Author Fan Clubs:
R.A. Allen
Kevin David Anderson
Peter Andrews
Thomas Anselm
Carol Ayer
Victor J. Banis
Cynthia S. Becker
Karen Bernardo
Venita Blackburn
Andrea Bodel
Bruce Boston
Michael Bracken
Warren Bull
Mort Castle
John Chabot
O'Neil De Noux
M.M. De Voe
McKenna Donovan
Peggy Duffy
Barry Ergang
Elrena Evans
Gail Farrelly
John M. Floyd
Sunny Frazier
Robert Friedman
Jennifer Gennari
Jonathan C. Gillespie
Diane D. Gillette
Beth Groundwater
Mindy Hardwick
Jess Harris
Laura Hartman
Libby Fischer Hellmann
Belea T. Keeney
Floris M. Kleijne
Gerri Leen
Laird Long
Adrian Magson
Tracie McBride
Thomas Millstead
Michael Neal Morris
Jim Musgrave
Kris Neri
Richard O'Donnell
Lydia Ondrusek
Heather Parker
Barbara Quinn
Bruce Holland Rogers
Terry Sanville
Anita Saran
Wayne Scheer
Marge Simon
Del Stone, Jr.
Loretta Sylvestre
J.A. Tyler
Dennis R. Upkins
Daniel Wallace
J.D. Webb
Mike Wiecek
Bill Wilbur
Sarah Wisseman
Tim Wohlforth
Simon Wood
Karen Bernardo is the director of the Coburn Free Library in Owego, New York, where she participates in the Owego Writers’ Group (faithfully) and the library’s Mystery Book Club (when she has time to read the featured selection). She also edits books, primarily adult fiction and memoirs, on a freelance basis.
Karen is a graduate of Binghamton University’s (State University of New York at Binghamton) Creative Writing Program. She is a former editor for Vestal Press.
Besides books, reading and writing, Karen loves live music, live theater, and constructing things (including clothing, jewelry and artwork). She dislikes going to movies, cooking dinner, or having anything to do with gardens. She is the wife of David, mother of James and Julie, mother-in-law of Joe, and proud grandma of Jimmy and Sarah.Although she reads a lot of novels as part of both jobs, Karen’s real love is short stories because every word counts.
Ernest Hemingway
Flannery O'Connor
Sandra Cisneros
Karen highly recommends John Gardner's On Moral Fiction
When one year holds a lifetime of tragedy, the story can be too big to tell.
Time: 1:37 / $0.48 Sample Add to Cart
KB: Be humble enough to take advice from writers who have been doing this longer than you have, but be centered enough to reject their advice if it's not who you are. And read! Your writing will never get better unless you read people who write better than you do.
Q: If you could have any living author for a writing instructor, who would it be? Lydia
KB: Wow, that's tough. Most of my favorite authors are dead. I'm very fond of the work of Maggie O'Farrell, who doesn't teach as far as I know. I'm also a long-time admirer of Toni Morrison. But ah, to have studied with Ernest Hemingway, or Flannery O'Connor, or James Baldwin. That would have been magic.
Q: Good answers above. As a fellow Sniplits author, I wonder if you prefer writing short stories over other types of writing. Always interested in a published writer's opinion. Thanks,Tom Anselm
KB: In general, I do prefer short stories to other types of writing. I think I express myself most naturally that way, and short fiction is the genre in which I feel most in control. However, that being said, it also depends on what I'm trying to say. If I'm trying to express a single thought - like "seize life" or "I communicate best through discussing books" or "your head reminds me of the Staten Island Ferry" - then I write a poem. If I'm trying to express a character-driven idea that's larger than that, I write a short story. And if it's something in the middle, I write flash fiction!
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