Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Five Secrets From Author Karen McCullough & Her Latest Book ~ Wired For Murder


Today we learn five secrets from writer Karen McCullough and her mystery book, Wired for Murder! Heather sounds like a fascinating character :) Can't wait to read this book and the series.


Hi L.A. Thanks for having me as a guest on your blog.

I was born and raised in suburban New York City (Queens) but spent my most important teenage years in New England (Acton, Mass.). That’s where I had my first crush, first date, first kiss, first breakup, and formed permanent attachments to the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots. I came to North Carolina to go to Duke University and met my future husband there. (And formed a permanent attachment to the Blue Devils basketball and football teams.) After we graduated we settled in Greensboro, NC, a small city big enough to make this city-bred girl comfortable, but not so huge that it overwhelms my husband, who grew up on a farm thirty miles from the nearest bookstore.  I started writing about thirty years ago, beginning with short stories, but those gradually lengthened into novellas and then novels. I wrote six complete novels before I sold the first one to Avalon Books in 1989. Since then I’ve probably written two dozen novels, seen a fair number published, but quite a few of them are still sitting on my hard drive waiting for me to give them the rewriting they need.

Find Karen:

Hi Karen, please tell us Five Secrets we may not know about Wired for Murder or you, but will after today!

1) Heather McNeil, the heroine of my Market Center Mysteries series, collects pens. Since she works at an exhibition center, she has plenty of opportunities to find interesting giveaway pens. (And that’s an interest I share with her!)

2) Heather is a coffee snob. She loves really good coffee, and usually stops at a coffee shop on her way to work to get the good stuff. She hates having to drink the office coffee and will do so only in a dire caffeine emergency.

3) Her current boyfriend, Scott Brandon, is former D.C. police officer who now works as a security officer at the market center. But there’s a lot more going on with Scott than Heather knows about.

The next two are about me:
4) I’m a mail junkie. The minute I hear the postman rattle the box, I make a beeline for it.

5) I’m an introvert, but I’m not shy. However, I am a bit of hermit. Both of my jobs, writing and website design, mean that I spend most of my day alone in my office, working.  I do get out for lunch with friends and family fairly often and spend quite a bit of time traveling to visit family.

Blurb : Most of the time, Heather McNeil loves her job as assistant to the director of the Washington DC Market Show Center. Because she’s a good listener and even better at solving problems, her boss assigns her to handle a lot of the day to day issues that arise during the shows, exhibits, and conferences being held there.

The Business Technology Exposition at the Market Center is set to open with a major new product announcement from one of the biggest companies in the computer electronics business. Before that event, though, the president of industry-leader MegaComp has a very public argument with a man who accuses the company of stealing the concept for a technical process from him.

Heather witnesses the argument, along with security officer Scott Brandon, an ex-cop and her romantic interest. Because it appears the disagreement will end peacefully, they don’t intervene, and in fact, the new product announcement goes off without a hitch. But when the accuser returns a phone call from Heather, she becomes an unwilling audience to his murder and later finds his body in a private section of an exhibitor’s booth.

Heather is more than happy to leave the investigation to the police, but she’s the person everyone talks to and she soon learns more than she wanted to know about the victim and all the people who really didn’t like him very much.

Buy Links: 






6 comments:

  1. Hi Karen,
    It's lovely to have you with us today. I have a question, how did you pick your heroine's profession? It's so interesting.
    Hugs, L.A.

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    1. Thanks for inviting me to be here, Leslie Ann. My heroine's profession is an interesting story in itself. I worked in trade publishing for a number of years and as a result, I went to quite a few trade shows. It struck me as a perfect place to set a murder series, and someone who worked at an exhibition hall or market center would be in the perfect position to solve them. In fact, I feel an entire blog post coming on about my setting and my heroine.

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    2. Ohh, that sounds interesting...and any time you want to come back...please do. Let me know about when you post your info and I'll post the link here.
      Hugs
      L.A.

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  2. Hi Karen,

    We have two things in common--I'm also a football and baseball fanatic. But. . .having grown up in Upstate New York, I'm a huge fan of your teams' foes: The Buffalo Bills & New York Yankees. Take heart, though, that doesn't make me your enemy. In fact, I'm intrigued by your story and can't wait to check it out! A way cool title and very different cover. I wish you the best in your marketing and promotion of "Wired for Murder" and your future writing endeavors.

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  3. Hi Lisa -- Thanks. I forgive you for rooting for the Bills and the Yankees. I know lots of wonderful people who do. Thanks for the interest in my book!

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