Egypt: Then and Now
I have been having conversations with Egyptian friends and scholars, readers who are revisiting my novel Kleopatra, and book clubs that are reading it for the first time. It’s just amazing how history...
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Can SEX & LITERATURE really get along?
I originally wrote this piece for Publisher’s Weekly but it was cut in half for space. Here is the unedited version. No Sex, Please, We’re Literary! Sex sells. But what about sexy storylines? When it...
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Unplugging for a bit (or a bite).
For the next week or so I will be lurking around Bucharest and haunting the Carpathian Mountains. If you need me, please send your falcon, note attached, to Bran Castle in Transylvania. I’ll post an...
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Chasing Vlad1: The Case of the Missing Sheep
Believe it or not, people often ask me, “Karen, was Vlad the Impaler really a vampire?” I finally decided to make a trip to Romania and Transylvania to investigate. The next few posts will be about...
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Panther (or creature of the night) stalks Tuscany?
More missing sheep, this time in Tuscany! Call it a panther if it makes you feel better…but we know the truth! Tuscany Trembling over Big Cat Phantom Panther Gives Italians Paws for Thought By...
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Women, Madness & Vampires
I am the guest blogger today at the superb site “Wonders & Marvels: A community for curious minds who love history, its odd stories, and good reads.” That’s us, right? The post is about my...
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Mina Harker: An Uncooperative Protagonist
From the first time that I read Bram Stoker’s Dracula in my teens, though I revered the work, I just knew that the character Mina Harker, Dracula’s obsession, was not satisfied with the role Mr. Stoker...
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Bookstore Adventure
Inside Shakespeare & Co. 2011 has passed entirely too quickly, and what a year it’s been! The world has experienced its share of tumult and crises, and for the many, buying holiday gifts will be a...
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Design Icon Eiko Ishioka
Few people know that my first career was as a costume designer in theater, film, and television. I studied theatrical design at university, and, thanks to a very lucky break, slid into the business...
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The intellectual & visceral meaning of Dracula
I really enjoyed doing this sixty minute radio interview with Jon Hansen. Few interviewers come so well-prepared to discuss a book on so many different levels with an author. Hope you enjoy....
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Don’t go to Egypt & cut off its foreign aid until…
I won’t be going back to Egypt. I would also totally support withdrawing ANY financial assistance to that country. Those might be strange statements from someone who’s written two books about...
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Why I Want to be a Vampire (and you should too)
People often ask what prompted me to step out writing biographical historical fiction and write DRACULA IN LOVE. I have always loved vampires, ever since I watched Dark Shadows on tv as a child....
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Muslim Brotherhood: Women—yes, all of us—are an offense.
Bet you didn’t know that the word “sea” was masculine and therefore the sea is reserved for men? Guess the Muslim Brotherhood doesn’t know about “la mer.” Anyone who is sad about the fact that the...
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