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# Karen Thompson Walker: Be Very Afraid
- URL: https://bklyner.com/karen-thompson-walker-be-very-afraid-parkslopestoop/
- Published: 2012-06-28T20:24:47.000Z
- Updated: 2012-06-28T20:24:47.000Z
- Author: Rachel Silberstein
- Tags: Fear, Karen Walker Thompson, The Age of Miracles, #API-Imported

![](/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/52bookdrop-533x355.jpg)

Karen Thompson Walker, the Park Slope novelist whose recent debut, “[The Age of Miracles](http://www.theageofmiraclesbook.com/?ref=bklyner.com),” has everybody [really excited](/blog/art-music/neighbors-in-the-news-summer-reading), just gave a talk at [TEDGlobal](http://blog.ted.com/2012/06/26/how-to-read-our-fears-karen-thompson-walker-at-tedglobal-2012/?ref=bklyner.com) in Edinburgh this week. Her topic: why fear is actually a good thing. “We all know fear,” says Walker, “but we think of fear as a weakness. … What if we thought of fear as an amazing act of the imagination?” When we’re afraid, we’re spinning stories about what might happen in the future — the same “what-if?” that’s the root of fiction.

Missed her the conference? No big deal. She’ll be celebrating the release of her book tonight with a reading at [Greenlight](http://greenlightbookstore.com/event/karen-thompson-walker?ref=bklyner.com). And although we’re all about fear (see above), no worries if readings make you skittish: there will also be wine.