About

Writer of Victorian mysteries, steampunk, fantasy, and cosies with a twist.
Illustrator.  Gardener. Chocoholic and tea lover.

Karen J Carlisle is an indie author and illustrator of steampunk, Victorian mysteries, fantasy, and cosies with a twist. Her short stories have featured in the 2016 Adelaide Fringe exhibition, ‘A Trail of Tales’, ‘Where’s Holmes?’ and ‘Deadsteam’ anthologies, and she was short-listed in Australian Literature Review’s 2013 Murder/Mystery Short Story Competition.

She currently has five series. The Adventures of Viola Stewart (Victorian steampunk mysteries), The Aunt Enid Mysteries (cosy fantasy/paranormal mystery series set in Adelaide), and the Holmesian series, Mrs Hudson Investigates. The James Findlay Journals – a darker, gaslamp series of mini adventures – is her latest series. She is currently writing the second book in her steampunk adventure series, The Department of Curiosities.

Karen lives in Adelaide with her family and the ghost of her ancient Devon Rex cat.

She’s always loved dark chocolate and rarely refuses a cup of tea.

About Karen:

Places to find Karen:

Talks/Workshops

Karen is available for speaking engagements at conferences, libraries, schools, organisations and community groups, and online engagements via Zoom or Skype. More information and rates are available on the Talks/Workshops page.

Email list: Tea & Tidings newsletter:

Sign up for her monthly newsletter –  with news, updates as well as exclusive or extra content that is only available via my email list. Delivered directly to you by trained flying monkeys (around 1st-2nd week of the month). You’ll also get a free digital download of short stories (A Twist of the Nib).

Information for Events

Things to note for events:

  • Karen is lactose intolerant (actually it is the protein found in cow milk. She can tolerate goat/sheep dairy products). She is allergic to prawns and chilli.
  • She tries to avoid excessive flashing lights, as this is one of the triggers for her migraines. Caffeine is good: tea or dark chocolate is ideal.
  • Karen has a partial hearing loss. This is exaggerated in situations with a lot of background noise and chatter. Please don’t assume she is ignoring you. She probably didn’t hear you.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand” – Albert Einstein