Her recently released non-fiction book The Other Irish: The Scots-Irish Rascals who made America (Sterling Publishing, 2011), is a living history about the little known, but profound and often hilarious influence the people from the North of Ireland have had on the formation of America. She is currently working on her second book Brilliant! The Cosmic Adventures of the Ingenious Irish.

Karen has written about U.S. politics for The Irish Examiner. She was an embedded reporter in Iraq, travelling in Baghdad and the surrounding provinces, contributing in-depth news features and analysis about the war to the Irish Times, Sunday Tribune, and News Tribune. She worked at Al Jazeera English in Washington, D.C., where she wrote and produced a daily international news and talkback segment for the Riz Khan Show. Her four-part documentary series Made in America, about the new Irish - the '90s generation of 30-something Irish immigrants turned millionaires - was broadcast on Ireland's leading network, RTE, and was nominated for an Irish Film and Television Award (IFTA) for Best Documentary Series. She has a docu-reality series currently in development.

Karen is originally from Ireland and holds a Masters Degree in Literature and Drama from University College Dublin. She studied film production at the Irish Film Institute, and later graduated with honours from the London School of Journalism.

She is a member of the National Union of Journalists (UK&IRL), and the National Writers Union Local 1981 (US).