Sophia's Sofa Chat- A Visit With Karen

Lord have mercy! One needs gills to breathe this air today. Good thing I’m lucky enough to have A/C and a dehumidifier. The first five years here after growing up in the dry West, I had neither. I shamelessly laid on the kitchen tile in front of a fan and thought I would die. Erm, you didn’t need to know that. Focus Soph…

I have a guest today who probably battles the heat and humidity as well since she’s not too far south of me down in Kentucky.
But who is coming, you wonder of all things? Hint, hint!
Not enough hint, okay, fine. Karen Cox is coming to chat.

This lady keeps busy as wife, mother, author, and delightful member of the GoodReads and greater on-line community. I have been familiar with her name since she only had one book published and I was a newbie to the Austenesque world. I thought it was the wildest thing ever to take the Pride & Prejudice story and set it during America’s Great Depression. I mean, *gasp with hand clutched to heart* how could that be?
But since those days, I have come to not only appreciate, but relish Karen’s settings, characters, and treatment of Jane Austen’s stories. Her on-line presence has allowed me to know her a little when we bump shoulders on social media and at the blogs. It was a true pleasure to share in the team effort of the last year’s release of summer short story anthology, Sun-Kissed: Effusions of Summer (which, incidentally, is out on a Road Trip visiting all its authors. Details below).

Howdy, Karen! So good to have your company. It’s a scorcher out there. Come on in!
Thanks, don’t mind if I do!

Oh look she brought me some Kentucky Bourbon.
No not really. Stay back ATF. Buahaha!

I watch the kids playing in the neighborhood and they don’t seem to feel the heat. I remember those days. I played outside all day long it seemed and yet I remember checking out stacks of books at the library and devouring them (miss how child days magically had enough hours to do both and cram in chores and summer jobs while I was at it). Mysteries mostly like Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, Three Investigators…but The Black Stallion, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Lucy Maude Montgomery books snuck in there, too.
What about you? Were you a reader child?
Oh, yes! I was definitely a reader child! I don’t remember learning how to read – my mom says I asked her to teach me when I was three, but she was afraid she’d teach me wrong. By the time I was five, she realized I was reading anyway. And I devoured books as a child.
What were your favorites? Did you have a fictional best friend? Personally, I was tight with Nancy Drew’s buddy George.
Some favorites were all the Little House books, the Oz books (there are fourteen in all, I believe), The Littles, Black Beauty, Caddie Woodlawn, A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels, the My Friend Flicka trilogy, and another one that was probably my favorite, called Time at the Top. As I went into middle school, I started reading Judy Blume, Zilpha Keatley Snyder, Gone With The Wind, The Witch of Blackbird Pond. Then my teenage years hit, and books took a back seat to afterschool activities, friends and boys. ‘Tis sad, I know.


I hope you like ice cream. I did up a berry crumble to put over some vanilla ice cream. Interested?
If there’s ice cream involved, I’m interested. Yum!
What’s a favorite summer dish you serve guests or if you head out to any family/friend barbecues?
I cook and bake a little. For summer, my favorite is probably strawberry shortcake with the freshest strawberries, the biscuit-like cake and real whipping cream. At parties, I have a big plastic water dispenser that you can see through. I layer sliced citrus fruit (lemons, limes, oranges) over ice water and serve that instead of sodas. It’s always a hit. Yeah, that sliced fruit in water would beat the heat, for sure.

You’re from the Bluegrass State. I think it is absolutely lovely down the I-75 interstate the few times we had to travel it. (Sophia ‘hearts’ road trips) I’ve always wanted to tour the Horse Park and see the Mammoth Caves. Have you been there?
Thank you! I think Kentucky is lovely too. Yes, I’ve been to both parks. Love the Horse Park. I took my daughter there one spring break a few years back. It’s been a long time since I was at Mammoth Cave—I was probably about fourteen. And although I love parks and museums—caves? Well, not so much. I suffer from claustrophobia, so caves are not my friends. Oh, yeah, whoopsie, sorry to give you those imagines in your head then. Let's move on here.

What’s your favorite Kentucky site or activity?
Actually, Kentucky has some beautiful lakes – for boating, fishing, skiing, swimming. And I love the Keeneland Racetrack in Lexington. There’s a meet in April and one in October. It’s more picturesque than places like Churchill Downs or the Red Mile, in my opinion. And because of my Black Stallion adoration back in grade school, I've actually heard of Keeneland. ;)

Have you been to any local Jane Austen events? Any book festivals or cons? If so, what was it and what was a fun part of it?
I’m a member of JASNA Greater Louisville, but I don’t get to meetings very often because of my work and family commitments. Every July they host a Jane Austen Festival (except for last year, when Louisville hosted the AGM) that is fantabulous! I hope I get to go this year. Yowsers, I guess so.
As far as book festivals, I’ve done several over the years: the Los Angeles Festival of Books, Decatur GA Book Festival, the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, South Carolina Book Festival, and the Kentucky Book Fair and Southern Ky Festival of Books. Book fairs are fun, especially when readers stop by and say hello—and when the weather’s nice. It is a lot of work, but meeting people: other authors, readers, publishers, and talking about books are the best parts.
Decatur Book Festival

I noticed you set Find Wonder in All Things in your neck of the woods. Is the location a real place you’ve been?
While I was writing Find Wonder in All Things, I told one of my beta readers that it was my way of making peace with my hometown. The story, of course, is complete fiction, given that it is an adaptation of Persuasion, but the setting is loosely based on the Lake Cumberland area where I grew up. In the Prologue of that story, the characters go on an outing to an old railroad tunnel that is typically under water until the summer gets dry and the water levels go down. The real Lake Cumberland was made in the 1950’s, and the town of Burnside was moved from the valley up onto the hills around the newly formed lake. This means that there are remains of Old Burnside at the bottom of Lake Cumberland. This event in Find Wonder was based on a real experience I had as a teenager, when I went with some friends to one of those abandoned tunnels. It was a very uneventful trip though—even less eventful than it was for Laurel, Virginia, Stewart and James.
1932 was set in the area where my father grew up in South Central Kentucky, a tiny community called Hiseville, which is about a half-way between Louisville and Nashville, and a little off the beaten path. I like knowing that background, thanks!

You chose to set your books outside of Jane Austen’s England in time and place. I am curious about your choice of modern versus historical. What drew you toward modern vs historical?
Well, for me, the biggest appeal of Austen isn’t the Regency time period. I enjoy reading Regency stories written well, but what really drew me to Austen was how applicable the themes were across time and place. For example, Pride & Prejudice is about erroneous first impressions. Persuasion is about second chances and making a new start when given the opportunity. Emma is about humility, and so on. Those themes are still very relevant today, so wouldn’t modern readers (who might not necessarily invest in parsing the original texts) enjoy those stories? And might that enjoyment then induce those readers to try the original Jane Austen text and learn those themes ‘straight from the horse’s mouth’? I thought so, and it was why I began writing 20th century versions of each novel. I don’t know if I can make it through all six novels, but that was my original plan.
In some ways, it IS difficult to dissociate Austen’s stories from Regency England. Some characters and events do not translate all that well, but what I’ve found is that, if I keep those general themes in mind, I can write stories that are analogous, modern versions of the events depicted in the original novels. In fact, that extrapolation is a big part of the fun for me as an author.

and America vs England?
As far as America versus England, I simply felt more competent writing about the States, particularly the South, because I’m a native here. Undeceived has many locales though, and that was a real stretch for me. A lot of research went into those chapters that take place abroad!

Now, this next curious fact about your books I do love because my actual favorite Austen novel isn’t Pride & Prejudice. It’s fun for me when JAFF authors tackle the other Austen works (not that I don’t adore P&P). You’re one of the few writers I’ve seen in JAFF to not focus on only one of Austen’s novels for your variations. Of your published works, Pride & Prejudice, Persuasion, and your short story retelling of Northanger Abbey are covered, right? What made you decide to diversify and what aspect of each of these particular Austen novels made them your choice to adapt for your stories?
I explained a little above, but to add to that, I chose to diversify simply because I love Austen’s work, and I think that every story has a unique truth to speak to us. Persuasion is such an elegantly constructed novel. Reading it is like sipping a very smooth, expensive wine. Before you realize it, you’ve drunk half the bottle! I mean, read half the book! Maybe a little of both can make a reader heady.
The appeal of Northanger Abbey was Catherine Morland. She’s so sweet and honest, a bit naïve, yes, but definitely not stupid and with a great capacity for growth. Also, the Northanger Abbey story arc seemed to fit the summer-themed Sunkissed anthology so well—going to the Southeastern Atlantic coast with its rich history would be analogous to going to the resort town of Bath.

Ever considered tackling any of Austen’s other works for your stories?
I’m currently working on a 1970s adaptation of Emma titled I Could Write a Book. It takes place in Kentucky’s horse country. Both Emma and Mr. Knightley are from old families that were part of the horse farm tradition in this area. Woohoo! Oh, pardon me. Pray continue...
The original Emma is delightful, and oh! How it made me laugh! I’d be reading along, ‘listening’ to Mrs. Elton or Miss Bates—thinking, “Lordy, why doesn’t she hush?” but also knowing if I stuck with it I’d be rewarded with a chuckle or a little insight, and when it happened, it was just lovely. Genius!

So we have that one to look forward to. Beyond your Emma adaption?
I really want to finish I Could Write a Book this summer. My personal life has been a bit crazy the past couple of years: I began working full-time. My son just finished college, and his daughter was born 16 months ago. So of course, I have to spoil her! My daughter just graduated high school last month and is off to college this fall. Plus, I’ve had some minor health issues. Nothing tragic, just things I need to take care of, and all that takes time, you know? It eats away at my writing time, but I only feel whole when I’m writing, so I’ll keep chipping away at the stories in my head. Good Golly Miss Molly! You win the busy lady award, that is a lot of balls in the air, but I can see you wouldn't trade it for the world.
I’ve also started a women’s fiction novel, and I’ve got a P&P gender swap, time and place swap idea in mind as well. I’ve toyed with the idea of a Regency novel. I feel like I’m at a place where I want to do a lot of writing exploration, learn a lot of new things. I just want to have the time to do it justice, regardless of what I choose to write next. I want to write it to the best of my ability. That’s why I’ve never been able to put out books one right after the other. Each book has to be the best I know how at the time—readers deserve nothing less than that. And thank you for that. You do indeed put out quality work that engages the readers. Jane would be proud. And you know we will all be one clicking and getting excited when these near release time.

I used to think summers were the slow time of my life, but of latter years that really has not been the case. Doing anything interesting this summer?
My sister-in-law is getting married on the North Carolina coast this month, so we’re traveling there for a week. Other than that, just writing and swimming and enjoying my daughter’s company before she goes off to college next fall. Traveling is great summer fun and I do love your other summer plans, too.

Sofa Starter Questions:
Ham or Turkey? Ham. I’m not sure why, just…ham.
Orange or Yellow? Yellow (it’s my favorite color!)
Paper cut or Mosquito Bite? Paper Cut! I hate the mosquito bite itch – the gift that keeps on giving :P
Ironing or Dusting? Is this which one I like or which one I hate? ‘Cause I’m not too fond of either. But I guess ironing is tolerable. And I’m allergic to dust.
Mr. Bennet or Sir Thomas Bertram? Mr. Bennet – at least you could laugh with him, make sport for your neighbors and laugh at them in your turn.
Guinea Pig or Parakeet?
Parakeet. Guinea Pigs are too rodent-like for my taste.

Karen needs to get back home to her family and her writing desk, but I do appreciate her joining me for a chat.
Take care, Karen, and I appreciate you stopping by!
Thank you so much for the opportunity to chat, Sophia!


If she’s not here on GoodReads, this is where you can find Karen:
Amazon Author Page: www.amazon.com/author/karenmcox
Meryton Press blog: www.karenmcox.merytonpress.com
And on several of the usual social media haunts such as Facebook, (karenmcox1932), Twitter (@karenmcox1932), Pinterest (karenmc1932), Instagram (karenmcox1932), and Tumblr (karenmcox)




Karen is also participating in the Sun-Kissed Summer Road Trip as one of the authors who will host the book, take it around her neck of the woods for some sightseeing, drop in a local souvenir, and then send SK on it's way.
The last stop on the Road Trip is still up in the air as we wait to see who wins the giveaway for the anthology signed by every author and all it's souvenirs from it's travels. Visit the Meryton Press blog to follow the SK Summer Road Trip or enter the giveaway ending on July 15th: http://merytonpress.com/skroadtrip/