Author & Contributing Author

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Great and Grand:
Grandparents and Grandchildren Share Their Stories of Love and Wisdom
My essay, "A Treasured Gift," chosen as one of
Chicken Soup's "101 Best" stories!
(HCI, 2008)

Bylines 2008 Writer's Desk Calendar
Snowflake Press (2007)

Inside the Mysteries of the Bible
published by Time Inc. Home Entertainment
(released October 10, 2006)

The Write Start: Practical Advice for Successful Writing
(Pleasant Word, 2004)

Chicken Soup for the Christian Woman's Soul:
Stories to Open the Heart and Rekindle the Spirit
(HCI, 2002)

God's Abundance for Women:
Devotions for a More Meaningful Life
(Starburst Publishers, 2000)

Kimn's HTML Handbook: Web Page Design From Top to Bottom
by Kimn Swenson Golllnick (©1998 K.Gollnick)

Topical Routines For Ventriloquists
by Kimn Swenson Gollnick
(published by Kaleidoscope Entertainment, ©1992 K.Gollnick)

Safeguarding Classified Information
U.S. Department of Defense guidelines for handling classified documents
by Kimn Swenson Gollnick (©1987 DGI/Bolt Beranek & Newman, Boston)

Stories of God's Abundance
(Starburst Publishers, 2000)

Beanie Baby® Stories™
(Starburst Publishers, 1999)
*11 of the 17 trivia pieces are mine. See pages 9, 14, 22, 41, 47, 98, 103, 127, 133, 147, 154.

(My first Beanie®, a horse named "Derby.")

Kimn's questions for her grad research on "The Future of Journalism" appear on Poynter Online in G. Stuart Adam's column (January 7, 2009).

Kimn's comments appear in an interview by Sharelle Byars Moranville titled, "Whither Thou Goest: Finding Your Way through the Religious Fiction Market" (p. 69-72), published in the 2004 Children's Book Market (ISBN 1-889715-15-8) by the Institute of Children's Literature.

Writer

Columnist for The Spirit-Led Writer, named one of the "101 Best Web Sites for Writers" by Writer's Digest Magazine in 2003 and 2004 (my column 2001-2004, 2006).

Contributing Editor and Columnist for The Northwest Christian Author, a bimonthly publication of the Northwest Christian Writers’ Association (NCWA), from 1993 to 2003 (Lorinda Newton, Ed.).

Book Reviewer for The Christian Library Journal from 1994-1999 (Nancy Hesch, Ed.).

Freelance reporter/photographer for The Marysville Globe, in 1997 (Karen Crabtree, Mg. Ed.).

Guest Columns published in The Gazette (an Eastern Iowa newspaper based in Cedar Rapids):

• "Roadblocks: Abuse of Power, Waste of Money," published 11/26/08 (click on image to enlarge).
• "Stop the Insanity of Recounting Ballots," published 11/21/00.

Articles, fiction, profiles, essays, humor, puzzles, and photographs published in various publications such as:

The Amelia Bulletin Monitor	MANIC MOMS Newsletter
Bible Advocate Online	The Marysville Globe (Marysville, WA)
Celebrate Life! magazine	Northwest Christian Author
The Christian Communicator	Northwest Child & Baby Newspaper
The Christian Conjuror Magazine	PURSUIT (newsletter for the MHSAP)
The Christian Library Journal	The Quiet Hour
Christian-Mommies.com	SCS Scepter
The Cross & Quill	The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The Eastside Journal (Bellevue, WA)	The Seattle Times
The Farmville Herald	The Spirit-Led Writer
The Exchange	Time Entertainment Inc.
The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, IA)	Writers Connection
Human Life News of Washington	The WIN Informer
KIDZ CH@T (and R-A-D-A-R)	Writers Passage
The Literary Journal	The Writer's Workshop Newsletter
MANIC MOMS Newsletter	The Writer

For items pending publication, click "Submissions Pending."

Teacher & Speaker

As an Enrichment Teacher (2000 to 2006), I taught classes once a week on writing, ventriloquism, Web site design, and managed a Writing Lab for 6th-12th grade students enrolled in the Marion Home School Assistance Program sponsored by Marion Independent Schools, the local public school district.

Other speaking & teaching experience: Mount Hermon Christian Writers' Conference (Night Owl Session 2004, Workshop Classes 1999); SCBWI-Iowa Regional Fall Seminar (2003); Oregon Christian Writer's Fall Seminar (1999); SCBWI-Washington (1998); SPU Christian Writers Conference (1996); Oregon Christian Writers’ Summer Coaching Conferences (1995, 1996); regular NCWA panelist & guest speaker; numerous business presentations for corporations, youth groups, and high schools (1980-1990); appearances on KOMO-TV and KIRO-TV in Seattle; and twelve-plus years writing and performing comedy as a gospel ventriloquist in North America.

Click here for a list of workshops.

University Journalism Projects

• Iowa Journalist, alumni e-zine I designed and led the student Web team, which includes my two feature articles:
  
  
  • "Liz Mathis: Former Broadcaster Braves New Horizons"
  • Iowa High school Press Assocation Convention 2007.
  
  
• Ventriloquism: Read My Lips, or the updated site here.

News & Submissions Pending

Working on two projects, a literary essay plus a research article on the future of journalism, as my first semester taking grad school courses winds down. As a result, don't think I'll be able to complete my NaNoWriMo goal of writing a novel in 30 days, however. :o(

My essay on how I became a writer appears in the award-winning annual publication, Bylines 2008 Writer's Desk Calendar.

I need to follow-up with a publishing house about my book proposal and sample chapters for a new middle-reader adventure series I submitted on request some time ago.

Current Projects

A glutton for punishment, I am enrolled in graduate level courses taking "The History of the Essay" (Prof. David Hamilton, editor of The Iowa Review, and "Contemporary Problems in Journalism" (Prof. Stephen Berry, Pulitzer-prize winning journalist) at the University of Iowa.

Additonally, I continue to work with English professor Florence Boos at the University of Iowa on her online project, the Morris Online Edition of prose and poetry by William Morris and critical works by scholars.

I am also continuing work on a book-length project started as my senior honors thesis, a collection of essays comparing the Pacific Northwest and the Midwest (and how landscape shapes our personalities), with my advisor, Pulitzer-prize winning author and Iowa Writers' Workshop professor and faculty member, James Alan McPherson.

I continue my freelance work ranging from articles, essays, devotionals and editing, some assigned and some freelance.

I continue to manage the monthly writers' group I founded in Marion, Iowa, and I participate in regional writers' events when possible. I look forward to attending or teaching at writers' conferences in the coming year. Maybe I'll get the chance to meet you at one!

Awards

My essay, "A Treasured Gift," was chosen for the "101 Best Stories"
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Great and Grand ~ see page 336
(November 2008)

Honorable Mention (Top 10 Finalist), Short Fiction
Hamilton Writers Guild
(November 2008)

Induction into the Kappa Tau Alpha       
UI School of Journalism and Mass Communication       
(May 2, 2008)       

Scholarships, "W. Earl Hall and Reeves E. Hall Scholarship"          
and "Shafer Family Trust Scholarship"       
UI School of Journalism and Mass Communication
(April 25, 2008)

THIRD PLACE, "I Miss the Pacific" (Nature Poem)
ByLine Magazine
(November 2007)

Scholarship, "Harry S. Bunker Memorial Award"
UI School of Journalism and Mass Communication
(April 27, 2007)

Dean's List, Outstanding Student
University of Iowa
(December 2006 - present)

FINALIST (#89), Feature Article Category,
"Dr. Ponseti, the Midas Touch of Medicine:
Correcting Clubfeet at age 90"
Writer's Digest 75th Annual Writing Competition
(November 2006)

Honorable Mention, "Lost Yesterday" (Short Story)
ByLine Magazine
(October 2006)

Scholarship, "Outstanding Student in Literature, 2005-2006"
Kirkwood Foundation
Kirkwood Community College
(July 2006)

Dean's List, Outstanding Student
Department of English
Kirkwood Community College
(April 2006)

"Best Christian Non-Fiction Book Award" for
Getting Your Financial Hou$e in Order
Judge Chair, Timothy Wirth
(October 2004)

Honorable Mention, for two articles:
"Hunting for Treasure" and "A Writer's Best Friend"
ByLine Magazine
(May 2004)

FINALIST (#64), Children's Fiction Category,
Writer's Digest 72nd Annual Writing Competition
(October 2003)

FINALIST (#34), Inspirational Category,
Writer's Digest 72nd Annual Writing Competition
(October 2003)

Outstanding Service Award 2003
Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Iowa Region
(April 2003)

TOP TEN FINALIST, "Best Friends" (children's fiction),
POCKETS
(November 2001)

FIRST PLACE, "Defending the Underdog" (children's article),
Glorieta Christian Writers' Conference
(October 2001)

SECOND PLACE, "Pulling Strings" (children's fiction),
Glorieta Christian Writers' Conference
(October 2001)

Honorable Mention, for two children's short stories, ByLine Magazine
(April 2001)

SECOND PLACE, "Advice for Beginning Writers," ByLine Magazine
(March 2001)

FIRST PLACE, Pet/Wildlife Article, ByLine Magazine (1999)
Honorable Mention, Filler, ByLine Magazine (1999)
Honorable Mention, Personal Experience Article, ByLine Magazine (1999)

FIRST PLACE, National Devotional Writing Contest,
"Why We Need Each Other,"
sponsored by Sowing Seeds Ministry (1998)

WRITER OF THE YEAR American Christian Writers, Seattle conference (1997).

Honorable Mention, Children’s Fiction, ByLine Magazine (1997).
FIRST PLACE, Children’s Fiction, Eastside Writers' Association (1996).
Second Place, Adult Fiction, Eastside Writers' Association (1996).
Second Place, Juvenile Novel: The Secret Between the Pages, Eastside Writers' Association (1995).
Honorable Mention, Adult Fiction, Eastside Writers' Association (1995).
Honorable Mention, Inspirational Article, ByLine Magazine (1995).

Past & Present Professional Memberships & Affiliations

Kappa Tau Alpha, the national honor society for journalists
National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
Jane Austen Society of North America

Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators
Pacific Northwest Writers' Association
Northwest Christian Writers' Association
Eastside Writers' Association
Christian Writers Fellowship International
The HTML Writers' Guild

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Other Info

Kimn was born and raised in Seattle, Washington, where she worked in a variety of industries in responsible roles, including as benefits specialist in the human resources department at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer before she became a freelance reporter for The Marysville Globe.

Then Kimn moved to Iowa in 2000 with her husband, two boys, elderly dog and mischievous cat. While living here, they've come to appreciate Iowa's reputation for professional writers and its long literary legacy. Names such as Bess Streeter Aldrich, born in Cedar Falls in 1881, author of A Lantern in Her Hand; Mildred Augustine Wirt Benson (1905 - 2002), the original "Carolyn Keene," the pen name for the Nancy Drew series; Wallace Stegner (1909 - 1993); Frank Conroy (1936 - 2005); Raymond Carver (1938 - 1988); Flannery O'Connor (1925 - 1964); and many more. Other familiar names ring in Iowa, from John Wayne, Donna Reed, Grant Wood, "Dear Abby," "Ann Landers," "Captain Kirk," and the location of the movie, "Field of Dreams." "Is this heaven?" ... "No, it's Iowa."

Active in several writing associations, Kimn co-founded three critique groups over the years, including one of the original online groups in the Christian Writers' Forum on CompuServe. She's also a past board member of the Northwest Christian Writers' Association in Bellevue, WA, serving as Treasurer from 1993-1998. After her move, she founded and currently chairs the Iowa Scribes, a Christian Writers' Group based in Marion, Iowa (2003 to present).

Kimn also designed the original Web site and served as Webmaster for the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators' regional chapter for the state of Iowa for five years (2001-2006).

Kimn and her husband Russ homeschooled their two sons for thirteen years (the boys are now 16 and 18). She created and taught a popular writing enrichment course for 6th-9th grade students and managed a writing lab for 6th-12th grade students, in the local public school's homeschool assistance program for six years in Marion, Iowa (2000-2006), courses which she plans to adapt for writers' conferences and homeschool conventions.

Kimn's current volunteer work includes delivering hot lunches for Meals On Wheels to house-bound seniors. Her sons are proud of her recent honor serving as a Player Moderator in the fantasy children's multiplayer online game (MMOG), Runescape, for Jagex, Ltd. for the past two years as her positive role-model character, "Magic Yorkie."

She went back to college to finish her degree at the University of Iowa and earned a double major in English and journalism and mass communication, graduating with honors and high distinction in May 2008. (Go, Hawks!)

She is currently enrolled as a graduate student at the University of Iowa while seeking employment in the publishing or academic fields. Kimn is also continuing her work as a freelance writer and speaker.

As for other interests, Kimn enjoys home projects and working with tools (especially power tools!), making things talk, landscaping, and bicycling with her family--that is, when she can convince them to join her!

To see an article written about Kimn in The Northwest Christian Author by Lorinda Newton,
click here.