Karen Bass

Karen Bass is the author of two Coteau novels based on World War II in Europe -- Run Like Jager and Summer of Fire. Harbouring an interest in World War II since childhood, Karen began writing shortly after she was hired to manage a local library. Her stories and articles have been published in local newspapers, magazine and anthologies, and nationally in "Writers Circle Nine" and the "Canadian Writer's Journal."

A fourth-generation Albertan, Karen attended the University of Alberta, and received a psychology degree from the University of Victoria. She currently lives with her family in northwesten Alberta, where she continues to work as a librarian.

From the author:

I've always loved to read; life doesn't feel complete if I don't have a book on the go. And though my high school English teacher told me I should write, I never gave it much thought until I went to work at the local library. All along I'd been writing little articles for newsletters or reports about my sons' hockey teams for the local paper, but shelving novels day after day planted a seed. I didn't know it had sprouted until a friend suggested we try out a local writing group. I hurriedly wrote a page of prose so I would have something to share -- and the love of storytelling took immediate root in my soul.

Now I can't imagine life without writing. When I get an idea, I feel compelled to write it and can get quite obsessive in the doing. It's deeply satisfying to turn an idea into a story, to feel the weight of my effort in the pages spit out by the printer, and finally, to be able to share that story, whether it's with a few friends or a wider circle of readers. After all, a story comes to life only when it is shared. And there is a special kind of magic in that.