Mark Willen

Mark has had extensive writing experience. He spent most of his career as a reporter, editor, blogger, and producer.  He reported for the Voice of America, for whom he traveled the world. He later worked for National Public Radio as an editor and producer on All Things Considered, and then spent 10 years at Congressional Quarterly in a variety of editing roles culminating in managing editor of their weekly magazine. He also worked for Bloomberg News and Kiplinger, before retiring in 2010. Throughout Mark’s journalism career he harbored an interest in fiction and after several false starts he went back to school in 2008, earning a Master’s degree in creative writing from John Hopkins University in 2010. His short stories have been published in various journals including Corner Club Press, The Boiler Review, and The Rusty Nail, and his first novel, Hawke’s Point, was released this past July by Pen-L Publishing, a small press in Fayetteville, Arkansas. 
Mark also has a longstanding interest in ethics. He taught journalism ethics in a Masters of Journalism program at American University and he hosts a blog on everyday ethics at TalkingEthics.com. Mark’s novel combines his interest in ethics and writing  The protagonist is a 73-year-old retired lawyer who has reached a point in his life when he is thinking back on what he’s accomplished and the mistakes he’s made, with an eye toward deciding what the next chapter in his life will look like. When it turns out the medical device manufacturer in his small home town is making a stent that may be doing more harm than good, he gets a second chance to do the right thing. It’s only one of several professional and personal ethical issues that confront the characters in the novel. A recent review of Hawke’s Point can be found at http://goo.gl/YvTty6.  Readers can also find out more about Mark at http://markwillen.com/
Anyone with questions can call Mark at 301 587-2712 or e-mail at mark.willen@verizon.net