Karleen Tauszik - Aiming for the Middle...And Beyond

When Dunedin writer Karleen Tauszik was a child, reading was her passion. She set a lofty goal for herself—to read every single book in the children’s section of her local library. While she never reached that goal, her aim as an adult has been to instill that same love of books in other kids by writing middle-grade fiction that will keep them turning pages and wanting more.

Tauszik and her husband spent twelve years in England doing mission work before moving to Florida in 1999. They lived in Oldsmar until their three children were grown, then downsized to Dunedin. “When I was raising my children and reading to them, I would sometimes think I could write something better.” Her first attempt was an early reader chapter book. “It had structural problems, grammar errors and plot holes,” Tauszik admits. “I never published it, but it was a start.”

One of the things Tauszik likes best about living in Florida is its strong network of writers. She decided to take advantage of this by joining the Florida Writers Association (FWA) in 2004. “The FWA was an immense help,” she says. “It was a means of learning more and helping me become a better writer.” In 2011, Tauszik published The Save Our School Summer, the first in what was to become her three-book Maximum Magic series in which a local magician conjures up adventures for a group of 5th-graders. The Save Our School Summer was followed by Mayhem at the New Museum (2013) and The Infatuation Infection (2014). Tauszik describes The Maximum Magic trilogy as “contemporary adventures written in under 20,000 words, with fast-moving chapters and best of all, magic!”

Next, Tauszik introduced Tangled Tales, a series of short e-books that retell traditional fairy tales in unexpected ways. Itchy is the story of Rapunzel with head lice, Wheezing has the Big Bad Wolf suffering from asthma, and Awake tells what happens when Sleeping Beauty drinks espresso. Tauszik also published two stand-alone middle-grade novels – Lost, the story of a boy who loses his hamster, and My Room for Rent about a how a 6^th-grade boy’s life is turned upside-down when his mother leaves and his father has to rent his room to help pay the bills. “All of my stories are contemporary, and hopefully, kids will be able to relate to the stories and characters,” she says. “I keep them really clean. It’s not my job to expose kids to things they aren’t ready for. I believe in letting kids be kids.”

In April 2017 Karleen resigned from her corporate job to write full time. In addition to writing new books, she also creates resumes, cover letter, LinkedIn profiles, and career-related blog posts for clients. She has also pivoted away from fiction to non-fiction for kids. One of her top-selling books is, When I Grow Up I Want to Be…, a book she describes as “an annual career possibility journal for kids.” The idea came from a career workshop she’d designed during her 15-years working in Human Resources. “Many people were working at jobs that weren’t their passion,” she says. "I thought if children could record their strengths, talents and achievements throughout their early years, they could use that in the future to make wiser decisions about their career paths."

Karleen is planning to add more career books, similar in design to When I Grow Up but for different ages. She’s currently getting In My Next Job, I Want To Be… ready for publication, a workbook designed for mid-career adults looking for a new job that’s more in line with their strengths. Also planned are When I Graduate, I Want To Be… for ages 16+ and When I Retire, I Want To Be… for ages 55+.

In addition, Tauszik has published a series of sports journals that enable children to record their progress and achievements during their sports season. Each journal includes pages to log details about practices and games, including the coach’s focus for the week, areas the child wants to improve in, and his or her contributions to each game. The My Season books are available for baseball, softball, soccer, football, basketball, and hockey. 

“I love being an independent author,” says Tauszik, “free to create books and get them available to the public quickly when I see a niche that needs to be filled.” With 20 books now available and plenty of ideas for more, she intends to keep creating new works, primarily for children.

For more information, visit the author’s website at www.karleent.com or her Amazon Author Page at https://www.amazon.com/Karleen-Tauszik/e/B009QPXQ6K.