Michael KarolCurriculum Vitae
Why do we write? I suppose we do it in order that our voices be heard. I've been writing stories since I was kid (the first that I can remember concerned a young girl who was taken by a tornado to a strange land, and no, I didn't give L. Frank Baum credit! But geez, I was only five years old!). A bit later, in high school, I won a literary award for a story called, " A Bad Case of Shakespeare," about an actor who was a bit too full of himself, and his comeuppance. It featured an appearance by the Bard himself.
Back then, I
was mainly into horror and sci-fi, having been influenced by the EC Horror Comics, such graphic comics as "Eerie" and "Creepy," the Superman family of comics, and the TV
shows "The Twilight Zone," "The Outer Limits" and "Star Trek" (the originals). I devoured every piece of writing by Stephen King, and most of my short stories were part
fantasy and part horror, with a twist at the end.
Recently, I've abandoned reading fiction (except for King and a few select authors I've followed through the years), and found that real-life stories are what really fascinate me. So I suppose it was only natural that my first book, published in June 2001 and reissued in 2002 and 2004, would be a biography about one of my favorite people, Lucille Ball.
In the year 2000, like many New York journalists, I got caught up in the "dot-com frenzy" and worked on a start-up Web site. The print half of the operation decided it could run a better Web site, and little by little the Web guys were canned. I lasted a whole year, though. That's when I turned to freelance editorial consulting, which left me plenty of time to write to please myself. And then, wouldn't you know, I was offered a full-time job I couldn't refuse: Copy Chief at Soap Opera Weekly.
I got to this place in my life via dogged pursuit of a publishing career, and if you're interested, you can see the details below in my resume.
But, as with most writers, I imagine, my real joy lies in the "stuff" I do for myself, like Lucy A to Z. The book has been an iUniverse bestseller since the fall of 2001, which not so coincidentally was the 50th Anniversary of I Love Lucy. The totally revised 3rd Edition was was chosen an iUniverse Star book, an honor they reserve for their best-selling titles.
Many people have asked me, "Why Lucy?" Here's why: When I was a kid, coming out in a very small suburb in New Jersey, I grew up totally isolated from the rest of my peers. I was different: gay. I knew it, and they somehow sensed it, and made life miserable for me through high school. It was watching Lucy that took me away from my pain, and convinced me that, like Lucy Ricardo, Lucy Carmichael, et al, if I wanted something bad enough, I could probably get it.
I admired Lucy, in all her incarnations, because the character never gave up on what she wanted, and was always convinced something better was "out there." Her enthusiasm was contagious. And though I never worked on a candy conveyor belt or stomped grapes, I have acquired a sense of wonder at the world, and the strength to pursue my own dreams, and, thanks partially to Lucy, grew out of that small, scared boy and became someone I can be proud of. When I write about Lucy & Co., it's my way of saying "Thank you."
I've also been published in the September 2002 anthology My First Time, Vol. 3 from Alyson Publications. Caveat emptor, however: the book contains adult content. Extreme adult content, plus a unique twist on the vampire tale (old habits die hard, right?), figure in my novel, Kiss Me, Kill Me (May 2003). It's about what happens when a gay New Yorker meets his "forever guy," and discovers it means a bit more than "white knight." Preview it here. A brand-new prequel, taking place mostly at summer camp, will be published around Halloween 2006.
Following, within the next year-and-a-half, were Lucy in Print, a look at Lucille Ball and her I Love Lucy co-stars, from the perspective of how the press dealt with the show, their private lives, and their careers; Funny Ladies: Sitcom Queens, an affectionate tribute to the other funny ladies who made me laugh (rewritten and updated in 2006 as Sitcom Queens: Divas of the Small Screen); and my final books about Lucille Ball, The Lucille Ball Quiz Book and The Comic DNA of Lucille Ball: Interpeting the Icon. All are available online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, or in-store via special order. Still to come are more books in the TV Tidbits series, which I edit along with co-editor Craig Hamrick (Big Lou; Barnabas & Co.; The TV Tidbits Classic Television Trivia Quiz Book; visit the TV Tidbits website by clicking here. for more information). I can be contacted via e-mail at lucyfann@hotmail.com. Thanks for stopping by.
MEDIA EXPERIENCE
Soap Opera Weekly, New York City, (July 2003 to present)
Copy Chief
* Copy edit, proofread, traffic, lay out, and copyfit pages in Quark Publishing System.
* Re-wrote Style Guide for the magazine.
Author Lucy A to Z January 2004; 3rd Ed., completely revised and expanded; first published June 2001 Editor Barnabas & Co., 2003, by Craig Hamrick Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, New York City, (May 2002 to Feb. 2003) Editorial Consultant,
Special Projects CNET Networks,
New York City (2001 to 2005) Co-Managing Editor, Custom Publishing TheDeal.com, New York City (July 2000 - July 2001) Web Channel Producer & E-Mail Newsletter Editor CMP Media, Inc., Manhasset, N.Y. (1998 - 2000) Copy Flow Manager,
Tech Web Ziff-Davis Publishing, New York City (1996 - 1998) Copy Chief,
Computer Shopper magazine Cahners Publishing, New York City (1990 - 1996) Managing Editor, Graphic Arts Monthly magazine International Thompson Retail Press, New York City (1982 - 1990) Editor-in-Chief, Floor Covering Business magazine Additional Media Experience, (1976-1982) Freelance Media Experience, New York City (1995 to present) EDUCATION COMPUTER SKILLS
* Researched, wrote, and edited this unique encyclopedic biography of comedian Lucille Ball, now in its Third Edition.
Kiss Me, Kill Me April 2003
* Ray Abreu is a gay New Yorker who's looking for Mr. Right. Unfortunately, he's just found Mr. Wrong — Mr. Dead Wrong.
Lucy in Print Fall 2003
* The Fab Four of I Love Lucy as seen through the eyes of the reporters who covered them for 70 years.
Funny Ladies: Sitcom Queens March 2004
* A tribute to the hundreds of funny ladies who have entertained us on TV for the past half century. Note: Updated and revised New edition published in 2006 was renamed ,i.Sitcom Queens: Divas of the Small Screen, and features an exclusive interview with sitcom legend Gale Storm plus a new introduction by I Love Lucy's Doris Singleton.
The Lucille Ball Quiz Book May 2004
* So...you think you know Lucy? Answer the hundreds of questions in this entertaining book, peppered with fun facts about Lucy & Co., and you just might be right.
The Comic DNA of Lucille Ball: Interpreting the Icon January 2006
* How did Lucy shoot from being a B-movie star to TV legend to Superstar to beingt he most=scene face ever in reorded history? Perfect timing, some henna rinse and a shrewd understanding of comedy all contributed; find out how.
Sleeps Well With Others October 2006
* Ray Abreu, the hero of the the 2003 gay vampire hit Kiss Me, Kill Me is back -- as a gay youngster, growing up in a repressed small town and feeling the pain...that is, until he gets sent by his parents to an all-male sleepaway camp in the Adirondack Mountains in upper New York State. There, Ray experiences a gradual flowering and realization of his homoerotic feelings. But he's unaware of the deadly presence "standing up" for him behind the scenes. This unique prequel is spiked with sex, thrills, and chills -- but then, whose adolsecence isn't?
* Edited this trivia bounty for "Dark Shadows" fans.
Big Lou, 2003, by Craig Hamrick
* Edited this touching biography of soap and stage star Louis Edmonds.
The Other Side of Ethel Mertz, 1999 by Frank Castelluccio & Alvin Walker
* Copy-edited this tribute to TV's best-loved second banana; this was a book I always wanted to write, and that spurred me on to write "Lucy A to Z."
* Copy edit, proofread, traffic, lay out, and copyfit pages [in QuarkXpress], for Martha Stewart Living magazine
* Copy edit, proofread, traffic, lay out, and copyfit pages [in QuarkXpress], for Martha Stewart: The Catalog for Living
* Wrote copy-editing Style Guide for the Catalog for Living.
* Hire and supervise freelance staffs for custom publishing magazine jobs
* Establish and oversee production schedules
* Copyedit, proofread, and lay out pages for clients such as Fortune magazine, Gateway Computers, and Toshiba
* Create, wrote, implemented, published, and maintained the Dealmakers section of TheDeal.com Web site on a daily basis
* As E-Mail Newsletter Editor, developed, produced, wrote, edited, and implemented eight e-mail newsletters, from inception to delivery, including text-only and HTML formats
* At Planet IT, the Information Technology Web site: Kept extensive records of every file and tracked each from inception through Web posting
* Copy-edited articles, including HTML text
* Edited, formatted, and delivered 18 e-mail newsletters twice a month
* Copyedited and proofread 200+ editorial pages per month, plus all Web site copy
* Supervised a full-time staff of three plus research assistants and freelancers
* Wrote Computer Shopper Style Guide
* Wrote software and Web site reviews
* Won the Cahners Editorial Medal of Excellence, in 1996, for my monthly column, “How’d They Print That?”
* Coordinated communication between art and editorial departments
* Trafficked articles, artwork, and pages throughout the production
cycle
* Paginated on the Mac using QuarkXpress
* Created, wrote, and produced special editorial and advertising sections with production and art departments
* Edited articles; wrote two monthly columns plus features.
* Directed all editorial operations of this monthly magazine, with a full-time staff of five
* Created and edited bimonthly magazine, Oriental Rug Merchandiser, plus weekly marketing newsletter
* Moderated panels at national conventions; chaired Thomson editorial conference (March 1989)
Managing Editor, Floor Covering Business [New York], 1979 - 1982
Associate Editor, Gifts + Tableware [New York], 1979
Assistant Editor, National Jeweler [New York], 1978 - 1979
Rhythm & Blues Editor, Pop Top Magazine [Boston & New York], 1976 - 1978
Copy Editor/Graphic Artist/Page Layout/Copy Writer for a variety of consumer magazines and businesses, including Fortune, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, The College Board, Gateway Computers, Toshiba, Ladies Home Journal, Valley Magazine (LA), The Ethan Allen Catalog, and many more.
University of Pennsylvania, Bachelor of Arts, Communications, 1975
Boston University, Master of Science, Communications, 1977
PC and Macintosh: Word, Photoshop, QuarkXpress, QPS, Excel, Adobe Acrobat, Basic HTML, Dreamweaver.
