Karen Lillis was born in Washington, D.C. during the Vietnam War and has lived in Virginia, New York, Austin, Paris, and Pittsburgh. A novelist, a freelance writer, and a small press blogger, she is the author of four books of fiction: the novels "The Second Elizabeth" (Six Gallery Press, 2009) and "i, scorpion" (Words Like Kudzu Press, 2000); and the novellas "Watch the Doors as they Close" (Spuyten Duyvil, 2012) and [under the pseudonym Carol Lewis] "Magenta's Adventures Underground" (Words Like Kudzu with New York Nights, 2004). She has written for Art Papers, The Austin Chronicle, Big News, Keyhole Magazine, New Art Examiner, New York Nights, Pulse/Berlin, Southern Quarterly, Verdure Magazine, and Undie Press, among others. She is currently at work on a book of nonfiction, "Bagging the Beats at Midnight" about her years as a bookstore clerk. Her micro-fiction story, "The Walker" was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2010, and her article on the independent presses of Pittsburgh was a finalist for a Golden Quill Press Award in 2007. She blogs at Karen the Small Press Librarian and she is the creator of the online literary portal, Small Press Pittsburgh.