Karen Pruitt Fowler

Clips

2009-07-10T12:44:00.000-07:00

Here is a smattering of clips of my work, divided by topic, of course! Enjoy!

Editor Duties

Editor for 2 years on BellaOnline for the Infertility Site, the Art History Site, and the Biology Site.
Non-fiction editor for 1 year at the Writer's Room Magazine.
Recently appointed Feaure Writer for the Writing Fiction topic at Suite.101(1/2007)
Recently appointed the Reading Editor over at BellaOnline.com (1/2007)

Parenting Matters

Back-To-Back Babies: Coping with the Daily Stress - Baby Cafe
Reading for the Future - Baby Cafe
To Stay or not To Stay (at Home with the Babies) - Baby Cafe

The Writing Craft

Reasons to be a Writer - Absolute Write
Ten (Writer) Commandments: What not to do... - The Writer Gazette
Why I Write in the Bathtub - The Writers Room Magazine
Naming Fictional Characters at Suite101.com
Writing Prompts to Begin a Story at Suite 101.com
Workshopping Your Fiction at Suite101.com
Read More, Write Better Fiction at Suite101.com
The Craft of Writing at Suite101.com
The Writer's Journal at Suite101.com
Writing Prompts to Wake the Muse at Suite101.com
Writing With a Market in Mind at Suite101.com
Writing Fictional Characters at Suite101.com

Books & Reading

LIBRARY LUBBER'S ANONYMOUS- Bookcrossing.com

Essays & Columns

Watermarked Dreams - The Imperfect Parent, August 2006
Going Home Again - Eastern Shore News (Nov. 2002), reprinted in the Virginian Pilot (Jan. 2003)
On Adoption -Eastern Shore News, December 2003
Observation Post: Communicate With Your Kids Day - Eastern Shore Post, December 2003
Read to the Children Early On - Eastern Shore News, December 2002
Observation Post: Stress-free Holidays - Eastern Shore Post, November 2003
Pregnancy is No Excuse - Eastern Shore News, July 2003
You Never Know What's Around the Bend - Eastern Shore News, January 2002
It Only Takes a Minute for a Child to Be Missing - Eastern Shore News

Book Reviews

News & Newsworthy

Leningrad Zoo Sharply Criticized in Report

University Adopts Policy on Dissection Alternatives

Odd Snipets from Published Works - From book reviews of Artifact

Fiction

Call Me Caroline (published as Call me Virginia) in the May '05 issue of True Confessions Magazine
The Voice on the Line- published in (the now defunct zine) Rag Doll in 2005
Short story Still-Life Paintings has been accepted for publication at The Chick-Lit Review in 03/2007

Poetry

Fall On Your Knees will be in the upcoming edition of BellaOnline's Mused review.

Reading for Profit

2009-01-10T10:33:00.000-08:00

Like an artist who is able to sell their work, profiting from books that you would have read anyway is like icing on the cake. Now, profiting can mean many things, but for the purpose of this article, when I say profiting, I mean that you get something from the time you spend reading a book (other than the pleasure), whether it’s a paycheck, a byline or a global audience.

Have you figured it out yet? I’m talking about writing book reviews.

If you have dreams of a career in writing, becoming a book reviewer can allow you to sharpen your skills with the printed word, give you a collection of “clips” that can later help you snag more writing or reviewing gigs. Plus, even if the book review site pays little or nothing for your review, they almost always supply you with the free books!

And I can thing of nothing I’d rather receive in the mail than free books!

In addition to a little jingle in your pocket and free books, writing book reviews is a way to connect with fellow readers world-wide over shared interests and ideas. And if you are like me, being able to contribute your thoughts about a book is just the coolest, and in some small way, you are helping another writer get good press (assuming you did like the book).

There are numerous book reviewing web-sites out there in cyber-land, and all you usually have to do is run a search for “book reviewing” to get a few good candidates. I have over a dozen reviews under my belt for Curled Up with a Good Book, ranging from non-fiction to literary novels. (See a link to my page at the bottom)

A few other good online book review sites include:
-Bookreporter.com
-FaithfulReader.com (Geared toward Christian Readers)
-Teenreads.com
-Kidsreads.com
-Bookreview.com
-Bibliobuffet.com

Carefully read the site’s guidelines and follow their directions. You may be asked to write a sample review on a book you’ve read recently. Before you write it, browse through some of the other reviews of similar books on the site, making sure you look at the work of several different reviewers to get a feel for the proper format and the tone of the review site as well. Then submit!

Offline, magazines and newspapers usually run book reviews. Try approaching your local paper with an idea for a book column. If the newspaper is small, approach your local bookstore to discuss a cooperative venture for placement in the newspaper. Say that if they provide the book and pay to buy a space in the newspaper (and maybe a little remuneration, if you’re feeling lucky), you will read the book and review it for them. This is a win/win situation for all—the newspaper gets ad money and content without paying for it, the bookstore gets unique advertising, and you get a free book, a byline, and maybe a little dough for your time!

***Note that BookReported.com, Faithfulreader.com, teenreads.com, and kidsreads.com are all part of a larger company, and the guidelines for all can be found at: http://www.tbrnetwork.com/becoming.asp

I AM ON FIRE!

2007-01-28T21:02:00.000-08:00

As if my two latest writing positions weren't enough, I also got an acceptance Letter from the Chick-Lit review that my short story, "Still-Life Paintings" will be published in their upcoming edition.

Yippie. I'm turning cart-wheels. Really!
(I'll give you all a link when the story goes live!)

Another Writing Gig!

2007-01-28T20:59:00.000-08:00

Okay, believe it or not, about the same time I was offered the Writing Fiction position, I was offered another similar, but not too similar position...

So now, I am also the Editor for BellaOnline's Reading site, where I get to talk about my favorite thing-- Reading. Go ahead, take a peek. I've got several things live there already!

Reading at BellaOnline

New Feature Writer Gig

2007-01-28T20:56:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I am now the feature writer over at suite.101. I'm covering Writing Fiction, and I already have several articles and book reviews up, so swing on over and take a peek!

Fiction Writing at Suite.101

Essay Published!

2006-12-09T12:41:00.000-08:00

Imagine my surprise, when searching for this very blog on blogger, I happened upon an essay of mine (written under my given name) that was published the end of August-- without my knowledge. I should volunteer that the very reason I was searching for my own blog to begin with involved a horrific computer crash, a total re-install and extesive problems with my DSL server (rhymes with horizon, thank you very much!)

I am assuming that I, at some point submitted this article for their perusal, since it is accompanied by a bio that I have used in the past (or some variation therof)...and since my computer was dead, it is very reasonable to assume that they tried to contact me about the publication...

Check it out and tell me what you think! The Imperfect Parent

(Follow-up, they did try to contact me, and payment is on it's way!)