Born in California Karen Hopkins moved to Chile at the age of seventeen. After completing a university degree she worked for Pan American Airlines based in London, and traveled through Europe, the Middle East, India, and South America. Later she and her husband taught school in a variety of interesting places including a private school in Panama, Ticaboo, Utah on Lake Powell, the Navajo Nation, an inner city high school and a community college on the border. Ms. Hopkins traveled extensively with her family in Mexico and Central America, camping in the remote highlands of Chiapas and Guatemala for many summers. She currently lives and writes at home in Arizona.