Caroline Karnatz | Fiction & Ecology

Hi. I like books and animals.

My love affair with nature and books began before I could walk. I was born in Georgia and grew up in the oak-hickory-beech forests of the Piedmont, dodging venomous snakes and playing in the creek, devouring library books and marveling at wildlife. My life changed forever in middle school when I read David Clement-Davies’ The Sight and knew I needed to create stories that consumed the reader.

I write fantasy, but fantasy as you’ve never experienced it before. What if there was no Sword that Seals the Darkness? What if there was no Elder Wand? What if, in a vast, expansive world much like Hyrule, Middle-Earth, or Narnia, you could only rely on yourself and your friends to combat an unspeakable evil? The concept of a secondary world complete with my favorite fantasy elements but no lifesaving magic fascinated me. I dwelt on it until I realized I had my story, a story similar to beloved fantasy classics yet unlike anything I’d ever read.

I am actively querying that project, WHILE I AM ALIVE. I can’t wait for you to read it.

I earned my bachelors in English/Creative Writing and a minor in Spanish from Georgia College in 2018. After two seasons as an interpretive park ranger (that’s the ranger who tells stories! Nature stories, it was the perfect job!), I obtained a Master of Science in Natural Resources from the University of Georgia — Go Dawgs! — and moved to western Montana to live and write in the largest intact ecosystem in the lower 48. I need to be around grey wolves, grizzly bears, elk, and mountains cloaked in snow. I need the Rockies like I need to write — like air and water.

I am presently pursuing a PhD in Ecology at the University of Montana, where I research Hantavirus and biodiversity. Got a nature inquiry? Email me! Want to talk shop about SFF? Email me! I love to make friends.