Karen Lacey doesn’t remember when she started writing. She just remembers one day her fifth grade teacher holding up her homework and saying, “This is how you write a short story.” Shy, introverted Karen was mortified, but Mr. Dickens (seriously, that was his name) planted a seed which continues to grow today. Never one to stay behind a desk, Karen worked in southern Africa as a wildlife photographer and lived in London while creating daily financial analyses for a boutique investment firm. She appeared regularly on Sky Business News and Reuters TV and conducted daily commentaries on Bloomberg News. She ran a language business in Australia, became a stockbroker, and yes, at one point even sold encyclopedias door-to-door. But eventually, Karen returned to writing with arms wide open. Today, Karen runs a writing and editing business and has sold client’s nonfiction works to most major publishers, including St. Martin’s Press, Penguin, McGraw Hill, and Wiley. But Karen’s heart and dreams lie in her first and abiding love: writing fiction. It is to this activity that she now devotes most of her time and energy. She has written countless short stories, three novels, and has several more novels cooking in the back of her somewhat twisted, decidedly creative brain. In addition to Africa and England, Karen has lived in Argentina, Spain, Australia, and Denmark. She currently lives in Palm Desert, California, and travels widely. She can be found at www.theuncommonoctopus.com.