Karen Emilson has published her fourth book. The local author grew up in Ashern but now resides in Grunthal and has always yearned to be a writer.
“I got my start as a newspaper reporter,” said Emilson. “While I was a reporter, I was approached by Dennis Pischke and he asked me to write a story about him and his brother’s abusive childhood.”
Emilson instantly accepted the request and had her first short story published in the 1995 newspaper. She later published a novel version of her short story, Where Children Run, in 1996.
Nearly two decades later, Emilson has now published her fourth novel, also known as Jaime Dorn.
The local author explained that although her writing journey began with true stories, she always had a passion for fiction.
also known as Jaime Dorn is Emilson’s second fiction piece and it is a companion novel to her other fiction novel, Be Still the Water.
“It is not a sequel to Be Still the Water but there are overlapping characters. It (also known as Jaime Dorn) solves a mystery that is at the end of Be Still the Water,” Emilson explained.
Despite bringing Be Still the Water’s mystery to an end, Emilson noted that you can read either one of her fiction novels first.
“I wanted to tell so much of the story to tell without spoiling Be Still the Water.” Ultimately, Emilson explained that it depends on what genre of books you like to read to depict which of her novels to read.
also known as Jaime Dorn, follows the story of a young woman named Jaime looking to move on from her troubled past. She plans to travel via bus from southern Ontario to British Columbia, but when she is in Winnipeg, Jaime accidentally boards the wrong bus and ends up in Lundi, Man.
Lundi is a fictional city inspired by two small Manitoba towns.
“It has all the amenities of Lundar and Eriksdale except everything is fictional,” said Emilson.
The protagonist, Jaime, was named after Emilson’s mom, who passed away 12 years ago.
“This is a highly exaggerated version of my mom’s past. My mom would have really loved the antics this girl got herself into.”
Also Known As Jaime Dorn combines romance, mystery and adventure into one story.
“It’s a real small town read. People who have read it have enjoyed the nostalgia and the small-town antics,” Emilson said.
Although Emilson is a full-time writer, she still finds time in her day to spend with her family and friends and collect colourful rocks along Steep Rock’s waters edge. She is also far from finishing her writing career.
“I am hoping in the future to be putting a book out every two years,” said Emilson.
She explained that all the characters in also known as Jaime Dorn have been written to have continuing storylines for future novels.
The experienced author also sends a token of gratitude to her diverse reading audience.
Because of her readers, Emilson is holding a very special Winnipeg book launch for also known as Jaime Dorn on Nov. 29 at 7 p.m. in the McNally Robinson Booksellers store.
“Nov. 29 is the 28th anniversary of the launch of Where Children Run,” she said.
If you want to get your hands on also known as Jaime Dorntoday, you can purchase a copy of Emilson’s book at H.P. Tergesen & Sons in Gimli, The Cozy Fox in Selkirk, and Amazon.
