Karen Daniels
"So, Who Is This Karen Daniels Anyway?
In order to answer that very question, I, Fester Zingenbachpitooey, roving reporter for the Galactic Sun Dial Times, tracked down author and all-around gal Karen Daniels on Terran Earth. Join us now as I speak with her.
FZ. So, Miss Daniels, thank you for taking the time to speak with me. I realize you have places to go and planets to create, so let's get right to it and start with the basics. I see from my data recorder you were born in 1957?
K. That's right.
FZ. And by looking at you, I see you have red hair.
K. Actually, Fester - may I call you Fester? - it's strawberry blond.
FZ. I stand corrected. And yes, "Fester" is fine. We don't have different hues of red where I'm from.
Here's a picture of Miss Daniels exported to you the reader with our special digital tri-imaging Galactic Sun Dial Times mega-picture sender - hold on - here it is:
Cameraman who's watching monitor. Ah, Fester, there's a problem here…
FZ. Oh, for the love of sunbeams. I'm so very sorry. That's professor Hinegoober from Mars Outback 9 - my last interview. Let's try that again. (Presses knobs, scowls, then flips a lever. Whirring sound. *Burp.*) Okay, okay.
Here we go:
Now, there's the picture of Miss Karen Daniels. Miss Daniels, thank you for your patience. Now let's draw a basic embodiment of who you are for our readers. What are the essentials that make Karen Daniels, Karen Daniels? Where did your life begin?
K. Right here on Earth.
FZ. Of course. Could you be more specific?
K. Long Beach, California. (Coughs.) Around 8:30 in the morning.
FZ. Fine, fine. Interesting zodiac implications… (Stares off into space then catches himself.) Sorry. I feel compelled to ask, here we are in eternally, damnably sunny Southern California - have you spent your entire life here?
K. No. I went to college up north, Reed College in Portland, Oregon. After that I got married, and I'll just say now, divorced a few years later but for the first year of marriage I lived in Philadelphia, PA. I've also lived in several locations in northern California. And Hawaii. And one of my favorite pastimes is travel. I've been throughout lots of Europe, Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland, Australia, Tasmania, East Africa and Mexico.
FZ. Phew. Okay. What did you study in college?
K. Psychology.
FZ. And you've just been married the one time? Before you answer, please let me clarify for those readers not acquainted with this particular Earth custom: Marriage is the social institution under which a couple establish their decision to live by legal commitment, very similar to the mating ritual of Perpitragitors but with more paperwork. Anyway, Karen, back to you.
K. What was the question?
FZ. You've just been married the one time?
K. God no. I'm on my 3rd.
FZ. You must like marriage.
K. (Laughs hysterically.) I'll pass on commenting.
FZ. Well okay then. Let's cut to other matters. When did you decide to start writing?
K. It's not something I decided - it's something I am. Something I had to do from early on. I used to sit and write poetry during recess at grade school while the other kids were playing basketball and such. I'd sit against the brick wall and write.
FZ. Kind of a dweb, weren't you?
K. You could say that.
FZ. I just did.
K. So you did.
FZ. Then you've been a full-time writer all your life?
K. Again, God no. I've had many careers though I'd always write in my spare time. I've worked a lot with exotic animals, bird importation and animal training. I even worked as a trainer for the movies for a bit which led to the set of a B horror movie that was shot mostly in the sewers of Toronto in the middle of a subzero winter. Not very glamorous.
FZ. What was the movie about?
K. Rats. Rats that eat some grain that has, I don't know, weird chemicals in it, and they grow large. We used dachshunds dressed in rat costumes.
FZ. How inventive. (Shivers.) I hate rats. Let's move on. What else have you done?
K. I've been a fitness trainer and manager and also worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture doing research on biological control with fruit fly parasites. For part of that I lived on Kauai and hiked around a lot. After that I moved to Honolulu and became basically a maggot raiser.
FZ. So you left one of the most beautiful places on Earth where you got paid to hike around, to raise maggots?
K. That's about it.
FZ. Gee, that sounds smart.
K. (Smiles.) I wanted to attend the U. of Hawaii and that meant I had to get to Honolulu. Actually, raising maggots is great fun.
FZ. I'll take your word for it. (Shakes head.) And don't tell me, you left Honolulu to raise vampire bats?
K. No, but that sounds pretty terrific. No, I left because of a man. But that's another story.
FZ. All right. Can you at least tell us, were you running toward, or from, a man?
K. Toward. And that's when I started writing full-time. The first novel, Dancing Suns, took me 10 years since I wrote it after work. My second novel, Mentor's Lair, took a year. I'm getting better.
FZ. So, you've written two books then?
K. Three. It's a series called the Zaddack Tales. I just sent Mindspark, the third in the series, to the publisher.
FZ. Very good then. Do they have the same characters?
K. The first two books do. There's a couple carryovers into Mindspark.
FZ. And how did the idea for the Zaddack Tales come to you?
K. It started as an image. A young woman walking in desert-like terrain, with her zaddack, an enlightened
creature that she's psychically bonded to.
FZ. Psychic bonds… do you believe in that stuff?
K. For most of my life I didn't but then, well let's just say events intervened and I was forced to redefine how I viewed life - and death. Yes, I very much believe there are energies that run through everything and that those energies can be tapped. That's a big part of my stories. I tend to write toward the spiritual side of things - what I call visionary fiction. You know, scifi with the metaphysical.
FZ. Most interesting. I myself have had a psychic vision or two. But this isn't about me so let me ask, what are you working on now?
K. Several books. I'm doing a collaboration with JD Williams currently titled Reflections of Eden because I think it will stretch me as a writer to have to work with someone else. I'm also doing a novel about an old woman - a very very very old woman who remembers things from way back when. Things from before she was born. Then there's the book about a space-age courtesan which is great fun. Kind of a Hitchhikers Guide meets Erica Jong. And there's one more novel in there but I'd rather keep that to myself at this point.
FZ. Totally fine. And I see we're out of time for now. Miss Daniels, thank you so much for talking with us. Any last words for our readers?
K. Well, Fester, remember that Santa's making his list and checking it twice, and he's gonna find out who's naughty and who's nice. Words to live by.
FZ. Thank you, Miss Daniels, thank you so much. This is Fester Zingenbachpitooey, roving reporter for the Galactic Sun Dial Times saying, good news, good food, good bye.
If you want to know more about reporter Fester Zingenbachpitooey, well sorry, you're outta luck at this time. Check back later.
Books:
Dancing Suns (Book 1)
Mentor's Lair
MindSpark
Author's Homepage:
www.karendaniels.com
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