I’ve tackled. Persistence, resilience, and a sense of humor go a long way towards breaking down barriers.
The gatekeeper to my writing career was a literary agent I met at a writers’ conference in McCall Idaho. We struck up a conversation (I enjoy talking with people) and eventually she asked if I’d be interested in taking over work on a book that had stalled. That book was The Everything Health Guide to Depression., published by Adams Media.
My credentials fit. I have a Ph.D. in Education with a focus on Adult Education. And that challenge was my introduction to writing for public consumption. What followed were numerous contributions to The Complete Idiot’s Guide series, where I authored and co-authored on a variety of topics in the health and general interest fields.
Nonfiction pays the bills, but my heart is in fiction, and that is where I work today. I’ve been published by small houses, self-published, and today, my publisher is Black Rose Writing. Signing with them was my best professional move.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
Most expenses associated with writing revolve around marketing. You can spend a little, and you can spend a great deal. A budget is essential. Without disturbing my retirement funds, I can draw on my current career as an academic editor for the necessary capital to manage marketing for my writing.
As an academic editor, I work internationally. My clients are academics for whom English is not their native language and who wish to publish in British and American professional journals. I have clients in the States and in Europe. It’s challenging and satisfying work.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Of all the creative arts, writing is probably the one that comes with rejection stamped all over it. As with any craft, each effort should show improvement, and only perfect practice makes perfect. It’s sort of like filing an insurance claim. First, your claim is sent to the rejection box. Claim denied. Most likely, it’s never seen by human eyes.
If you resubmit your claim, the odds of the email or envelope actually being opened and possibly read increase. A little.
Claim denied.
The dance continues until, finally, one day, for reasons that will forever remain a mystery, you are granted entry into the office and you claim is processed. So it is with writing. Fortune favors the brave, the stubborn, and the talented.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.karenkbrees.com
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/karenk.brees
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/karenkbrees
Image Credits
David King