Kevin Stabinsky,"Pearls Before Swine"

I became interested in writing during my freshman year in college (fall 1998). I was deeply involved in playing Ancient Anguish, a text- based fantasy multi-user dimension (MUD) game. One of the perks of completing enough quests in the game was the opportunity to become a coder for the game.

The joy at seeing my creation come to life got me interested in the creative process, so I decided to pursue a degree in creative writing from Penn State University. I joined the Penn State Schuylkill Campus Collegiate staff, interned at PA Business Central and Voices of Central Pennsylvania, and became a summer correspondent for the Pottsville Republican.

In Dec. 2002, I graduated from Penn State University with a B.A., English, with an emphasis in nonfiction writing. Following graduation, I enlisted in the Army as a print journalist. During my roughly 6 years in the Army, I covered multiple story types (sports, hard news, features), earning several awards. My work has appeared in multiple newspapers worldwide to include Military.com (readership: 6,023,048); Stars and Stripes, Washington, DC (readership: 1,000,000); and the Associated Press, New York, NY. One of my stories, Girl Waits for Second Chance to See, made the front cover of Stars and Stripes.

My work in the Army garnered me numerous awards, including the 2007 U.S. Army Forces Command runner-up Journalist of the Year (one of the top 14 journalists Army wide), 2005 Installation Management Southwest Region Journalist of the Year (one of the top seven journalists Army-wide). Other individual Army awards include editor of the 2007 top Army field publication, second place in 2007 for story series, and second place in 2006 for feature articles.

I am also a graduate of the Christian Writers Guild and have had work published in devotionals such as Soul Journey.