hello!
I’m Karen.
– journal keeper, photographer, homebody, perpetual overthinker, and aspiring author.
I live in a tiny village nestled in Vermont’s Green Mountains – the inspiration for my mystery series. When I’m not at my laptop creating havoc for my characters, I am rambling through the forest with my husband and spirited Labrador retriever – camera in hand.
Join me as I navigate the exciting road to publication.
From my notebook
Fall's renewal
Summer flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it morphed into fall. For me, it started in a fog—murky and unfocused—finally lifting with renewed energy and sharper focus.
Love where you live...
Ahhhh, spring has arrived in northern New England...
Or not...
Show me spring where you live!
Smiling about...
What can I say? With all that is going on in the world today, I'd like nothing more than to bury my head. But I know how lucky I am to be right where I am, and I'm finding plenty to smile about.
The fickle month of February
The fickle month of February... It's been cold, it's been warm, it's been bitter cold, and back to (grossly) warm. And try as I might, I can't do a darned thing about it, which leaves me with no choice but to be a sport—if I must. And this is what my fiendishly fickle month is looking like so far.
January This and That
Welp - January whizzed by. I shouldn't be surprised, but I am. How quickly time passes by... It's been one of those months - a little of this and a lot of that.
It's a good day to have a good day
It's the new year - time to set goals and resolutions - except I'm not. At the end of 2021 I met a major milestone - a goal I had set for myself - and... huh... I'm thinking for 2022 I'll focus less on the destination and more on the adventure. It's a good day to have a good day.
Forgotten Rambles
Closing out the old year and welcoming the new one finds me cleaning out my old photos - deleting, deleting - and running across some old favorites from forgotten rambles...
My favorite time of year
It's the most wonderful time of the year. But with all due respect to Andy Williams - for me - it has little to do with kids jingle belling and much mistletoeing. Sure, I love the holidays, but I love winter more. And Vermont knows how to do winter!
Exploring Bellows Falls
We took a detour to explore Bellows Falls, Vermont with my camera. Not your typical "Main Street" type of tour. It took me back to my away for the weekend blogspot days!
Playing tourist at home
"All at once, summer collapsed into fall." Oscar Wilde - But in Vermont, fall is quickly changing to winter and I have yet to share about our summer of playing tourist at home.
It's okay if it's not all figured out
I'm a planner.
Before diving into something new, I like to figure it out before getting my toes wet. But - I also love to break plans and replan and create new plans. And so, I am revising, replanning and replotting something I was certain I had figured out months ago. And that's okay.
Summer downtime
Summers in Vermont are short - but beautiful - and I am determined to get lots of outdoor time! What better way than some hiking and camping (and a new tent)?
Following curiosity
There are signs of spring in Vermont and I've been busy revising my manuscript. My "curiosity" project may have been a bust - but I still follow my curiosity excited to go where it leads.
How do you eat an elephant?
Large projects can be overwhelming - but I'm finding that taking it one bite at a time - like eating an elephant - is helping me keep everything in perspective.
Five lessons I learned while revamping my website
Updating my website was an adventure to say the least. These are five of the many lessons I learned.
2021-Year of HOPE
Happy 2021!!!
"Hope lies in dreams, in imagination and in the courage to make dreams into reality."
2020 Fatigue
I have a bad case of 2020 fatigue - feeling like all roads lead into a thick fog.
The story within the story
While photographing my story, I wondered what the real story was.
Random moments
October was about capturing and enjoying those random moments - while "mastering manual" settings on my camera.
Road Tripping
Summer flew by and Fall was threatening to do the same. Before winter set in, one of our bucket list items was a quick road trip to Fort Kent, Maine.
Details, details...
As a photographer, my instinct is to shoot the bigger image. This month was about getting in closer, letting details tell the story.
"Who do you want to be?"
We can't always choose our circumstances, but we can choose our reaction - and decide who we want to be.
Meet yourself right where you are
Starting something new can be so intimidating, but when my photography instructor started her course with the words "meet yourself right where you are," I breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Like squirrels gathering nuts
Summer flew by and now it's time to prepare for our first winter in Vermont. Greg and I are like squirrels gathering nuts.
Glimpses of everyday
The project - to photograph glimpses of everyday. The only thing that came to mind was "morning coffee" - whether at home, on the beach, on in a kayak - I photographed that morning cup of joe.
camera club mystery series
A widow, seeking a new beginning
An idyllic village nestled in the Green Mountains
A cast of lovable (and not-so-lovable), quirky characters
And a murderer on the loose…
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