My name is Kerry O’Connell and I’ve lived in Montana for almost 30 years. My public safety career started in Search and Rescue where my border collie search dog partner, Boomer, and I were certified in tracking and area searches. I moved on to be an emergency manager, grant writer/manager, 911 communication coordinator/director, and public information officer for local government.

Over nearly 20 years in public safety, I worked as a public information officer or liaison officer for numerous incidents, including wildland fires, floods, plane crashes, significant weather events, and shootings.

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I became a manufacturers sales rep in 2018 to support my habit of bird hunting and gun dog training. I represent multiple manufacturers through the Sales Group in Montana, Northern Idaho, Eastern Washington, the Dakotas, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. I also represent other manufacturers throughout the entire US. As with any manufacturer sales rep, I can point customers in the right direction no matter where they are.

Recently I published a book with David O. Chung (https://www.davidochung.com/) that tells the story of his life. It was a rather long journey to complete the book and bring it to this stage. Every time I thought I couldn’t finish it, David encouraged me. His unwavering faith in me was a bit overwhelming in many ways. The result of our efforts is the book, Face of the Enemy, An American Asian’s War in Vietnam and at Home, and can be purchased through the publisher at BookLocker.com. It can also be found on Amazon by searching for my name or for David’s name.

As if that isn’t enough to do, I’ve begun a new novel that will be part of the Small Town Series of books. Right now it’s a thriller but who knows how it will end up by the time I’m done. You can follow my progress on Substack at https://kerryoconnellauthor.substack.com/.

In addition to my other responsibilities, I am an avid gardener and write about my gardening successes (and less than successes) as The Negligent Gardener at NegligentGardener.com.

Along with my husband, John, I partner on Montana Historian Magazine through O’Connell Publishing.