Karla Hocker
Karla Hocker was a German-born author known for her contributions to the romance genre, particularly set against the backdrop of the English Regency period. After spending time as an au pair and working in a shipping agency in England, she developed a passion for this historical era, which later influenced her writing. Following her marriage to Jim Hocker, she relocated to the United States, where she balanced family life with a career as a freelance copy editor. Karla became a founding member of San Antonio's first Romance Writers of America chapter, which later became known as Alamo Writers Unlimited. She began writing professionally in the 1980s, and her debut Regency romance, "A Bid for Independence," received a nomination for the Golden Medallion award. Throughout her career, she published over a dozen novels, including award-winning titles like "The Devilish Marquis." Notably, some of her works incorporated elements of mystery alongside romance. Hocker's literary journey was cut short when she passed away from breast cancer on May 28, 2004.
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Karla Hocker
Writer
- Born: February 25, 1946
- Birthplace: Hahndorf, Germany
- Died: May 28, 2004
Biography
Karla Hocker was born and grew up in Germany. As a young woman, she was as an au pair in England, and during a three-year stay in England she also worked in a shipping agency. During this time, she learned to love the English Regency period where she set the romances she later wrote, and became thoroughly familiar with the language. Back in Germany, she worked in a shippping agency and in a copper brokerage company.
At a New Year’s Eve party in Frankfurt, Germany, she met her future husband Jim Hocker. After a brief courtship, they married and moved to the United States. Subsequently they lived in Topeka, Kansas for some time, where Karla worked as a freelance copy editor. The Hockers eventually moved to San Antonio, Texas, where they lived for many years. They had two children, Nick and Jasmin. Karla became a charter member of San Antonio’s first Romance Writers of America chapter, later to be renamed the Alamo Writers Unlimited.
Hocker did not start writing romances until the 1980’s. Her first Regency romance, A Bid for Independence, was a 1986 nominee for a Golden Medallion award—the predecessor to the Rita Award. A later novel, The Devilish Marquis, won the Romantic Times magazine’s Reviewer Choice Award.
Over her career, Hocker published more than a dozen romances and several novellas. In addition to the many straightforward Regency-era romances, her Sophy Bancroft novels take on aspects of the mystery genre. She died on May 28, 2004, of breast cancer.