The Beltway
Short Story Honorable Mention 2023Q3 Writers of the Future
Meet Ken
Technologist, author, father, flight instructor
With over twenty years of experience in information technology, I have a wide variety of skills. Currently, I lead several solutions engineering teams at Atlassian. You can view some of my public work here:
- Managing Large Scale Instances in Government Agencies (Webinar)
- Scaling Atlassian Instances in High Security Environments (whitepaper)
- Modernizing in a High Security Government Environment (whitepaper)
- Innovation in Government - Collaboration (Q&A)
- Innovation in Government - Dev Ops (Talk)
- The Three Types of Government Work (Panel)
- Embracing a DevSecOps Culture in Government (Webinar)
- Work Management- Atlassian Team Tour Government Speaker (Talk)
I have also spoken at numerous classified events during my career within the U.S. Government.
Aviation
I have always had an interest in aviation and in 2008 I started flight training at Centennial Airport in Centennial Colorado and got both my private pilot license (PPL) and Instrument Rating (IR). It wasn't long until I got my commercial license and then became a certified flight instructor (CFI). If it wasn't for the pandemic, I would have finished my multi-engine rating and instrument instructor, but life has put those on hold now. I currently am a huge advocate for aviation and use aviation concepts in my technology career. I also serve on the board of the Fort Meade Flying Activity and maintain their website.
Writing
I have been a storyteller my whole life. We had a field trip to a local Renaissance fair in elementary school as part of our English class. It was a blast. After the trip, our teacher handed out flyers with a writing contest. I immediately wrote an "epic" tale and turned it in to my teacher. It was epic in a fourth grader's mind. My teacher said it would never win and would only submit it if I insisted. I did. I placed. I got free tickets for the following year's show and a ribbon. I've since lost that ribbon to the mists of time (truthfully, it probably got lost during one of the dozen moves I have done), but it always stuck with me as I wanted to write a book. Like everyone else, I would write something and then forget it for a few years. Every so often, the fancy would strike me again, and I’d pick it back up.
Decades, a global pandemic, and two kids later, I finally sat down and wrote not one but THREE novels in under a year. I also wrote several short stories, though I much prefer writing novels. I have ideas for dozens more and intend to write them all.
