Karen McMillan

Auckland author Karen McMillan is the author of more than 17 books, published in nine countries, a mixture of fiction, non-fiction and children’s books.

Her non-fiction titles include – Everyday Strength: Recipes and Wellbeing Tips for Cancer Patients with co-author chef Sam Mannering, Unbreakable Spirit: Facing the Challenge of Cancer, Love Bytes, Feast or Famine, and Unleash Your Inner Seductress. Karen has ghost-written From the Blitz to the Burmese Jungle and Beyond: A Memoir by Brian Hennessy.

Her fiction titles include the bestselling historical novels The Paris of the East and The Paris of the West. Brushstrokes of Memory is her latest novel.

Karen has a Diploma in Professional Writing and an Advanced Diploma of Applied Arts (Writing). Love Bytes was originally published as Love in Aotearoa by Random House and the book was short-listed for the Ashton Wylie Book Award in 2005. Everyday Strength represented New Zealand in the Gourmand World Awards 2018 in the Health and Nutrition category.

Karen is also the author of the popular Elastic Island Adventure series for children, that is in early development to be made into a series of animated movies.

She was the resident book reviewer on The Cafe TV3, and appears regularly in the media. She has been a speaker at many festivals and events, including the Going West Festival, the Devonport Arts Festival, the Tauranga Arts Festival, and Brisbane Book Week (with thanks to Creative NZ Funding).

Karen lives in Auckland, and is currently writing the next instalment in the Elastic Island Adventures series. She has created teacher notes for each of the Elastic Island Adventure novels; these can be downloaded from Karen’s website.