Authors
DISCLAIMER: C. R. Jacobson was allowed to proof this page for typos but was not allowed to edit out any of K. R. Solberg’s snark. Reader beware.
K. R. Solberg and C. R. Jacobson are a daughter-mother author team writing gripping epic fantasy stories and arguing endlessly about homophones. K. R. is the friend you want when people won’t leave you alone at the bar or when you want to debate the highs and lows of RPG video games (Mass Effect was a masterpiece). C. R. is the one you want when you need a kick in the pants for motivation and productivity (stop whining and take joy in your work) or need to identifying plants. She’s also the world’s most amazing grandma.
K. R. Solberg
K. R. (Kirsten) Solberg has turned daydreaming into a career. As a graphic artist, photographer, and writer, she believes in the enduring power of story. Along with writing, K. R. hand illustrates fantasy maps for her worlds and for other authors.
Her parents refused to co-sign a mortgage-worth of college loans for “art” (which was wise, in hindsight), so she stumbled upon a little-known state school in St. Paul MN, where she studied professional writing. Her bachelor’s degree from Metro State was worth a mortgage, but she’s very glad she didn’t have to pay one.
Once a committed city-slicker, she now dwells in the woods of Wisconsin with her patient husband and their two book-obsessed children. A Jesus girl and nature-lover she works at a local Bible camp—but as a graphic designer in a cubicle (because she’s also a disastrously introverted hermit).
As someone who lives with bipolar disorder and dyslexia, she’s a fierce advocate for reading accessibility and the spiritual and psychological healing of stories. She suffers from chronic sarcasm but refuses treatment.
C. R. Jacobson
C. R. (Carol) Jacobson, a retired English professor with 41 years of teaching, now channels her expertise into crafting captivating stories. With a meticulous eye for detail honed over decades, she is the plot and character development machine behind The Palimar Saga that doesn’t stop until good becomes great.
The family narrative of this series reflects C. R.’s love of community, hospitality, and home. No one—family, friend, or stranger—has ever sat at C. R.’s dinner table without feeling a profound sense of belonging.
Raised in a small, northern Minnesota town, C. R. loves the charm of an old main street and the magic of changing seasons, especially fall. But for some strange reason (grandkids, probably), she and her husband moved to south Florida (yes, definitely grandkids). She enjoys learning about gardening in the tropics (a stark departure from zone 3) and tempting fate while paddle boarding in gator-infested waters.
She also loves teaching her grandchildren all the things her own children were too stubborn to learn from her, like cooking, sewing, and having a conversation without a single satirical comment.
But no one really wants to live in Florida during the summer, so she and her husband escape to Midwest lake country for as long as the IRS will allow. Which is good, because K. R. hasn’t been motivated to fold laundry since they left last fall.
Co-Authors
Blending K. R. Solberg’s imagination and C. R. Jacobson’s technical skills, they’ve crafted a riveting fantasy saga full of intrigue, magic, and compelling characters.
Their writing dynamic can be summed up like this: If these books were up to K. R., they’d never be finished, and if they were up to C. R., they’d never get started, and that together, they are one functioning author.
While this is absolutely funny and charming, it’s also completely true.
They started The Palimar Saga as an exercise in conflict management. K. R. was failing some high school classes, including English, because she was too busy writing Harry Potter fan fiction in five-subject notebooks.
In an attempt to get K. R. to focus and to reach across the wide chasm of angst and misunderstanding between a mother and her teenage daughter, C. R. suggested they write an original story together.
In a neatly wrapped tale, this would be the happily-ever-after moment. Did they write together? Absolutely. Did K. R. start paying attention in class? Bahahahaha! No. She wrote the confrontation scene between Jon Therman and Alistar Soral that eventually became Chapter 3 of Remnant…and she has the detention slip to prove it.
This story has undergone two rewrites, major plot, world, and sub-genre changes, and more than a dozen proofreads. But one thing has stayed the same since day one: the characters.
Shane is still his angsty, sarcastic self.
Ella is still bright-eyed but a little street wise.
Jon still just wants to peace out and not have to solve other people’s problems.
Selvator Kane is still the most terrifying twelve year old ever.
And the authors are still a daughter and mother who, while they have vastly different personalities (& sometimes perspectives), cobble together their imaginative musings into a cohesive (but admittedly huge) epic story.
At its core, The Palimar Saga is a story about a family of people who have walked incredible hardship and still strive to honor and protect one another and bring in stragglers along the way.
Photos: K. R. Solberg & C. R. Jacobson pretending they get along really well (absolutely no arguing) when they write together because this is a photo op.