Getting to know Karen Mundy

From the time she was a young child, living in rural Ohio, Karen Mundy loved writing. She started writing and drawing comic books, later moving up to short stories and plays.

As an adult she was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time and was offered a job working at her hometown weekly newspaper. She stayed at the newspaper for almost 30 years and most of that time she served as the editor.

Writing stories about seemingly ordinary people living in her newspaper's circulation area was Karen's first love. It might have been someone who was a gardener, an artist, a veteran, a teacher or an athlete. Karen enjoyed hearing their stories and sharing them with others. Everyone has a story and sometimes that elderly, grumpy guy living next door to you has done some remarkable acts during his life, but he has kept it to himself for decades. It is rewarding to Karen to finally bring these stories to light.

In addition to writing, Karen loves reading. As the saying goes: "reading is breathing in and writing is breathing out." She has led a book club for more than 15 years and she and her close friends have read and discussed a variety of books — novels, historical fiction, classics, biographies, mysteries, nonfiction and more.

Karen is married to Mike, who is a retired English teacher and coach. They have four children and their spouses: Jamie and Heather; Adriana and Luke; Ashlee and Dave; and Ian and Abigail. They also have two grandsons and two great-grandchildren.

Karen is an active member of her church, First Friends Church of Canton. She is also active in the Waynesburg Area Historical Society and the Sandy Valley Alumni Association.

She is excited to see her first book being published.