About Me

Not me, though similar waistlineLike a squirrel gathering nuts on a late Fall day, I can’t get enough information. Lucky for me, because I spend a good part of my day as a Technical Writer. We’ve been around for years and years, of course, spinning geek-y language into plain English. Prioritizing, organizing, interviewing, writing, testing, and training. Nowadays, it can get pretty complicated. There are so many technologies - those to write about and those to use for presentation. But the key to success remains the same: know your audience.

My 20+ years experience with various industries provides me with a versatility that a lot of other technical writers don't have. A lot of my career has been spent in small and large-scale systems development roles conducting technical and business research and providing written communication.

This technical foundation gives me an advantage on documentation projects. I have the ability to quickly identify and understand usable information and communicate it clearly to any audience. And with technologies like Live Meeting, WebEx and Skype, I can do it from your office or mine or a combination of both.

I also work on non-technical projects (for example, process analysis and improvement and strategic plan materials), newsletters for political and non-profit organizations, educational articles, web copy, and biographical pieces for publication. I am site owner for two blogs: The Office Chronicles and Post-Single Motherhood.

For more details, read about my Writing Services or view my complete resume in Microsoft Word format.

On a more personal note:

I live in Indianapolis, Indiana with a 13-year-old beagle mix, Sabrina. My son recently left me for a college education in Bloomington. He comes home sometimes but recently signed a year-round lease on a house there. Life as I knew it. Pfffft.

We moved to Indy in 2002 from Mississippi, outside of Memphis, Tennessee, where we lived for three years while I finished a degree. Prior to that, we lived in and around Atlanta, Georgia, which is where I grew up. Or should have. I was Karen Mahanay until 1983 (or 1984, I can't remember), I was Karen Knowles until 1989, and have been Karen Rutherford ever since.

I am independent, loyal, honest, organized, dependable, helpful, occasionally funny and relatively intelligent. I'm also legalistic, judgmental, moody and, at times, downright immature. I constantly self-correct (probably the editor in me), which even I find annoying. I must be hard to love, but I think I'm pretty easy to like. I have huge issues with personal space in public places and am constantly tested about this. So, apparently, I'm magnetic, too!

Enough of that. Too much talk about me and I get sleepy. Thank you for stopping by!