Welcome

Hi, I’m Karen Procopio—educator, journalist, and award-winning short-story author.

As a child, I was enamored with books, often reading late into the night until my eyes blurred. I devoured everything I could get my hands on—Roald Dahl, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Liliana Heker, Margery Williams, and Mildred Wirt Benson, better known by her pen name Carolyn Keene, whose Nancy Drew mysteries I tore through—sometimes two in a single day. But my favorite was a coming-of-age story called Cammie’s Choice by Jane McIlvaine, about a girl adjusting to life in the Virginia countryside by befriending a horse. As a ten-year-old who had just moved from Massachusetts to Michigan, I connected deeply with Cammie’s struggle to find her place in new surroundings. I checked that book out of my junior high library again and again, always eager to climb onto Corinthian’s back and race through the lush countryside.

That early passion for stories eventually grew into my own journey of the written word, working as a journalist for a magazine and two newspapers during college. Yet even as I reported on real lives and events, fiction remained my true love. I was endlessly curious about people and their stories. What motivates us? How do our past experiences—hopeful or hurtful—influence the choices we make and the people we become? These questions inspired my short stories and now, my newest project, The Lake Tearas Trilogy, a contemporary women’s fiction saga. Through each book’s dual POVs and timelines, I explore the moments, choices, and connections that shape our lives. I believe storytelling has the power to help us understand ourselves and each other—and maybe even to forgive and heal.

When I’m not writing or imagining story scenes unfolding in my mind, you’ll likely find me swimming laps, riding my bike, or spending time with my grandchildren.

This space is where I explore the craft of writing, share my latest projects, and celebrate the voices of fellow writers.