August 2026 Speaker, Caroline Giammanco: How to Write a Character Driven Story

Caroline Giammanco is an author and public school English teacher. She grew up in Douglas County, Missouri and moved to Arizona to attend the University of Arizona where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with an English minor. She lived in the West for twenty years before returning to the Missouri Ozarks.

Since childhood she has loved science fiction and paranormal stories, and this fueled her interest in writing her Into the Night short story collections. Also influenced by O. Henry, she is known for giving her stories unexpected twists.

Her Westerns draw heavily on her love for the terrain and culture she developed while living in Arizona and New Mexico.

She has also written two non-fiction books related to her experiences teaching in a maximum-security men’s prison for two-and-a-half years.

Caroline lives on her farm in Douglas County with her husband, Keith. She has two sons, two stepdaughters, and three adorable grandchildren.