About the Author

karenAs a child, Karen suffered frequent bouts of insomnia.The only way she could settle into sleep many nights was to imagine stories that played out like movies on the dark ceiling over her bed.Since her mean parents refused to replace the TV after the cat blew it up by peeing on the cord, all Karen had left to entertain herself in the lone wilds of the Minnesota wilderness were books and her own stories.As Karen grew, the stories grew with her.One day when she was fourteen, she told her mother one of these stories for probably the hundredth time.Her mother, who knew Karen very well, turned to her and said, “You know, Karen, you keep talking about these stories, but you never write them down.You keep saying you’re going to write a novel, but I don’t believe that you will.”This comment infuriated Karen so much that she started writing her stories down and hasn’t stopped since.

© Copyright 2009 K. Nilsen




A Nest of Thorns now available!

Lycora drifts off to sleep one night in her tower chamber and awakens a century later to snow falling through the crumbling roof over her bed. Stunned and grieving her lost world, she discovers her cousin also shares the curse. They set out together to learn how a hundred years passed while they slept and […]

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The Dream Garden now available!

I just completed my latest novel about the Landers - entitled The Dream Garden, the story follows the adventures of ...

Gothic Childhoods article

Third Factor has published my article "Gothic Childhoods," in which I explore my difficult relationship with my grandmother and my love ...