Katrina Covington Whitmore

I am a proud Air Force brat so when people ask me where I'm from I have to say that I am not really from anywhere. I was born in California on Hamilton Air Force base in the northern part of the state; six months later we moved to Alaska and were there for about three years before moving to New Jersey where my sister was born. My dad was reassigned to Spain shortly afterwards and we were there for four wonderful years. I became fluent in Spanish and still speak it today. From Spain we went to Chicago, IL, Kansas City, MO, Biloxi ,MS, Bermuda, Ellsworth Air Force base in South Dakota and then back to Kansas City when my dad retired from the military. You can imagine the socialization challenges I faced because of all the moving - from kindergarten through the 12th grade I was the new girl 9 times...I graduated early from high school and immediately started college, graduating four years later with a degree in Communications Studies with an emphasis on Radio/TV/Film. My first job was as the traffic reporter at a country and western radio station in Kansas City, KS alerting listeners to traffic snarls during morning and evening rush hour. I was offered a fulltime job there upon graduation as a receptionist and weekend news reporter. A year later I convinced the news director at a television station in Topeka, KS that I would be a great employee. Four very successful years later I moved to Little Rock, AR. It was during my time as the noon anchor and a general assignment reporter that I realized I would rather teach the principles of journalism, hoping to get prospective future journalists to seriously consider the role of journalism in the democratic process as a watchdog for society, finding, examining and fairly disseminating information so that the public can decide how best to move forward based on fairly presented, carefully researched facts and information. With that in mind I returned to school on the graduate level, entering the PhD program in Communications at the University of Tennessee, graduating seven years later degree in hand. Just before graduation I began my academic career at a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), as the Acting Chair of the Department of Communications Media at Alabama State University in Montgomery, AL. I was recruited by the University of Georgia and taught there until marriage and a move brought me back to California, my birth state. Sticker shock and other assorted challenges led to a move to Phoenix, AZ and a position as the Manager of the city cable channel for Glendale, AZ. A change in life's circumstances led to a decision to relocate to the metro Atlanta area. All of the positions I have held involved extensive writing, each with its own unique style. Having successfully mastered all of them, I began to write fiction, specifically novels featuring strong women characters of color. I especially like historical novels and wrote my first three books aa a trilogy based on a true historical figure. I have written contemporaries as well with my latest book scheduled for release in time for Christmas. I also make knitted dolls that I sell at area arts festivals; I also love to draw and paint and to color - I own dozens of adult coloring books and hundreds, if not thousands of gel pens, colored pencils, and color markers. I am in the middle of at least five novels and have ideas for at least 20 more. I know my trilogy would make for a powerful movie or miniseries - take a look at the Bride of the Desert trilogy and I know you will agree.