Welcome to About this Cook

     Karen Jean Matsko Hood has always loved to cook.  She has developed her skills as a cook and especially enjoys cooking regional cuisines as well as international recipes.  Hood has learned to cook a variety of meals and enjoys cooking for family celebrations and experiments with a variety of recipes.  Hood’s cooking and recipes displays a proud relationship as well as a respect for her family heritage.  Her cooking has also widened to include international dishes and recipes that she has developed into menus.  Hood has also enhanced her cooking and recipe library by incorporating her research skills learned as a researcher into her passion as a cook.  She has now expressed her cooking skills in writing. 

     Karen Jean Matsko Hood began her professional writing career later in life than she expected. She is now a prolific writer of fiction, non-fiction and poetry for adults and children. Hood’s first books of poetry present a distinctive combination of themes and poetic formats. Both her fiction and non-fiction exhibit a unique voice of compassion and purpose. Hood’s writing is strong-minded yet lyrical. She is a meticulous wordsmith and writes with passion. Her blend of traditionalism and modernism brings a current freshness and uniqueness to her poetic voice. She is versatile in her writing style and deals with a wide range of themes and topics. Her writing has been published in a myriad of magazines and publications and on an international level.

     Hood’s writing reminds us of the importance of our link with nature and the environment in our daily lives. Demonstrating common crises essential to our core, her poetry also voices outrage at social injustices and inequalities. The reoccurring theme in Hood’s non-fiction is providing a voice for those whose struggles are otherwise ignored. Hood’s poetry brings poignancy to the most hopeless of situations. She is optimistic in her quest for dignity and social justice. Hood also writes about personal and spiritual themes, is a passionate feminist and an ardently active child’s rights advocate. She writes with a proud regionalism, yet expands her writing to international concerns. Hood reveals her twin hearts in her writing: One is in awe of the beauty of life and nature, while the other struggles with social injustice and inequity.

     As a researcher Karen Jean Matsko Hood places her focus on child abuse and neglect and drug use abuse.  She also researches to find possible solutions to these growing problems. Hood is also conducting research on drug abuse and its effects on families. With this research on child abuse and drug use in families she has written a book titled, Welfare Reform: Should Mandatory Drug Tests Be Required for All Welfare Recipients? Karen also recently had to deal with her own family problems in finding mold growing in her home which inspired her to research and write more on how mold in your home can be a dangerous and unhealthy for families. Hood’s research topics also include education, attachment disorder, attachment disorder therapy and treatment, the foster care system, and human development.

      Hood is a certified teacher in the State of Washington. The areas in which she is in currently certified to teach are grades 4-12 in the State of Washington in the areas of anthropology, psychology, sociology, biology and comparative religions and grades 6-12 in the State of Idaho in the areas of anthropology, sociology, psychology, and biology science. She implements her experience and research into her writings in the area of education and leadership.

     As a speaker Hood appears on many talk show radio interviews throughout the nation. She is interviewed about her books and research done for the books and what inspired her to write and speak on some troubling issues in today’s society. If you would like to invite Karen Jean Matsko Hood to speak to your group or organization, we invite you to contact Ms. Hood.  She would be happy to get in touch with you to set up arrangements for speaking to your group.

     Karen Jean Matsko Hood is an avid child advocate. She works with children as a foster parent in the State of Washington as well as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer in the juvenile court system in Spokane County. Hood and her husband have a strong passion to fight for the plight of abused and neglected children and the rights of all children on a local, national and international level. .  Hood is also Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) and CASA volunteer for abused and neglected children in the juvenile court system, and the Center for Organizational Reform (COR) Certifications. Hood is also an advocate of literacy for children and has written many articles and books on this subject. She also has written many articles on the rights of children and is currently working on books about the plight of children in this time of year.

     Hood was born and raised in Great Falls, Montana. She attended the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University in Minnesota. She received a B.S. Degree in Natural Science and minored in both psychology and secondary education from the college of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota. After graduating, Karen and her husband taught science and math on the island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Hood also completed postgraduate classes at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. She has also completed post-graduate classes at North Idaho College in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho. In May 2001, she completed her Master’s Degree in Pastoral Ministry at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington.  Hood is currently working to complete her Ph.D. in Leadership Studies at Gonzaga University.

     With her husband, tweleve children and foster children, Hood currently resides in Greenacres, Washington. Her interests include writing, researching, teaching, and volunteering as a CASA in the Spokane Juvenile Justice System for abused and neglected children. Hood also is a literary advocate for youth and adults. Her hobbies include cooking, baking, photography, raising Icelandic horses and Icelandic sheepdogs, indoor and outdoor gardening and cultivating unusual flowering plants and orchids. Hood also enjoys observing hummingbirds and other bird-watching activities.  She demonstrates a passionate appreciation of nature and the environment.

 Holiday books by Karen Jean Matsko Hood. Published by Whispering Pine Press, Inc. An International Publishing Company specialized in educational children and family books!
For more information about the author, poet and researcher Karen Jean Matsko Hood, please visit www.karenjeanmatskohood.com or www.Karenhood.com

For more information about the publisher contact www.whisperingpinepress.com

Holiday Books

c/o Whispering Pine Press, Inc.

An International Publishing Company

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Website:www.holidaybooks.net

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