Meet WAG’s New Officers

Immediate Past President, Susie Baxter, (center) presents mock book “Herding Cats” to Kimberley Mullins, President, as Mallory O’Connor, Vice President, looks on.

Kimberley E. Mullins, President

Kimberley Mullins is a Jacksonville, Florida, native and has enjoyed reading and writing since her early childhood. She began her writing career while in the Navy by venturing into poetry. Her first piece, “My One Last Cent,” was published in the literary journal, Amistad, Howard University, 2007. She is a graduate of the University of Central Florida with a major in Marketing, and she has an MBA in Finance from National University. She has published a book of poetry, Thinking Aloud: Dimensions of Free-Verse, and two novels: The Friends and Family Connection: Get Unplugged, 2013, and In the Company of Strangers, 2015. She was a winner of the 2015 NaNoWriMo, completing just over 50,000 words in thirty days. She has also participated in several spoken word venues including the Urban Grind in Atlanta, Busboys and Poets in Washington, D.C., and the Thomas Center here in Gainesville. She currently works as a Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (NJROTC) Instructor in Gainesville.

Mallory M. O’Connor, Vice President

Mallory O’Connor is the author of the American River Trilogy and three additional novels. Long an admirer of a variety of American writers like John Steinbeck, Anne Rice, Dan Brown, and Howard Fast, she strives to meld her knowledge of the past with her love of music and art and her passion for social justice and environmental issues. Mallory has a BFA in Painting, an MA in American Cultural History and an MFA in Art History—all from Ohio University. She has taught art history at Ohio University, the University of Florida (UF) and Santa Fe College (SFC). She served as gallery director at SFC and as Visual Arts Coordinator for the City of Gainesville. She is the author of two non-fiction books, Lost Cities of the Ancient Southeast and Florida’s America’s Heritage River. She served as staff writer for the Institute for Food and Agricultural Science at UF and as a feature writer for Business to Business Magazine. Since 2013 she has served as a juror for the Florida Book Awards. Born in Illinois and raised on a ranch in Northern California, Mallory now resides in Micanopy with her husband, artist John O’Connor, and her cat, Minnaloushe.

Bonnie Ogle, Secretary

Bonnie Ogle is a retired public school teacher, now teaching children at the Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida (UF) campus; she is also a volunteer interpreter at UF’s McGuire Center for Lepidoptera. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and a lifetime member of Phi Kappa Phi Educational Honor Society and Girl Scouts USA. Bonnie is also an avid ballroom dancer and a member of Word Weavers International, a Christian writers’ group. Publications include “The Muffin Lady,” in the e-zine Word Weavers International, November, 2016; “Beaver Woman” in Boys’ Quest Magazine, April, 2015; “Bewitched” in THEMA Literary Journal, Spring, 2014; and “Santa’s Point of View” and “Souvenir” in Marco Polo Art Magazine, April, 2013. She is a contributor to Bacopa Literary Review, May, 2013, and Open Doors: Fractured Fairy Tales, December 2012. Bonnie’s first children’s book, Arthur the Arthropod, published in 2012, and she now has three more books in various stages of production. Bonnie blogs about environmental issues; check out her website here.

Connie Morrison, Treasurer

Connie Morrison grew up in a rural setting of central Delaware, attended the University of Delaware, and in 1963, met and married her husband, Jim. In 1978, she and her family moved to Gainesville to be near other family members.  Professionally, she was a bookkeeper, but after retirement, with pencil still in hand, she focused on her life-long passions of writing and art. In 2012, she visited a WAG program, and soon after, signed up for a writing class where the memoir bug bit her. Connie’s short stories and essays have been published in a local magazine, e-zines, and an anthology, and for the past few years she has been working on a personal memoir. She hosts a WAG critique pod and is part of a life-history writing group. Since her husband passed away in 2012, she has enjoyed volunteering for WAG, first as Critique Pod Coordinator and now as Treasurer. She serves as a transcriber for the Sam Proctor Oral History Program at UF, as Millhopper Library’s Book Club recorder, and as a commissary sales person for Dudley Farm Historic State Park. She lives near Gainesville with her 13-year-old tabby cat, Mopsy, who directs many of her daily activities. She also blogs on her website, Connieann’s Corner.