Karen Traviss is the author of multiple Star Wars novels, including Republic Commando: Hard Contact and its sequels, Republic Commando: Triple Zero, Republic Commando: True Colors and Order 66: A Republic Commando Novel, and Imperial Commando: 501st, as well as the Star Wars: Legacy of the Force novels Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines, Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice and Legacy of the Force: Revelation. She is also one of the two authors of the five The Clone Wars novels which are based on the The Clone Wars movie and the following The Clone Wars TV series (the second author being Karen Miller). She wrote the first book in the series entitled Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the third book entitled The Clone Wars: No Prisoners. Traviss was also planning on writing a sequel to Imperial Commando: 501st, but the novel was reassigned to another author due to Traviss having issues with the publisher and Star Wars canon. Traviss also canceled a planned untitled Boba Fett novel that had been planned to be released after Imperial Commando 2. Traviss was originally planning on writing The Essential Guide to Warfare, known at the time as The Essential Guide to the Star Wars Military, but passed it on to another author. She also wrote for the defense in the book Star Wars on Trial, arguing that her work on Star Wars novels improved her non-Star Wars writing.
She had been among the most active authors in the community, posted regularly on the StarWars.com Message Boards, 501st Legion forums, and elsewhere. She was also an honorary member of the 501st Legion, inducted on July 22, 2006 and has her own set of Republic Commando Omega Squad armor, donated by the members of Clonetroopers.net. Karen also became an honorary member of the Mandalorian Mercs Costume Club on July 27th, 2008 presented by Talon Clan.
Traviss is from the Portsmouth area in England. Before becoming a full-time novelist, she held various jobs, including defense correspondent, advertising copywriter, journalism lecturer, media liaison officer, and public relations manager, but for the most part she has worked as a journalist. She has also served in the Territorial Army as well as the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service.
Karen Traviss is known to give plenty of attention to her fans, going through the trouble of answering most of the messages she receives.
Currently, Karen Traviss lives in Wiltshire, England.
Her novelist career began in 2000 when she attended the Clarion Workshop at Michigan State University. On her official website, Traviss acknowledges that it was very helpful in starting her career, but warns that it now focuses exclusively on short fiction, which is unlikely to be a workable career.
Traviss published her first Star Wars novel, Republic Commando: Hard Contact, in 2004. Her work for Star Wars usually involves clone troopers, Mandalorians, or related characters such as Boba Fett. She is amongst other things known for developing the Mandalorian language, Mando'a, into a working language.
On August 8, 2009, she announced that the second Imperial Commando novel would be her last Star Wars novel. However, Traviss later withdrew from the project over various issues, including continuity changes introduced by The Clone Wars TV series.