Birds chirping in a blue sky, the wind whistling through the trees. The crunch of footsteps on freshly chewed Oregon grass. Somewhere, a dog barking.

This is the pastoral Oregonian backdrop for my conversation with Karie Fugett. I hesitate to announce her as 'writer' Karie Fugett since, as our conversation alludes, you don’t always define yourself as one thing. We contain multitudes.

Karie is a writer, though, among other things, and you can find her writing, including bits of her upcoming memoir, already available online.

If you haven’t met Karie, or don’t know her online, or haven’t read her work already… her story is amazing and deserves to be told.

At 17, Karie was a high school dropout. At 24, Karie became a widow. Her husband Cleve was injured by an IED in the Iraq war, later lost his leg, eventually to succumb to an overdose. Nine years after Cleve’s death, Karie works as a writer, editor, and memoirist, traveling to live in Oregon from her home in Alabama, telling their story through her words and experiences as she’s now completed a master’s program in creative nonfiction

I will not do a disservice to Karie’s story by telling more of it here – there’s a lot to it - but instead will suggest that you go seek out her words!

#VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.