Welcome...

The Scribe is my online name (which I don't seem to use all that much anymore) and I use Karen Lee Field as my pen name. I used to say I write fantasy novels for young adults, yet I discovered this was no longer the case. It seems the 16 to 18 year old market is slowly being merged into the adult market, which means I can include certain chapters of my manuscript which were considered "unsuitable" before. I have three completed manuscripts. However, in 2008, I decided that none of these manuscripts make the grade and all require proper planning and a complete rewrite. The time spent on the manuscripts were not wasted as I learned a lot about the craft of writing and I have shared that information in Writing above.

A few years ago I became interested in writing chapter books for children. It would be wrong to think that writing such books is easier, because it's not. I decided to focus on a story that came to me through a dream, because I believed it would make a wonderful adventure for children to read...and I still believe that to be true. The first and second books are 100% complete and the third book is still in planning stages. I need to get myself focused on submitting the first manuscript - because without submission, there will be no chance of acceptance.

In November 2007, during NaNoWriMo, I started writing a paranormal novel. Due to many reasons, I never finished that manuscript and I ended up taking a long break from writing. Nine months, in fact (no, I wasn't pregnant). In early 2009 I returned to the manuscript with a vengence and it has projected to the third edit, but I'm still not entirely happy with it. Due to the dark content of this story, I find it's a project I continue to "put away" when life spins me a curve ball, but I always return to it as I feel very positive about this project.

In July 2008 I was involved in publishing an anthology. Yes, it's the one you can see in the right hand sidebar - Speculative Realms: Where there's a will, there's a way. My story "Where Strength Lies" is included and I hope you'll support my writing by purchasing a copy of the book. Visit Speculative Realms to find out more.

Apart from the sections of the website I've already mentioned, you will also find a tab in the navigation bar called Genealogy. I've been researching my own family tree for two decades, so I have a lot of information to share on this topic. However, iIt was only added to the website in August 2009, so there isn't much to see now, but will grow in time.

In order to try and stay focused, I have removed all my other websites as they were distracting. And...I have changed the way the categories are shown on the blog, or My Diary as I like to call it. In the My Diary section of this website, the categories in the sidebar will only relate to my own journey as a writer. The other categories are hidden in the section of website that they relate to, ie the navigation pages above (and below).

There is more to life than writing I'm told, so there has to be other things that I'm interested in. Hmmm! The best I can do is tell you that I love researching Medieval times and Ancient Egypt. I used to have separate websites on both these subjects, but they took up too much time, so you will find those findings within this website too. Just click on History above. It's unlikely that I'll more content to this page.

When I'm away from the computer I enjoy reading. My all time favourite book is Illusion by Paula Volsky, followed closely by Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. Although I do read a lot of fantasy, I also enjoy a good murder mystery; a touch of horror/thriller now and again; and even a sloppy romance when the mood takes me. I've also become addicted to scrapbooking. It's so relaxing!

I live in sunny Australia with my family, a sharp-toothed puppy and two much loved cats.

...Karen

Last updated in September 2009