Author Interview with Karen E. Osborne
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Welcome Readers to another installment of our authorinterview series. Today we have the pleasure of chatting with the lovely and talented Karen E. Osborne,a multi-genre author with an amazing podcast. (More about that later!)
JMR-Welcome to the Books Delight, Karen.Tell our readers where you live, what you do for fun and what does the perfectday look like?
KO- Thanks so much for having me. I’m a native NewYorker living in south Florida – a cliché. New Yorkers often call Florida thesixth borough. My husband Bob and I date once a week. Breakfast or lunch out,bowling, movie, or theater. We love going to parties with lots of dancing. Iplay cards with friends. My perfect day starts with my gratitude list and is amix of writing, reading, movement, volunteering, and chatting with our adultchildren and grandchildren. But I never get to do all these things in any oneday.
JMR-What’s your favorite historical timeperiod? Why?
KO- The roaring twenties is number one. In the 1920swomen fought for, and won, the right to vote, threw away their girdles, liftedthe hemlines, sought more freedom and independence. It was also the time of theHarlem Renaissance. Jazz, art, literature, and poetry by Black artists came tothe fore. Zora Neal Hurston and Langston Huges, Ella Fitzgerald and LouisArmstrong, artist Romare Bearden, to a name a few. Madam Walker started asuccessful business and taught other Black women how to do the same. Yet, theperiod was also marred by crime, corruption, prohibition, and suppression.Women and Black folks still had to deal with misogyny and racism. It was a richera of change, contradictions, and possibilities.
JMR-Who is your favorite historicalfigure? Why? If you could ask them one question, what would it be?
KO- I’m a Shakespeare nut. I’ve read, studied, andwatched every one of his plays numerous times. They’re timeless, entertaining,and instructive. “May I sit with you and ask questions all day?” One questionwouldn’t be enough.
JMR- You’ve written several contemporaryfiction books. Why switch genres to historical fiction?
KO- I read a LOT of historical fiction and I try towrite what I enjoy reading. But I shied away from it because of all theresearch required and because I like making things up. But I found, as I wrote TrueGrace, a family drama set in 1924, that I enjoyed discovering details andunderstanding the era. Surprised myself. Plus, I wanted to write mygrandmother’s story. The time had come.
JMR- Did you visit any of the places inyour book? Where did you feel closest to your characters?
KO- Yes. The book is set in the Congo, England,Jamaica, Harlem, The Bronx, and Pelham, NY. I’ve visited all but the Congo. Asa young girl, I visited my grandmother often when she lived on Sugar Hill, inHarlem--a famous area of the city. That was where I felt closest to her.Visiting her father’s home in Cornwall, UK, and the school she attended in Kent,England brought me closer.
JMR- Karen, tell us about your new book,True Grace.
KO- As Imentioned, it is historical fiction, set in 1924, and inspired by mygrandmother. When the story opens, Grace, a mixed-race immigrant woman andmother of five, comes home to a harrowing event. Over the course of seven months,she must make wrenching decisions, fight misogynistic and racists courts,banks, the child welfare system, and bad actors to save her family. Onereviewer wrote she found herself praying for Grace, forgetting she was readingfiction. It’s a suspenseful, page-turner rich with historical details. Mysource material included books written about my great grandfather, threehundred pages of Grace’s handwritten letters, journals, stories she told me,plus research via the web, libraries, and other books about the era.
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JMR- Youwrite about a lot of social issues. From where does that spring?
KO- Personalexperience. #Metoo, sexual assault, and PTSD are all part of my background andfor far too many people. Every 68 seconds another American is sexuallyassaulted. Bob and I adopted our daughter when she was two and part of thefoster care system. So that shows up in my writing as well. On any given day inAmerica, 400,000 children are in the system. Sixty-two thousand a year age out,never finding a forever home, and their subsequent statistics are heartbreaking. I like exploring what it means to be family. All my novels aremulti-racial.
JMR- Is there athread that’s goes through all your novels?
KO- All four ofmy published novels, and my work in progress (WIP), feature strong, flawedwomen who must overcome great odds. Some of their struggles they brought onthemselves, and others come from the outside or from within their families. Thewomen must dig deep and tap into strengths that surprise them and allows each toaccomplish more than she ever dreamed with grit, grace, and resilience. We livein such intolerant times, so I also write about the coercive nature of secretsand lies, the power of forgiveness, and the possibility of redemption.
JMR- Your weeklyvideo podcast is three years old without missing a week. What drives you orinspires you to keep at it?
KO- Thank you forasking. It started with the pandemic. Places for writers to connect withreaders shrunk as we all stayed home. In response, I started a video podcast – WhatAre You Reading? What Are You Writing? A place to feature authors andconnect with readers. You graciously became my 16th guest. And nowI’m passed 174 creatives who joined me. Through the podcast I’ve met so many outstandingwriters and, as a result, read books I might have passed up in a bookstore. Thewriting community is generous and inspiring, supporting and helping each other.Like you do. And readers are among my favorite people.
JMR-What projects do you have in thepipeline?
KO- I love trying new things -- pushing myself indifferent directions. My current WIP is both historical and present day, amystery about two murders that happened 50+ years apart. It also has someromance. All but one of my protagonists, in all five books, find or renew love.
JMR- Tell our readers how to find you onsocial media and the web.
KO- My website is www.KarenEOsborne.comThere you will find info about my books, episodes of the podcast, and listingsof upcoming events. Plus, book clubs can find discussion questions for eachnovel. My other links are:
Karen E. Osborne (@kareneosborne) /Twitter
(20+) Karen EOsborne, Author | Facebook
https://www.instagram.com/writerkareneosborne/
https://www.bookbub.com/profile/karen-e-osborne
JMR- What question were you hoping I’dask but didn’t?
KO- Your questions were spot on.
JMR- Thank you, Karen, for stopping by. Your bookslook really great! Readers, I’ve included a link to Karen’s books below. Pleasebe sure to check them out.
