<p>Karen Winters Schwartz was born and raised in Ohio. She wrote her first truly good story at age seven. Her second-grade teacher, Mrs. Schneider, publicly and falsely accused her of plagiarism. Karen did not write again for forty years.</p><p>As a writer and a mental health advocate, she is a sought-after speaker at events and conferences across the country. Karen and her husband moved to the Central New York Finger Lakes region, where they raised two daughters and shared a career in optometry. She now splits her time between Central New York, a small village in Belize, and traveling the earth in search of the many creatures with whom she has the honor of sharing this world. </p>
