KARL ALEXANDER

Believe it or not, I’m a fifth-generation Angeleno. I was born in the ‘40s when the major cause of pollution in L.A. was residents burning trash in incinerators. A few years later, the city fathers banned incinerators in favor of landfills, but inexplicably ripped out the red cars in favor of the personal automobile. Soon, the L.A. basin became clogged with suburbs, freeways, hydrocarbon haze—better known as smog—and aberrant behavior. Given that heritage, I’ve been trying to escape ever since….

You might think “escape” was why I’ve made a career of writing fiction and sometimes time-travel, but the answer is more complicated. Stay tuned for a memoir. Until then, a brief bio:

I was raised in a family of screenwriters. My father, William Tunberg, wrote “Old Yeller,” my uncle, Karl Tunberg, wrote “Ben Hur.” My first job was thinning pears in the Bear Creek orchards in southern Oregon. Since then, I’ve worked as a machinist, commercial fisherman, semipro baseball player, bartender, actor, literary agent, film technician and lighting director. I received a BA in philosophy from Brown University, was commissioned in the U.S. Marine Corps, served as a captain during the Vietnam War, later earned an MA from San Francisco State and an MFA from the Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa, thanks to a graduate fellowship and the G.I. Bill. I’ve traveled extensively in the Third World and—Venceremos—lived in Cuba for a short time which inspired Papa and Fidel. I was a university professor for three years, then—back in L.A.—an intern at the American Film Institute. I’ve written and optioned ten screenplays and have published five novels. Two have been made into films, including my bestselling book, Time After Time. I co-produced the feature film, “Rattlers,” have also written two TV pilots which have aired on NBC.

My a sequel to Time After Time called Jaclyn the Ripper was published by Forge Books in November, 2009, and was launched at The Tattered Cover in Denver. A new, rewritten edition of Time After Time came out in February, 2010. Time After Time, the musical, had its world premiere at the Pittsburgh Playhouse in March. And in April, 2010, Forge Books published a trade edition of Papa and Fidel, my novel of the Cuban revolution.

Currently, I’m writing a new science fiction novel and planning a more permanent escape. My mantra, in the words of Tom Stoppard: “Every exit is an entrance somewhere else….”

Praise for Jaclyn the Ripper :

“Alexander’s novel is everything you’d expect in a sequel to Time After Time. The sweep of history through time travel is dazzling, the characters are beautifully rendered, and the story has twists and turns that only Karl Alexander can muster. He’s a deft and observant writer. This book is a delight to read.”

— T. Jefferson Parker

Author of “The Renegades” and “L.A. Outlaws”

“Karl Alexander has created one of the most intriguing tales of this year. He combines romance and action for a devilshly fast-paced read. I can’t wait for the next in the Ripper series.”

— Clive Cussler

Professional Organizations:
* Author’s Guild
* Writer’s Guild of America, West
* International Thriller Writers
* IATSE, local 728