Karleen Koen

American novelist

Karleen Koen
Born	Karleen Smith New York City, New York
Occupation	Author, historian
Language	English
Education	Bachelor of Arts^[1]
Alma mater	North Texas State University
Period	Seventeenth and eighteenth century England and France
Genre	Historical fiction
Notable works	Through a Glass Darkly
Website
karleenkoen.net

Karleen Koen (née Smith) is an American novelist perhaps best known for her 1986 debut historical fiction novel, Through a Glass Darkly.

Personal life

Karleen Smith grew up near Houston, Texas. In 1970, she majored in English and graduated from North Texas State University.^[1]^[2] Koen became the first managing editor of Houston Home & Garden and then its editor. She decided to leave in order to focus on family.^[2] In 2011 she attended the annual conference of the Historical Novel Society alongside Diana Gabaldon and Margaret George, among others.^[3]

Literary career

To help pass the dull hours at home, Koen began writing a historical fiction novel on her favorite time period, the eighteenth-century. The book centered on teenage noblewoman Barbara Alderley and her trials and travails as she navigates English and French society. To gain a publisher for her work, now called Through a Glass Darkly, Koen sent the manuscript to Jean Naggar, whose name she found in Writer's Digest. Naggar encouraged Koen to continue finishing the book; believing it to be "the launching of a major author," Naggar mailed the manuscript to five major publishing companies;^[2]^[4] Random House purchased it for a "whopping" $350,000 in August 1985, which was at the time a record for a new novelist.^[2]^[5] Koen and her husband used some of this money to purchase a three-bedroom house in Houston.^[2]

Koen began work on her second novel soon after Through a Glass Darkly was purchased for print. She titled it Now Face to Face, and described it as ""a continuation and completion of Barbara's story and it involves [her cousin] Tony and the themes of bonding, family and love – and I don't mean sex."^[5]

Her writing influences include Winston Graham, Daphne du Maurier, and Mary Stewart.^[6]

Works

Through a Glass Darkly (1986)
Now Face to Face (1995)
Dark Angels (2006)
Before Versailles (2011)

References

^ ^a ^b "Koen, Karleen". Contemporary Authors. January 1, 2007. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved September 7, 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Shapiro, Harriet (February 23, 1987). "Through a Glass Darkly Emerges the Portrait of Karleen Koen, a Successful First-Time Novelist". People. Retrieved September 7, 2012.
^ "Brain trust of historical fiction convenes". Union-Tribune. June 11, 2011. Retrieved September 7, 2012.
^ Mitgang, Herbert (August 28, 1985). "Texan Hits the Jackpot: $350,000 for First Novel". The New York Times. Retrieved September 7, 2012.
^ ^a ^b Vogel, Christine (September 28, 1986). "Fame delivers a plot twist // 'Glass Darkly' author now comes face to face with star's reputation". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on June 11, 2014. Retrieved September 7, 2012.
^ "Q&A with Karleen Koen, author of Before Versailles". Madameguillotine.org. June 28, 2012. Archived from the original on June 11, 2012. Retrieved September 7, 2012.