A look at Karma Brown's life....plus a book giveaway

Photo by Jenna Davis

We're thrilled to have Karma Brown back at CLC to celebrate the publication of her fourth novel, The Life Lucy Knew. We've been fans of her writing ever since her debut, Come Away With Me, landed a spot on Melissa A's 2015 favorites list. Karma has one copy of her latest novel to share with a lucky reader!

Karma has always loved the written word. As a kid she could usually be found with her face buried in a book, or writing stories about ice-skating elephants. Now that she’s (mostly) grown up, she’s a bestselling author.

A National Magazine Award winning journalist, Karma has been published in a variety of publications, including SELF, Redbook, Today’s Parent, Best Health, Canadian Living and Chatelaine.

Karma lives just outside Toronto, Canada with her husband, daughter, and a labradoodle named Fred. When not crafting copy or mulling plot lines, she is typically running or working on her downward dog, hanging out with her family, making a mess in the kitchen and checking items off her bucket list. Karma is currently wearing down her laptop’s keyboard writing her next novel.

Visit Karma online:
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram

Synopsis:
One woman is about to discover everything she believes—knows—to be true about her life…isn’t.

After hitting her head, Lucy Sparks awakens in the hospital to a shocking revelation: the man she’s known and loved for years—the man she recently married—is not actually her husband. In fact, they haven’t even spoken since their breakup four years earlier. The happily-ever-after she remembers in vivid detail—right down to the dress she wore to their wedding—is only one example of what her doctors call a false memory: recollections Lucy’s mind made up to fill in the blanks from the coma.

Her psychologist explains the condition as honest lying, because while Lucy’s memories are false, they still feel incredibly real. Now she has no idea which memories she can trust—a devastating experience not only for Lucy, but also for her family, friends and especially her devoted boyfriend, Matt, whom Lucy remembers merely as a work colleague.

When the life Lucy believes she had slams against the reality she’s been living for the past four years, she must make a difficult choice about which life she wants to lead, and who she really is. (Courtesy of Amazon.)


What is a memorable compliment you've received for any of your books?
I’ve received many memorable, amazing compliments over the past few years and books, which has been so lovely! However, the one that sticks with me is also the most recent: at a library event a couple of weeks ago I met a woman my age whose husband died suddenly a few years back. She told me her coworkers had been suggesting she read my debut, COME AWAY WITH ME, and while it took her a few tries to open the book, once she read it she said the story resonated deeply and was a great comfort to her. There is nothing better than readers reaching out to tell you how your words, characters and stories have impacted them.

What is a piece of reader feedback you've used while writing The Life Lucy Knew?
I received a letter once—typed out on fancy stationary--from a woman who was upset with me because of a certain word I’d used in my sophomore book, THE CHOICES WE MAKE. I’m not sure what the word was (she never repeated it), but she was quite offended by it apparently. She closed the letter saying that as a writer I must have an excellent grasp of language and therefore, she added, “…you can do better.” I had a chuckle, wondering what the word was (I have some idea), and wrote her back to let her know I would most certainly think of her while writing future books. And you know what? While writing LUCY I would pause before using a curse word, asking myself if I really needed it or if a less dramatic word would do. Sometimes the curse word had to stay, but other times I found the character actually could get by with something a tad less, well, offensive.

If you could cast The Life Lucy Knew as a movie, who would play the lead roles?
I am terrible at this game, because I honestly don’t have crystal clear physical pictures of my characters, as strange as that may sound. However, if I were casting the book to movie, I could imagine Cobie Smulders as Lucy, Matt Bomer as Daniel, and Anders Holm as Matt.

Which piece of clothing have you owned the longest?
I have a jean jacket from when I was five years old—my parents were hippies, I was raised in the 1970s, and so the jacket is awesome and retro and covered in smiley face buttons and my mom’s hand-sewn patches—that I passed down to my daughter. She’s outgrown it now, but it hangs in her closet, ready to pass to her child many, many years from now.

What is your favorite way to escape?
Reading! Or going for a run or hike or doing a yoga class or walking a shell-laden beach. So, books and exercise, basically. I am happiest and most centered when I’m moving my body outside, or curled up in front of a fire with a coffee and a great book.

Which TV show are you currently binge watching?
We are a Netflix-only house, so I’ve binge watched a lot of programs in the past couple of years. We’ve been re-watching THE OFFICE and THE MINDY PROJECT—two shows guaranteed to make me laugh—and recently finished the first season of MINDHUNTER, which is about the early FBI profiling of serial killers in the 1970s. It was dark and disturbing and highly addictive!

Thanks to Karma for visiting with us and sharing her book with our readers!


How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here. 

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Giveaway ends June 17th at midnight EST.