About Karen:
As a copywriter at CFNY-FM Toronto for five years, Karen wrote imaging promos, commercials for local and national advertising campaigns, and a Clio award-winning drunk driving PSA. After leaving the radio station for Los Angeles, Karen worked as a freelance writer (Creative Forces Media for Warner Records) while attending the Vermont College MFA program in Writing for Children & Young Adults. Karen currently lives in Connecticut and serves on the Daniel Gerson Memorial Fund for the Arts Board of Trustees. Karen is an active SCBWI member. Karen and Beckie Weinheimer’s (http://beckieweinheimer.com/) presentation to the NESCBWI is available as a slideshow:
Need help with your opening pages? Beckie and Karen, both graduates of the Vermont College of Fine Art MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults, have teamed up to consult on the beginning of your novel. They’ll give you notes on your first sentence, opening paragraph, and line edits on your entire submission of twenty-five pages. In a one-hour virtual meeting with Beckie and Karen, you’ll receive a consultation on incorporating the elements of plot, character, voice, setting, tone, theme, and genre throughout your novel. Karen and Beckie believe once you have a strong beginning, you’ll have the tools to carry it throughout your work. Let Beckie and Karen help you craft the best beginning tailored to your specific needs.
Contact them via email to schedule your submission of the first 25 pages of your novel and a one-to-two-page synopsis. After they’ve read and edited your pages, schedule an hour-long virtual meeting with Beckie and Karen to discuss what’s working and what could use tweaks, and how to incorporate the elements throughout your work. Once you’ve revised your first ten pages, resubmit for a final review via email—all for $250.
Contact Karen at fisherbaird@me.com
Karen is also at work on the following young adult mystery novels:
The Confessions of Win Rosedale
Every famous family has secrets they’d die, or maybe kill, to protect. Knives Out meets The Kardashians in The Confessions of Win Rosedale, a YA cozy mystery complete at 86,000 words, following the literary tradition of Crooked House with the mixed media elements of Good Girl, Bad Blood. Exploring themes of identity, image, and family roles set in contemporary Los Angeles, The Confessions of Win Rosedale will appeal to Karen McManus and Jennifer Lynn Barnes fans.
A Single Thread
A Single Thread is a 60,000-word YA thriller with escape room vibes and a mystery at its core. A contemporary feminist reimagining of the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, A Single Thread draws inspiration from the mystery-revenge dynamic of I Know What You Did Last Summer combined with the single location setting and flashback elements of The Girls I’ve Been. If you like E. Lockhart and Maureen Johnson, trapped-in-a-room contained thrillers, and ‘beware the nice ones’ tropes a la Norman Bates in Psycho, you’ll love A Single Thread.
Regency
A dark academia YA mystery/thriller, Regency retells the story of Margaret d’Anjou, a 15th-century Queen of England, as a contemporary teen who must investigate the mysterious disappearance of her older sister at an elite boarding school. When Margaret discovers a secret society that will stop at nothing to continue its rule from the shadows, she needs to choose between her family duty and protecting her new boyfriend (a present-day version of King Henry VI) from madness and murder. In this modern take on The Wars of the Roses, Margaret dodges the spells of New Age witches, learns to navigate backroom intrigue, and eventually places herself at the center of the battle between the Houses of Lancaster and York.
Karen Fisher-Baird 