V M KARREN, Author of Historical & Cultural Fiction

Visit the official author page HERE.

Drawn to all things Russian as a young man, author Val Karren went to the former Soviet Union in 1992 for language training, work and study, visiting the far corners of the former Empire, from Kiev to St. Petersburg, and Moscow to Volgograd. His travels and academic research landed him in some very precarious and dangerous situations, including a friendship with an American spy and run-ins with the FSB, which served as the inspiration for his debut novel, The Deceit of Riches, and his third thriller, October Revelations.  Later experiences in Romania, Ukraine, and Western Europe inspired him to write From the Rooftops, The Tales of a Fly-By-Night, and The Armchair Travel Series.

Beyond Karren’s studies and work in both Europe and Russia, his career in international trade has carried him to many corners of the world, from whence he brings you a library of hilarious, eye-opening and sometimes heartbreaking stories.  He currently lives in the Netherlands with his family.

LITERARY WORKS:

V M Karren is the author of The Deceit of Riches Series, made up of three historical fiction/suspense novels: The Deceit of Riches, From the Rooftops, and October Revelations.

Karren also writes short cultural stories.  In 2019 he penned an anthology of crazy-but-true short travel stories, called The Tales of a Fly-By-Night, in which he shares his own adventures living in and traveling through Europe.  His love of travel and European culture later led him to write a series of short ‘cultural fiction’ stories set in various European nations: Fate and Longing in Lisbon (May 2020) set in Portugal, The Witch of Drontenburg (September 2020) set in the Netherlands, and The Plucked Hen (November 2020) set in France.  The print compilation of these three stories, called Armchair Travel: Cultural Fiction for the Restless Wanderer, was released in December 2020.  Since then more Armchair Travel titles have been released: The Lucky Finn in 2022, Little Sicily in 2023, and The Vagabond in 2024.

Karren’s restless spirit, sense of adventure, and knowledge of Europe make him uniquely adept at bringing an exciting and often surprising view of Europe to his audience. These books have engaged and educated readers around the world (even readers of pirated copies in Russia!) for the past two years, winning The Deceit of Riches international acclaim through both the ‘Next Generation Indie Book Awards’ and the ‘National Indie Excellence Awards’ in 2019.

IN THE MEDIA:

Read the article from Salt Lake City’s Deseret News, which covers the launch event of The Deceit of Riches HERE, wherein Karren discusses his life and inspiration.

You can also read about Fly-By-Night Press on the blog 71toes.com:  Claire’s Summer Adventure & A Summer Experience for Claire. 

CHRISTINE KARREN, Children’s Book Author & Illustrator

Visit her illustration portfolio HERE.

Christine Karren submitted her first book for publication, a collection of haiku poems, at the age of seven.  Her submission was kindly denied, but Karren continued writing, winning  California’s state-wide “Right to Vote” essay contest at age 10.  As a teenager, Karren worked after school at Sage Publications–which has since become the foremost publisher of non-fiction books and journals in the behavioural sciences–and her fascination with books and book production continued to grow.

As a young adult, Karren had ample opportunity to travel and live in Europe.  She spent 16 months doing volunteer work in Romania, after which she returned to the US to finish school.  

Karren eventually settled with her family in the Netherlands.  There she began blogging as a way to keep in touch with family across the globe.  This led into a partnership with her author-husband to start their own small publishing company, Fly-By-Night Press, to market his novels.  Her blogging became a large part of their marketing strategy.

Karren finally published her own children’s book, Friday’s Year in Belgium, in 2024, the first book of the World of Values Series. She currently serves as chair of the Maastricht Writers’ Workshop in the Netherlands and lectures in Art History at a local college.

ART & ILLUSTRATION:

Karren has always loved to draw, and as a child she took drawing classes with both Hanna Barbera animator Ric Estrada and artist/film director Bob Hummel.  At age 18 she received a scholarship from the Westlake Art Guild for her painting ‘Calypso’ which was shown in their 1991 exhibition.

Karren studied Graphic Design at Brigham Young University with a 4-year, full-ride academic scholarship, but later transferred to the University of Washington.  After earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Art History there, she moved to Europe with her family.

In the Netherlands, Karren taught drawing to elementary-aged children as part of her own freelance business, Art Squeeze Design.

Later she utilised her talent for book design and cover creation, as well as website and ad design, both for her husband’s books and those of other authors.  Her book covers have been used for around 15 published books, one of which won two international awards.