Karen Gonzalez

Karen Gonzalez

About

Karen has been interested in folktales and folklore for more than three decades and has facilitated writing classes and workshops for more than twenty years .

Her poetry chapbooks include True North (Origami Poems Project), Coyote in the Basket of My Ribs (Kelsay Books) and forthcoming Down River with Li Po (Black Cat Poetry Press).

An award-winning fiction, poetry, and nonfiction writer, she has earned awards from Farmhouse Magazine, National League of American Pen Women, California Writers Association, and has been nominated for both the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net.

Her work has appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle, North Bay Biz Journal, Australian Trade Community Journal, Verde, Potato Soup Journal, Sonoma Mandala, Big Blend Magazine, and Twisted in Time, Visual Verse, Zahir Tales as well as other magazines and newspapers.

She earned her Bachelor of Arts degrees in Creative Writing and Anthropological Linguistics/Folklore from Sonoma State University in California, and her folklore research credits include “Sonoma County Scarecrows: Scarecrows as Folk Art,” which was presented to the California Folklore Society.

She is also an assemblage artist who was National Arts Program Featured Artist in 2022. Her work has appeared on the cover of several literary magazines and been displayed in several art galleries.

She lives in Northern California.

 

 
 

Divided against Yourselves (Spell Weaver)

Divided against Yourselves (Spell Weaver)

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Description

<h2>Taliesin Weaver thought that he had saved himself and his friends when he defeated the witch Ceridwen. He was wrong.</h2><h3><i>He always thought of evil as embodied in external threats that he could overcome in combat. Soon he will discover that the worst evil has been inside of him all along....</i></h3><p>Tal’s girlfriend is in a coma for which he holds himself responsible. A close friend, suffering from a past-life memory trauma similar to Tal's, is getting worse, not better. Morgan Le Fay is still lurking around and has an agenda Tal can’t figure out. Supernatural interruptions in his life are becoming more frequent, not less so, despite his expectations. In fact, Tal learns that something about his unique nature amplifies otherworldly forces in ways he never imagined were possible, ways that place at risk everyone close to him.</p><p>Tal and his allies must face everything from dead armies to dragons. As soon as they overcome one menace, another one is waiting for them. More people are depending on Tal than ever; he carries burdens few adults could face, let alone a sixteen-year-old like himself. Yet somehow Tal at first manages to handle everything the universe throws at him.</p><p>What Tal can’t handle is the discovery that a best friend, almost a brother, betrayed him, damaging Tal’s life beyond repair. For the first time, Tal feels a darkness within him, a darkness which he can only barely control...assuming he wants to. He’s no longer sure. Maybe there is something to be said for revenge, and even more to be said for taking what he wants. After all, he has the power...</p><p> </p><h2><u>Can Tal stop himself before he destroys everyone he has sworn he will protect? Scroll up to buy a copy and find out!</u></h2>

Story Behind The Book

Originally, folktales were stories created by ordinary people to be passed on orally from one generation to the next. Over time, with the advent of printing and later the Internet, oral tradition has rapidly been replaced by our ability to collect and store the information electronically (e.g., blogs, Web sites, digital media like CDs) or in books, including scrapbooks, workbooks and journals. The difference between researching and recording ac- curate family histories and writing folktales is that the folk teller (the writer) recounting folktales can focus upon his or her own memories. These rather than genealogy are the stuff of folktales.

Reviews

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6pt;line-height:116%;"><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:116%;font-family:'tempus sans itc';color:#000000;">&quot;Family Folktales: What Are Yours? provides quick and simple techniques to capture family history and preserve it for generations to come. Karen Pierce Gonzalez revives the lost art of family storytelling by inspiring us to recall favorite people, events and cherished objects in as little as fifteen minutes. Drawing on her experiences as a writer, student of folklore and creative writing teacher, Karen demonstrates how simple and rewarding writing family stories can be. Stories are indeed medicine, and I recommend this book for anyone wanting to deepen their relationships with their families.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6pt;line-height:116%;text-align:right;"><strong><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:116%;font-family:'tempus sans itc';color:#000000;"> Catherine Anne Held, Ph.D., Ancestors’ Way</span></strong></p>