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Marie Karns

Consumer Health Writer | Children's Book Author

Creative | Reliable | Smart

Actual client comments:

"You are consistently a careful reporter, on time, great to work with, and know how to fix things if (rarely) they are off target."

"Love your enthusiasm!"

"You did a great job, so we'll definitely be using you in the future."

I've been producing consumer health content since 1996. Much of my health writing is tailored to specific audiences, such as people with arthritis or women with heart disease. My articles have been published in magazines (Arthritis Today, Ladies' Home Journal, Lupus Now, Modern Maturity, et al.), websites (Healthanswers.com, MSNBC.com, WebMD, et al.), and other mediums. Here are a few online samples:

An in-depth feature on the link between heart disease and lupus.
Another feature on the link between stress and autoimmunity.
Here's one on women and cholesterol.

I write lighter stuff, too (honest). Here's a lighter spicey piece that was in Ladies' Home Journal.

What do I most enjoy about this kind of work? I love interviewing researchers and sharing the passion they have for medical advances that may offer patients more hope and treatment options. I also love being able to translate the medical jargon into digestible nuggets for people who might not have Stedman's Medical Dictionary at arm's reach (like I do).

Have an assignment or writing project in mind? Email me to check on my rates and availability.

Last year my first children's book, The Incredible Peepers of Penelope Budd, hit the bookstores. It's the story of a little girl with a brown eye and a blue eye who sees the world in wonderfully colorful ways. The main message resonates with both children and adults: you are perfect just the way you are.

Having heterochromia (two different colored eyes) myself, the story is near and dear to my heart. I'm honored the book won The 2006 Paterson Prize for Books for Young People in the category K-3.

You can buy the book through your local bookstore or at amazon.com (or any other online bookstore... just Google my name or the title).

What's next? My agent is shopping around my second children's book, tentatively titled Gilly Piccadilly's Most Curious Gift. It's the story of a 6-year-old who gets a blank book from Grandma B. for her birthday. She struggles to find things to write in it until Grandma B. teaches her to write what pops to the top in an ordinary day.

I lead an online fiction group, and we rev up for periodic writing challenges, so I'm hoping to finish a mystery I've been working on for... ummm.... like three years (yikes) by 2007.

I'm often asked how my career got started. Click on this rather flattering profile to learn more.