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MEET KAREN O'CONNOR (12/2010)
by Bonnie O'Brian

What did you most like to do when you were a child?

Karen O'Connor

Read, play with dolls, play jump rope and jacks, and go to the movies.

What books influenced you most when you were growing up?

THE LITTLE HOUSE by Virginia Lee Burton
GERALDINE BELINDA by Marguerite Henry

 Did you write stories when you were growing up? at school? Or at home as a hobby? As a young child, or as a teenager, or both?

Yes. I wrote my first book in third grade and illustrated it with drawings. My teacher put it on the student bookshelf and I was thrilled. Decided them to be a published author when I grew up.

What audience did you have in mind for your career as a writer - adult or children?

Children at first, but then after fifteen years or so I’ve focused on writing for adults—and now for senior adults—as I am one!

When you went to college, were you already pursuing a writing career? (or a career in illustrating? or just art in general?)

I majored in theatre arts and English. I planned to teach and write.

What was your first job when you graduated from college?

I taught fifth grade.

How soon after that was your first book published?

I published my first book, a paperback guide to family finances for women in 1974.
My first children’s book, How To Make Money, was published in 1977.

Was your first book accepted immediately? or did you experience a number of rejections?

Accepted and published right away, most likely due to the fact that I followed the publisher’s guidelines to the letter and also responded, in both cases, to a ‘call’ for the kind of books I wrote.