Hall, Karen L. 1953- (Karen Lynne Hall)

PERSONAL:

Born December 12, 1953, in Saginaw, MI; daughter of Ervis and Flo Hall; married Chris Walker; children: four. Education: College of William and Mary, B.A., 1978; studied at University of Virginia.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Los Angeles, CA; Atlanta, GA. Agent—The Gersh Company, Amy Retzinger/Gary Loder, 232 N. Canon Dr., Beverly Hills, CA 90210. E-mail—khall356@aol.com.

CAREER:

Television writer and producer. Act One, Hollywood, CA, screenwriting faculty member. Humanitas Foundation, board of trustees; founder and president of Foundation for All God's Children. Producer and story editor for numerous television programs.

AWARDS, HONORS:

WGA Award, Writers Guild of America, 1983, for best writing in a drama series, for M.A.S.H, 1984, for Hill Street Blues; Women in Film Luminas Award and Scott Newman Drug Prevention Award, both 1985, both for Toughlove.

WRITINGS:

Toughlove (screenplay), ABC-TV, 1985.

Dark Debts, Random House (New York, NY), 1996.

Also author of the Karen Hall blog. Contributor to Random House Magazine, Atlanta Constitution, Cosmopolitan, and Los Angeles Herald Examiner. Writer for television programs, including Eight Is Enough, M*A*S*H, Hill Street Blues, Betty Ford Show, Women of Brewster Place, Darkness before Dawn, Franklin Avenue, I'll Fly Away, Vows, Cupid, Jericho, Maximum Security, and Northern Exposure.

SIDELIGHTS:

Karen L. Hall is an American television writer and producer. As a writer, Hall has worked for numerous television programs and served as a creative consultant to others. She noted in an interview on the Web site of the Womack Publishing Company of Chatham, Virginia: "When I write I see everything in my head and hear it in my head…. Then I have to figure out a way to get it on the page for everyone else." Hall served as a writer or story editor for a number of television programs, including M*A*S*H, Hill Street Blues, and Eight Is Enough. She also worked as a producer for Judging Amy, Third Watch, and Moonlighting.

Hall published her first novel, Dark Debts, in 1996. Los Angeles alternative newspaper columnist Randa Philips, while mourning the death of her ex-boyfriend, falls in love with his older brother, Jack Murphy, the only surviving family member. The family, however, is seemingly cursed, with all members of the family falling into homicidal demonic possession at some point in their lives. Father Michael, a Jesuit priest who was exiled for writing an article on demons in the mass media, has a connection to Murphy and the familial curse. Though having broken his vow of celibacy and doubting his own faith, Father Michael attempts to lead the battle of good versus evil and end this ancient curse.

A reviewer for the Tangled Web UK Web site noted that "many will enjoy Dark Debts." The reviewer found the detailed description of the state of the body suffering from an electric chair "both powerful and a persuasive argument against the barbaric practice." The reviewer commented that "the plot worked well with some surprises as it developed." The same reviewer remarked, however, that the numerous mentioning of exorcising demons was "repetitive and uninspiring" and that the characters were "one dimensional." Gene Lyons, writing in Entertainment Weekly, thought that the book was "nothing but blasphemous twaddle from beginning to end." Lyons added that the book's combination of Randa's character in the Dark Ages with a serious look into the nature of religious conviction and pure evil is "what pushes it over the line from merely ludicrous into downright offensive." Lyons conceded, however, that Dark Debts is "cleverly narrated, with lots of fire and brimstone, terrible carnage, terrific sex, and witty, sitcom-style dialogue." Library Journal contributor Kristen L. Smith called Hall "a talented storyteller." Smith did take issue with aspects of the book, though, noting "many undeveloped characters" and the "superficial treatment" of plot twists, story development, and moral issues. A contributor to Publishers Weekly wrote that Hall's "penchant for neatly tied answers, however, makes this sudsy work of supernatural horror more spirited than spiritual." The same contributor concluded that Hall's writing technique "is likely to win over readers."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Entertainment Weekly, August 9, 1996, Gene Lyons, review of Dark Debts.

Library Journal, November 1, 1996, Kristen L. Smith, review of Dark Debts, p. 120.

Publishers Weekly, June 24, 1996, review of Dark Debts, p. 45.

ONLINE

Act One Web site,http://www.actoneprogram.com/ (December 11, 2007), author profile.

David and Maddie,http://www.davidandmaddie.com/ (December 11, 2007), author interview.

Internet Movie Database,http://www.imdb.com/ (December 11, 2007), author profile.

Tangled Web UK,http://www.twbooks.co.uk/ (December 11, 2007), review of Dark Debts.

Womack Publishing Company of Chatham, Virginia,http://www.wpcva.com/ (April 5, 2005), author interview.