Harter, Karen 1952–

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Harter, Karen 1952–

PERSONAL: Born 1952, in Seattle, WA; married; husband's name Jeff (a carpenter and pastor); children: Hayley (deceased), Ryan, Michael, Jacob (stepson). Education: Attended college. Hobbies and other interests: Gardening, fishing, boating, painting, and travel.

ADDRESSES: Home—Mount Vernon, WA. Agent—Deidre Knight, The Knight Agency, Inc., 570 East Ave., Madison, GA 30650.

CAREER: Writer. Worked in real estate and mortgage field, 1975–2003; The Valley Church, Mount Vernon, WA, pastor.

WRITINGS:

Where Mercy Flows (novel), Center Street (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to periodicals, including Decision, Christian Parenting Today, and Virtue.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Another novel, titled Autumn Blue.

SIDELIGHTS: Karen Harter was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. She always loved to write, particularly poems and journal entries, and was a devoted letter writer, sending her mother long descriptions of the sights and her experiences whenever she traveled. Harter pursued a variety of interests after graduating from high school, including several years of college where she studied business, literature, and Spanish. Her career in the mortgage business and real estate was something of an accident, and despite her success, she felt it was a false side of her personality, as she ultimately prefers activities that are more creative and allow her to dress casually. In 1990, she began to take her writing more seriously, due to an inspiring sermon she attended on the parable of the talents. The message she took away from the sermon was that she should not waste her God-given talents, and that it was time to pursue her more creative side. She attended a writers conference at Seattle Pacific University, and began to learn more about the publish-ing industry. After a short period as a freelance writer, she began to work on her first novel. Where Mercy Flows was a learning process that took Harter several years to complete. She was inspired by the film A River Runs through It, a tale of a prodigal son, and began asking herself what would happen if a daughter found herself ashamed to go home because of something she had done. The result was the story of Samantha Dodd Weatherbee, a young woman with a five-year-old son who must return to the home that she ran from at age seventeen in search of asylum. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly remarked that "the novel's traditional values will resonate with a Christian audience." Cindy Crosby, writing for Bookreporter.com, commented: "Beautiful prose, a poignant prodigal story, and vivid imagery mark this debut novel by Karen Harter, which bodes well for her career in faith fiction."