88First Place Fiction Winner of the 2023 Tom Howard-John Reid Fiction and Essay Contest through WinningWriters.com. You can read the story "Sylvia" and all of the 2023 winners by scrolling through the slide show of featured authors on the website.
The story "Sylvia" incorporated my experience as a former teacher of the deaf and sign language interpreter from elementary, high school, college, and adult basic education levels. I'm grateful for so many students in the deaf community who allowed me to be a tiny part of that amazingly rich culture. Not having been a Coda (child of deaf adults) I have always been aware of the privilege of being accepted in a culture that is not our own.
In addition to my work in the deaf education field, I was fortunate to have had a position as professional writing tutor for the dynamic TRIO Student Support Services Program at North Hennepin Community College in Minneapolis. The director, Shelly Seigel, and my colleagues there, were responsible for making that one of my most fulfilling jobs.
After leaving my work world behind, I started dabbling in writing non-fiction here on HubPages. Shortly after publishing several non-fiction articles, I became a member of OC Writers in Orange County, CA. The critique groups and "write-ins" provided an invaluable source of information and a sense of community. It also offered the opportunity to be published in OC Writers Lake Forest Round Table's anthologies, "The Truth That Can't Be Told," books one and two.
Essay and short story writing is my favorite genre, and I have just published my first novel, "Falling Idols," at the end of 2021. I find it quite a challenge to write the content-rich articles required on HubPages, but I like having a place to publish on the web other than my website.
Social justice is an issue that drives my intellectual passion. I wish I could be more active and involved in trying to effect change in my own small world. Time and selfishness hold me back.
Past Projects
I tend to dabble in a lot of things. Call me ADD or blame it on being left-handed or something else, but here are a few of my past and present projects
- Card Game Publisher
American Authors (now out of print)
Presidential Solitaire (the order of the Presidents is the order of the game. The online version from Kennedy to Obama is at LanguageRocks.com and will soon be updated with the last two Presidents (maybe.)
-Concept and Content Creator for:
Software games designed by my husband, Mike Olmon to enhance basic learning for all ages The games are free and online at www.languagerocks.com for all ages and include Memory Matching Games and Fill-in-the-Blank exercises. The games for older students and adults are simply meant to reinforce cultural literacy and English Language skills, while the matching games for children use holidays and kid-oriented topics to help build reading skills, especially for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.
- Children's Books
Lucky, the Left-Pawed Puppy,
Polly, and the Measuring Stick
- Non-Fiction Self-Help Guidebook
The Perfect Husband App
- Debut Novel
Falling Idols - a work of fiction based on a young woman's coming of age during the little-known "silent revolution" for deaf rights that took place alongside the Civil Rights and Anti-War Movements in the dynamic '60s.
Always Was and Still Am..:
In my personal life, I'm a bit of a flake and proud of it. (I think I drive my husband, my family, and my friends a bit insane.) I'm left-handed and, like many other left-handers, feel happy that being left-handed has taught me, metaphorically and literally, that the world doesn't work the same for everyone.
My husband and I and our little Shih Tzu, Henry, live in a fifth-wheel RV parked in a charming RV park in southern California that's nestled in the Back Bay of Newport Beach delta and harbor. Henry was two when we adopted him right before CoVid struck in full force in March 2020. He brings so much fun into our lives. And, as serendipitous as it gets, he's left-pawed just like the book I wrote years before he was a twinkle of light in the universe. We all love living in a park that is constantly bringing new people across our path. Having all of our worldly possessions in our RV and a little 8 x 10 storage locker makes us pretty unencumbered. (More time to write!) We're here in California to be near our adult children, and this is the most economical way we could think of doing it!
Like everyone reading this little blurb, I have experienced some of life's most rejecting moments. The very best I can do is focus on the gifts of the present and my most wonderful daughter actor/singer, and comedienne, Bethany Therese, whose courage, talent, and beauty in life and on stage, brings me intense joy. Having a glass of wine with Bethany and her fiance Brian and my dear husband Mike and Mike's boys, Kris and Steve is the happiest of times for me. We recently became joyful grandparents to Kris and Jen's "couldn't-be-cuter" little guy, Osiris (Oz of Ozzy)
I appreciate and love with all my heart the man who rescued me, my ever-supportive, pool-shark, software engineer husband, Mike Olmon. He is devoted beyond measure and has brought energy, fun, and love back into my life.
Favorite Quotes:
I'll leave you with my two favorite quotes - the second one serious, the first not:
"Maybe the sole purpose of my existence is to serve as a warning to others." despair.com
"He who has a 'why' to his existence can bear with almost any 'how'" Nietzsche.
The End (Oh, golly, I hope it's not because I simply LOVE being on the face of this planet with all of you.)
Stop by my website at www.billiekelpin.com if you have time. And if you love pool, take a peek at my husband's West Coast pool hall tour to find ratings of some great places to practice your amazing skills: www.bloggingonwheels.com