I write spy/adventure thriller fiction inspired by my experiences during a long career that took me all over the world, mostly in developing countries. I’ve completed a first novel, IN DIRE STRAITS, and am working on a second titled RED STAR. I’ve yet to be published, so I cannot point to accomplishments in my new career as a writer. I’m confident with hard work, those will come. I did however have an accomplished professional career in international development, and social and commercial marketing, which included awards and citations for creative work I led and developed.
For 25 years, I directed international public health projects, mostly for USAID, focusing on HIV/AIDS, family planning, maternal and child health, and women’s health while undertaking long-term assignments in Vietnam, Jordan, Indonesia, Nepal, and East Africa. I also traveled extensively throughout Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Latin America and the Caribbean while based in Washington, DC with consulting organizations specializing in international development. I twice received Global Media Awards from the Population Institute, first for condom and oral contraceptive social marketing campaigns in Africa and again for a campaign that promoted abstinence (“encouraged” during the second Bush administration), condom use, and emergency contraception among vulnerable Jamaican youth.
Earlier, I worked five years in advertising and public relations for two large US firms, Leo Burnett and Burson-Marsteller, while based in Hong Kong and Korea. I served three years with Save the Children in its US headquarters and in its Philippines, Sri Lanka and Maldives field offices, and was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Korea and the Philippines.
People sometimes ask, what was your favorite country? Paraphrasing Will Rogers, I respond: “I never met a country and people I didn’t like.” I hope that reflects in my writing. In each country where I lived and worked, I studied and practiced the language, gaining proficiency in Korean, Hiligaynon (a Philippines language), and Vietnamese, and working abilities in others, including Sinhala, Nepali, Dhivehi, and Bahasa Indonesian. I also studied Japanese and Spanish. I agree with writer Garth Greenwell when he said, “… study other languages—study them if you never get good enough to speak fluently or read without a dictionary; it’s the single most powerful thing you can do to improve your style.”
I have an MBA in International Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management, where I received the school’s INTERAD award for Best International Advertising Campaign. I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Advertising from The University of Texas at Austin, where I was a staff member of The Daily Texan both as an advertising salesperson and sportswriter.
I balance writing and reading with a range of sporting activities and interests. I continue to travel extensively, often on novel research missions. I’m currently based in the Virginia Tidewater Region.
Reed Ramlow 