

Guitarist - Novelist
Norm Karin
​Important Update! I just learned that Amazon has a technical glitch preventing many book titles to be unavailable in print form. Two of my books, Bad Breath and Chased by the Past, are in this category. The good news is that ALL of my books are available in paperback from Barnes & Noble, AND at much lower prices than Amazon!

Born and raised in Dunkirk, NY.
Got my first electric guitar when I was 14, a Montgomery Ward "Airline" brand solid body. I still have it!
I joined the musician's union when I was 17 and started gigging on the local wedding reception circuit, playing guitar and bass.
Worked my way through college playing guitar in rock cover bands between 1973-78. I left western New York in 1978 to attend graduate school in Tennessee.
My performing days started again in 1991 when I lived in Houston. My friend Dan Carson and I started performing as a duo, The Sphinx Brothers, playing original sarcastic acoustic ("sarcoustic") songs. In 1995 we recorded an album, I Annoy You (And Other Love Songs), that got airplay on some local radio stations. We later met Dale Trusheim, a drummer with a similarly twisted sense of humor, and the duo became a trio. This led to a second album in 2003, Not Your Regular Cowboys.
In 2005, I moved to Richland, WA and pursued something that I had considered for quite a while: playing jazz and other instrumental styles. I played solo jazz guitar gigs in restaurants and wine bars, and also performed in small combos with local musicians.
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My wife, Charlotte, and I moved to East Amherst, NY in April 2012.
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In 2018, I retired after a 35-year career as a biomedical researcher and science educator. Two years later, I fulfilled a longtime dream of publishing a mystery novel (Arrangement for Revenge). Two more novels in the series, Bad Breath and Chased by the Past, followed.