Hello! I'm Keren.

​Yes, this is me. Keren with an E. I was born Hammel but I hate long, hyphenated last names, so I took the name Okman when I got married. Still happily married. At the time, Mr. Okman and I agreed that I would publish under the name Hammel but for everything else, I'd use Okman. Easy and practical, you see? Also, the name Hammel has a proud history of women writers that goes all the way back to Glückel of Hameln. If you were related to her, you'd keep the name too, right? 

I fell in love with writing back in 8th grade, thanks to my extraordinary English teacher, Ms. Moran, who encouraged me to pursue writing in all its forms and was always supportive and understanding. 

I was a bookwyrm (sounds so much better than a bookworm, right?) and libraries were my lairs. Really, it was inevitable that I would get a degree in English Lit. with a side of comparative religion studies and classes in translation. I was also fortunate enough to attend a couple of Robert McKee's story seminars to round off my education.

I worked as a content writer, translator, technical writer, copy editor, information developer... I was a design thinking coach... and also a martial arts instructor (karate, kung-fu, tai-chi).

While working in the high-tech industry, I got to write little skits for company events and dabble in creative writing. Here and there, I would work on the sequel to my self-published novel, The Hand That Deals, but I knew I would need to quit my job to make real progress. 

Just before Covid-19 hit, a confluence of events encouraged me to put my career on hold so I could sit at home in peace and quiet and write. The Universe must have a wicked sense of humor because while I did get to sit at home, it was anything but peaceful and quiet!

So, I did the next best thing and created an ebook version of The Hand That Deals and fixed some of the issues the print version suffered from. Then, I shared it with people across the world who only knew me tangentially. The feedback I received was overwhelmingly positive.

Now, with a nudge from Project FAI, I am taking a leap of faith and putting the book out there, for all to read. Will you give it a try?

These days, you'll find me still teaching martial arts (ZNKR Seitei Jodo), dabbling in 3D printing, being a mom to two incredibly smart teenage girls, and... yes... still working on the sequel to The Hand That Deals. It's coming. I promise!