Kathleen Clauson writes fictional short stories and novellas.
Kathleen is an American, who was born in Illinois with an insatiable Wanderlust for travelling and meeting new people. She has visited Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands and lived in Baden, Austria near Vienna and also in Santiago, Chile. During her time abroad she crossed paths with Europeans who risked their lives to leave their homes and families behind the Iron Curtain. In Chile she was fortunate to meet with CEOs, world leaders, and officials and advisors of the Chilean government and met many who had been imprisoned, tortured, or exiled. By getting to know people from other countries, she also took an interest in their social customs, folklore, and superstitions.
Kathleen is fortunate to have a gift for learning foreign languages. She has studied German and Russian at the university, but quite on the side, has learned fluent Spanish, a little Romanian, Ukrainian, and Italian. She feels that every person should learn a foreign language to better understand their own native language. And she feels every American should spend time abroad to appreciate what we truly have in the United States.
From an early age, it was evident that writing was one of her greatest strengths. Her writing has manifested itself in many forms—she has written scholarly research papers, empirical analyses, business and economic feature stories and forecasts for the American-Chilean Chamber of Commerce publication, the AMCHAM Journal, newspaper feature stories, and also had a book review column. In the last few years she has focused her efforts on writing short fiction and novellas. Ultra-short fiction is one of her favorites because there is no greater challenge than telling an entire story in a few words.
She has Mrs. Kay Saunders, her junior high school teacher, to thank for a strong foundation in literature and composition. As a college freshman, Dr. Geoffrey Tillotson inspired her writing. One day he asked her to stay after class and all throughout the class she feared bad news or a poor grade on an assignment. Instead Dr. Tillotson praised her work, a creative essay in non-fiction called “It Doesn’t Seem to Be My Day.” “With a little work,” he told her, “this is publishable.”
Kathleen earned a BA in German language and literature from Western Illinois University, graduating with honors. After teaching high school German for two years, she decided she would combine her language skills with economics. She also earned an MA in Economics from WIU with a special interest in eastern European economic policies and the supply of labor.
Kathleen enjoys creating realistic characters and situations and intertwining them with history and folklore. When asked if her life experiences have inspired her fiction, she says “yes, without a doubt. My keen eye for detail helps me create my characters and plots.” She also shares a secret in her writing—“the reader will find the real me in many of my characters.”
Kathleen’s second book is in final stages of completion and will be announced in October 2008.