Hello.
I’m Karen Richards, a writer living in Northern California with my husband & two young adult children. We share our home with Daisy, a Mini Bernedoodle & Beau, our Mini Schnoodle “pandemic pup.” We also host a small flock of heirloom hens who can be found free-ranging in the backyard.
At the moment I’m at work on a new novel about a woman coming to terms with the mysterious long-unsolved disappearance of her teenage mother. I’m also writing several personal essays & a collection of poetry.
During the year of lockdown, I wrote a memoir about my journey as the mother of a teen facing a mental health crisis & my family’s experiences of sheltering in place during the pandemic. I’ve also completed a novel about a mother’s rough transition from grief to acceptance when she loses her young son to a sudden catastrophic illness.
My other projects published essays about midlife, motherhood, writing & spirituality, along with a coming-of-age novel written between diaper changes & naps when my children were small, as wells as a poetry collection celebrating the ordinary moments & milestones of family life.
My writing extends to my work life as well, managing communications for a company offering services to autistic children. I enjoy family time, coastal & forest adventures in our little van, along with daily yoga & meditation.
As I’ve done since childhood, I end each day with reading (though these days I’m not forced to use a flashlight under the covers). There’s always a tilting stack of books on my bedside table from novels & memoir, to inspirational nonfiction & poetry. I often fall asleep mid-sentence, dreaming of words.
I’m looking forward to this phase of my life as my children (slowly but surely) leave the nest. My fondest wish is to live by the ocean, my favorite place to be.
I hope you’ll join me on this path.
Namaste.