“Retirement is just transitioning,” says Kristen Hopper, World Language teacher of Spanish and Italian at Henry P. Becton Regional High School. “I am transitioning from one career I love to another which I also love.”

For her, retirement from teaching at Becton High School doesn’t mean an end to work; she is going to continue writing her series, A Cate Harlow Private Investigation which already features the top-selling books For I have Sinned and Grave Misgivings. The third book of the series, Unrepentant: Pray for Us Sinners is set for publication later this year. Books 1 and 2 in the series have garnered praise from renowned book critics nationwide and her books are on the top-selling book lists in the USA, the U.K., and France.

Besides writing the Cate Harlow books, her publisher has contracted her to begin a new 3 book series about a paranormal investigator with powers of her own. The series, as yet untitled, deftly layers a savvy investigator of paranormal happenings, a cast of “otherworldly” friends, crime, romance, and humor in one very readable series.

Mrs. Hopper is an award-winning author of 9 books who writes under the pen name, Kristen Houghton. She has also contributed many short horror stories to various anthologies. Her writing portfolio includes writing for The Huffington Post, More Magazine, San Francisco Examiner, and Women Magazine as well as celebrity interviews and reviews for HBO documentaries, OWN-The Oprah Winfrey Network, and The Style Channel. She appears as a guest author and book commentator regularly on TV, radio, and internet shows and does book signings and readings at Barnes & Noble and other book venues in the tri-state area.

Not only does she write, but she does her fair share of reading novels, too. “My reading tastes are eclectic, I just love reading.”  Her book shelves have everything from Shakespeare and Charles Dickens to John Galsworthy’s The Forsyte Saga to the horror novels of Anne Rice and Stephen King.

Mrs. Hopper has been writing stories since she was a child. Her first published book was in 2009 and is titled, And Then I’ll Be Happy! She enjoys reading emails and comments from all her fans. “The fact that they tell me how much they enjoy reading my books and short stories fuels my energy to write”. She hopes her novels will enlighten and touch readers with humor and suspense and delight.