Karen Lynn Allen writes with a wide-ranging imagination grounded in a sense of wry humor. Her latest novel, In the Land of Porcelain, is a romantic comedy that reflects her experiences in corporate America. Her second novel, Beaufort 1849, is historical fiction about the birthplace of the secession movement in South Carolina. Her earlier novel, Universal Time, is a sci-fi comedy set in San Francisco and a host of extraplanetary locales.

Karen spent her childhood first in San Francisco and then in Edmonds, Washington. She returned to California to study English and industrial engineering at Stanford University. Careening from Chaucer to circuits sometimes made her brain hurt, but no doubt it was good for her. After graduating she worked at several large corporations, alternately frustrated and amused by surreality of it all. Writing was always her true love, and eventually she made her way back to it.

Karen lives in San Francisco with her husband in a house with eighty-eight stairs to the front door.