Kathleen A. Ernst, Biography

I went to college at West Virginia University, where I was a Forestry major. Yep, that's right! I was interested in Environmental Education, and took courses about trees, birds, plants, geology, weather, wildlife...etc., etc. At that time, I planned to be a park ranger. It was a wonderful program, and it helped shape my wish to instill a strong sense of place in my novels. While at WVU I also took a lot of creative writing and history classes as well. I had several seasonal jobs in the environmental education world, including stints at the Big Cypress Nature Center in Florida, Green County Parks Department in Ohio, Rocky Gap State Park in Maryland, and Glacier National Park in Montana.
	My first permanent job was at an outdoor living history museum in Wisconsin called Old World Wisconsin. I started working there in 1982, and stayed for eleven years. Old World Wisconsin has over fifty restored buildings. It was the best training ground for an historical fiction writer imaginable! At the top of the page is me knitting at the earliest exhibit, the 1845 Fossebrekke Farm in the Norwegian area. At the left, I'm milking a cow at the most modern exhibit, the 1915 Ketola Farm, which was home to a Finnish family. I loved working in the old buildings, thinking about the people who first lived there, and sharing their stories with visitors.
These three photographs were taken at Schultz, a German farm restored to1860. Below, I'm weaving on an old loom. At the right I'm spinning flax fibers into thread. At the far right I'm churning butter.	Yes, there is a kitten asleep on my lap!
While working at Old World Wisconsin, I wrote historical fiction as a hobby. I wrote my first novel when I was about fifteen, and I didn't get a book contract until I was thirty-five! Along the way I did publish some magazine articles and essays. My first published book was The Night Riders of Harpers Ferry. I wrote it in Wisconsin to help remind me of one of my favorite places. While in high school and college I had gone hiking on the Appalachian Trail, canoeing on the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers, biking along the C&O Canal near Harpers Ferry National Historical Park.
My next "day" job took me in a new direction.. I helped develop and produce instructional video programs for public television. I wrote most of the scripts as well. What a fantastic experience! Writing for television is very different than writing novels or nonfiction books. I had to learn what parts of a story were best told in words, and what parts best told with visual images. It was challenging at times, but I grew as a writer. For my last project, a series called Cultural Horizons, I got to visit neat kids doing neat things in the US and Canada. I worked with some great people, and I learned a lot. That's me with producer Shelly Young celebrating the night Cultural Horizons won an Emmy Award!
While working with public television I also started writing novels for Pleasant Company/American Girl, and was still working on independent novels as well. It got too difficult to juggle all those things, so in 2004, I became a full time writer. Now I'm busier than ever! And I'm one of the luckiest people around, because I get to do work I love.

My husband and I live in a house in Wisconsin that is surrounded by native plants and trees, which attract lots of birds and insects. Every summer we rip up a little more lawn and plant more native plants.

I love being able to work at home. I have a great office space where I can watch birds from my desk. (No, it doesn't distract me!) Sophie, my silver tabby, keeps me company--she's usually curled up on my lap.

Author Kathleen Ernst, Alaska

I've been in the same small writers' group for over a decade. Once a month we meet to read and critique each other's work. We're great friends.

I do travel a lot, too. I love exploring new places when I'm doing research for a book. I also visit schools, libraries, and bookstores. And I attend writers' conferences, too, so I can keep learning about writing and the publishing business.

My husband and I love to travel together, too. He took this picture of me as we were preparing to go kayaking in Alaska. We had a blast!

My other hobbies include baking and sewing, especially making quilts. And of course I love to read!

You can keep up with my ongoing adventures by clicking on the "News" link below. If you'd like to be on my snail-mail list, send me an email with your name and postal address. I usually send out one print newsletter a year, and sometimes postcards announcing new books or events. Happy Reading!

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