Bio                       
Birthplace - The South, y'all.
Education - Graduated University of Arizona
                      UCLA Extension Program
                      Writing Conferences - Los Angeles and New York
                      Life
Day Job -     Full-time Author
Current Awards -- Happy to announce that I am a Winner in the 78th Annual Writer's Digest Writing Competition - Memoirs/Personal Essay! Current Writing Projects - 
                      WHY THE WIDOW WEARS BLACK - An Edgy Memoir of an Outspoken Survivor
                            Book under submission
                      ME AND E.B. - NonFiction Short Story of my experience with E.B. White (Stuart
                            Little, The Elements of Style, Charlotte's Web, and on)
                      HARD BOILED EGG - NonFiction Short Story of Life's Surprises
                      LOVE'S FIRST MISS - NonFiction Short Story of First Love
                      S. BELLE KARPER'S BEAUTIES AND BEASTS - Blog! Baby! Blog!
                      TWITTER-BELLE - S. Belle Karper's Twitter Pages
                      PUBLISHER'S MARKETPLACE - Industry Listings
                      Two Books which are confidential and in the works . . . shhhh!
Current Interests -
                      My Family and kids
                      Writing Books, Short Stories and Articles
                      Widow Mediator/Moderator
                      Date Coaching
                      Charity Work - Advisory Board-New Directions for Youth, Our House, Big Brothers
                            Big Sisters
Favorite Books/Authors - 
                      THE BOOK THIEF - Marcus Zusak, anything by Amy Tan, Susan Isaacs and Carl
                            Hiaasen, and me!  Beach reads are fun "chic lit," but not for too long.
Desires -     To live fully.     
Affiliations - PUBLISHER'S MARKETPLACE - Please see listing
                      CALIFORNIA WRITER'S COALITION - Officer
                      ROMANCE WRITER'S OF AMERICA - Los Angeles Chapter
                      LOS ANGELES LIFE WRITERS                                 
                      POETS AND WRITERS
Experience - 
                      41 years of not dying -- through whole-hearted living. 
                      11 years with one man. 
                      Gave birth to two great kids. 
                      2004-2010 Widow. 
                      2004-2010 Raising two widow children. 
                      2005 slated Video-speaker "A Widow's View-Why Kids Need Big Brothers" for LOS
                             ANGELES BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS for the 2005 Gala – member and
                             supporter of Big Brother Big Sister Programs. 
                      OUR HOUSE CHARITY group for 1.5 years sharing stories with other like-aged
                             widows, widowers and how to deal with children. 
                      Requested to Moderate OUR HOUSE CHARITY Grief groups – Los Angeles non-
                            profit age-specific grief counseling organization. 
                      Advocate for Sleep Apnea cause and correction. 
                      Interviewed by Los Angeles newspapers on my fate as a widow and how it affected
                             my children and the strength of mentoring programs. 
                      Informal Spokesperson and Interviewed for Our House Grief and Support Program
                             Newsletters. 
                      Monthly MODERATOR with adult survivors of death and facilitate discussions of
                             death, frustration, loss and dating. 
                       Ran the LOS ANGELES MARATHON with my children in honor of my dead husband.
                            Twice.
                       MENTOR for Newly Widowed Spouses and Children – referred through religious
                             organizations, friends and business associates. 
                       Board Member, Committee Member and Volunteer for various local Charities for
                             several years – NEW DIRECTIONS FOR YOUTH, LOS ANGELES BIG
                             BROTHERS BIG SISTERS, LAS VIRGINES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT Annual
                             Mother/Son Event. Teach a Child How to Read Volunteer/Mentor – Las
                             Virgines School District and San Fernando Valley READ project. 
                      EXECUTIVE BOARD SECRETARY (Past) AND BOARD MEMBER – NEW
                            DIRECTIONS FOR YOUTH 2 years, currently on Advisory Board. 
                      CONGRESSMAN BRAD SHERMAN for Congressional Recognition
                      COUNCILMAN DENNIS ZINE for Los Angeles Recognition
                      CITY OF CALABASAS, JON WOLFSON for City of Calabasas Recognition, and
                             various other VIP's recognition. 
                      Instrumental in finding and securing cooperation between SAN FERNANDO
                             GRAFFITI REMOVAL PROGRAM and ICI Paints and Coatings International – and
                             follow-up mentorship cooperation for parentless and misguided teens. 
                      Spoke personally with LOS ANGELES MAYOR VILLARAIGOSA about the importance
                             of mentorship to youth that are victims of parental death and big city horrors.

I am an expert on the delightful art of being a widow.

18 Years REAL ESTATE -- Commercial Residential Income Development – from dirt to sale and
         various Residential SFR projects.

Basically, gave up lucrative positioning in Real Estate to pursue a reality in writing for the 
        world stage.

OTHER EXPERIENCES --                                                                              

                      Rode on an elephant instead of a jeep on Safari. 
                      Floated on a 10x10 reed raft down the River Kwai with piranha swimming below us
                             in Thailand. 
                      Climbed the Great Wall in China. 
                      Stood in the shadows of Stonehenge. 
                      Hiked in the mist of a Costa Rican Cloud Forest. 
                      Crossed the Continental Divide. 
                      Belly danced in Istanbul. 
                      Negotiated pearls in the Hong Kong Jade Market. 
                      Swam with wild dolphins on the shores of Honolulu. 
                      Pulled an “all-nighter” on a 22-hour day in the chill of Oslo. 
                      Tatted lace in Bruges, Belgium. 
                      Counted windmills in Copenhagen. 
                      Belted out Broadway Showtunes all over the Southwest. 
                      Strolled the “Red Light” district of Amsterdam. 
                      Explored the art on the walls of Buckingham Palace. 
                      Feared the teenage soldier, carrying an uzi, drinking from a juice box in
                             Cartagena. 
                      Perfected the salsa in the Dominican Republic. 
                      Did the “Bird Song” standing on the table at the Haufbrau Haus in Munich. 
                      Heard the one-day "hurdy-gurdy" festival charm the sky as the bears turned in the
                             twisting city of Bern, Switzerland. 
                      Smelled the indelicate perfume of B.O. in Paris. 
                      Was sleeping-gassed on a train from Nice to Rome. 
                      Got slicked by stingrays on the shores of Grand Cayman. 
                      Prior Student of E.B. White. 
                      Got a stiff neck from eyeing the beauty of the Sistine Chapel. 
                      Enjoyed the comings and goings of amoebic dysentery in Mexico City. 
                      Drank warm beer everywhere east of the Atlantic. 
                      Stood at the top of the Twin Towers. 
                      Cried at the view of Ground Zero. 
                      “Taco-ed” the boat, white-water rafting on level 4/5’s on Tennessee’s Ocoee River
                             that was used for the 1996 Olympics. 
                      University of Arizona Varsity PomPon/Cheerleader with kicks long past my head. 
                      Fly-fished river trout on forgotten currents in Utah. 
                      Downhill Trails on my Mountain Bike's full suspension on Mammoth Mountain. 
                      Giggled in snow showers at the Grand Canyon. 
                      Red rock dust on my hiking boots in Sedona. 
                      Chewed sugar cane stubs along the Mississippi. 
                      Lived through the riots in Watts’ Los Angeles and McGovern’s Alabama. 
                      Ate deep-fried pickles on a hay ride in Tennessee. 
                      Have worn the same lipstick color for the last thirty years. 
                      Personal Assistant to Bette Davis. 
                      Buried one husband. 
                      Married another. 
                      I am so lucky.                             

                                                                                                                            


                                                        








S. Belle Karper, Author, Speaker www.BelleKarper.com
WHY THE WIDOW WEARS BLACK - An Edgy Memoir from an Outspoken Survivor
Check out S. Belle Karper’s – Beauties and Beasts – Blog! Baby! Blog!
Belle Karper Face Book & the popular Twitter-Belle