Mrs. George Clooney takes on the battle for the Elgin Marbles

STEALING ATHENA, my novel about the 2300 year journey of the contrversial  Elgin Marbles, is written from the perspectives of two of history’s most fascinating women. Now, another fascinating women,  Amal Alamuddin Clooney, has joined the legal team arguing for restoration of  the marbles (aka The Parthenon Sculptures) to Greece.  It’s a complex issue with a long history, and  I hope Mrs. Clooney can help move it forward in a constructive way.   Please read on…

WHO OWNS ART?  WHO OWNS DEMOCRACY? ... Read more.

How to relocate a vampire

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KAREN ESSEX, TRAVELLING FOR DRACULA IN LOVE, OR HOW TO ADD NEW GEOGRAPHY TO AN OLD STORY AND RELOCATE A VAMPIRE

Readers often tell me that they take my novels on holiday as travel and history guides. I love giving readers an experience on the page, but I love it even more when they are inspired to leave their armchairs and experience the characters and the history firsthand. As an historical novelist, nothing informs my work like travel.  I love to walk in my characters’ footsteps, breathing in the air that they breathed, literally sharing molecules with them. ... Read more.

Muslim Brotherhood: Women—yes, all of us—are an offense.

imagesBet you didn’t know that the word “sea” was masculine and therefore the sea is reserved for men?  Guess the Muslim Brotherhood doesn’t know about “la mer.”

Anyone who is sad about the fact that the Morsi government was toppled, especially my fellow liberals from the US who think that getting rid of this man was a strike against democracy, please read this article.  This is not Fox News propaganda but the results of a study done by a venerable Muslim institution.  Despite his election promises, Morsi and his associates wanted to tele-transport Egypt to some imagined golden age when women were household slaves and breeding machines, banned from every aspect of public life. ... Read more.

Talk Family Planning in the Workplace?

Despite a few family-friendly policies in the workplace, women still torture themselves over the work/family balance.  To change that, Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s high profile, controversial COO, says that companies must open the door to discussions of family planning. Problem is, both women and companies are too terrified to raise the subject because it’s thought to be against the law.  However, while it’s illegal to discriminate against parents or expectant mothers, it is not against the law to DISCUSS when and if women are planning to start families. ... Read more.

Why I Want to be a Vampire (and you should too)

People often ask what prompted me to step out writing biographical historical fiction and write DRACULA IN LOVE.  I have always loved vampires, ever since I watched Dark Shadows on tv as a child.  Here’s why:

I Want to be a Vampire (and you should too!)

By Karen Essex

Friends and readers, let me give it to you straight.  I do not want to die.  It’s that simple.  And now that I have written a vampire book, Dracula in Love, and fully explored the advantages, I really, really thirst to be an immortal. ... Read more.