What is your story?

Not terribly different or exciting really – I’m the product of a middle-class upbringing in Richmond, Virginia, have a college degree, and now I work for the Washington, D.C. Commerce and Market Center as assistant to the director. Sounds ordinary and even rather boring, right?  Except it’s not.

Trade shows are a strange hybrid of circus, renaissance fair, and the local shopping mall, with a lot of ego and seriously high financial stakes thrown into the blender. With that much intensity in play, there are plenty of arguments to mediate, ruffled feathers to soothe, egos to placate, and problems to solve.

That’s my job: troubleshooting during the shows and exhibitions here at the Market Center and, believe me, it’s always something while they’re going on! Malfunctioning popcorn machines. Missing shipments of merchandise. Displays of angel wings gone horribly wrong.  A game machine that blows out the electricity to five aisles of exhibitors.  And that was just one show.  I’ve also dealt with feuding cake bakers at a bridal show, trying to get gigantic farm machinery through doors that just barely accommodate them, electronic interference at a tech show, crowd control when a celebrity shows up, and security for high level political conferences. Nope, it’s never dull around here.

Do you think the author portrayed you accurately?

She lets me tell my stories in my own words, so, yes, pretty accurate.

Do you have any special strengths?

I’m a good listener and I seem to make people comfortable talking to me. My boss tells me I have a remarkable level of patience and tolerance with difficult people, to the point of possible masochism.  I’m pretty good at figuring out solutions to problems, too.

Do you have any special weaknesses?

Of course. I can be a pushover for the right people. Some of the people around me think I work too hard at helping others and solving their problems, although I’m not sure I see why that’s an issue.

What makes you happy?

Really great pens!  Companies are always giving away pens as come-ons, and they’re all over trade show exhibit halls. Of course most of them are cheap, boring sticks.  But some of them go for really unique and different ones.  I collect those.

And… I don’t get to do it very much anymore, but I used to work summers as a guide at resort in the mountains.  I led kayak trips along rivers and into odd corners of lakes.  It was great. When things get hard at work, I dream about those kayak trips and it helps relax me. Of course, that was only in summer and they didn’t pay squat. But still..  When I have the free time I like to travel outside the city and take long walks through the countryside.

Otherwise, fixing problems makes me happy. Dates with Scott and meetings with friends make me happy.

What are you afraid of?

Shhh…Don’t tell anyone because I’d get teased unmercifully if anyone knew. Spiders.  Spiders.  Scare. The. Crap.  Out.  Of.  Me.

Who is your true love?

Not sure yet.  It may be Scott Brandon, the new security guy we hired a few months back.  We’ve been dating for a couple of months now and well… Wowza. But I don’t know. Scott’s got secrets. He was once a D.C. cop and he doesn’t like talking about why he isn’t anymore. And he’s a great guy, kind, caring, helpful, and all, but he can sometimes go really cold and scary.  I think it’s the part of him that’s still a police officer coming out at times.

Name five items in your purse, briefcase, or pockets.

Okay, let me see what’s in my purse…  Wallet, keys, phone, tissues, breath mints – gee. that’s all exciting. Metro card and receipt from my last stop at the grocery store. But wait, there’s more! I have a lipstick and compact, comb, little spray bottle of perfume, notepad and… holy smoke – there are four, five, six pens in here. A couple are really nice ones, too.  A sleek chrome Cross pen, and one that has gel stuff in the top and lights up when you press on it to write with. There’s more down there, but I’m not digging any deeper right now.

How do you envision your future?

Maybe I’ll get married and have a couple of kids. I hope so. I hope I’ll be working here at the Center as the director’s assistant for the next few years. Then maybe I can move up into Show Management and maybe even beome the Center’s director some day.

What is your most prized mundane possession? Why do you value it so much?

I have a diamond necklace and earring set that my grandmother left to me in her will. I only wear them on special occasions, but when I do, I feel like she’s there with me. Granny was really important to me when I was growing up. She kept urging me to try things and whenever I met a challenge, she was all, “Go for it!”

What is something you had to learn that you hated?

Math!  Calculus my senior year in high school almost killed me.

Is an ounce of prevention really worth a pound of cure? Which is more valuable? Why do you feel this way?

Prevention is better.  I’ve seen the results when prevention didn’t work and believe me, it’s not pretty.

How private of a person are you? Why?

Oh, I’m not really private at all. Can’t afford to be in my job since I spend most of my days talking to people, a lot of them strangers.

*~*~*~*

| [amazon_link id=”B00CGKYNT6″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Amazon[/amazon_link] | BN |

A Gift for Murder

Blurb: For fifty-one weeks of the year, Heather McNeil loves her job as assistant to the director of the Washington, D.C. Commerce & Market Show Center. But the Gifts and Home Decorations trade show, the biggest show of the year at the center, is a week-long nightmare. This year’s version is being worse than usual. Misplaced shipments, feuding exhibitors, and malfunctioning popcorn machines are all in a day’s work. Finding the body of a murdered executive dumped in a trash bin during the show isn’t. The discovery tips throws Heather’s life—personal and professional—into havoc.

The police suspect the victim’s wife killed him, but Heather doesn’t believe it. She’s gottenglimmers of an entirely different scenario and possible motive. Questioning exhibitors about the crime doesn’t make her popular with them or with her employers, but if she doesn’t identify the murderer before the show ends, the culprit will remain free to kill again.

Her only help comes from an exhibitor with ulterior motives and the Market Center’s attractive new security officer, Scott Brandon. Despite opposition from some of the exhibitors, her employers, and the police, Heather seeks to expose the killer before the show ends. To solve the mystery, she will havehas to risk what’s most important to her and be prepared to fight for answers, her job, and possibly her life.

*~*

Excerpt:

Chapter One

If I’d known how bad Wednesday would get, I would’ve—what? Stayed in bed? Not likely. The show must go on and all that. But I would’ve at least asked for another shot of espresso during my morning stop at Starbucks. Maybe two.

My work day went from peaceful beginning to chaos within half an hour. This wasn’t just another day at the office. The start of the annual Washington, D.C. Gifts and Decorations Show, our biggest show of the year at the Commerce & Market Show Center, was always the worst day of the year for the staff who organized it.

By nine-thirty, blizzards of paper covered my desk, my cell phone hadn’t quit buzzing, and the land-line phone rang continuously. The computer constantly chimed the arrival of new email messages. A strange man stopped at the office door and stood there watching me.

The triple-shot latte was already struggling to keep my sanity in place.

I recognized the number on the cell phone display and reached for it first.

“Heather?” Janelle, the Show Center’s director and my boss, sounded disturbed. Unflappable Janelle sounding disturbed was worse than most people shouting or having hysterics.

“Problem?” I asked, trying not to stare at the stranger, who lingered near the doorway. A quick glance said he was worth a look.

Until Janelle said, “Find Mark and tell him aisles three to five don’t have power. He’s not answering his pager. Then call Truffant Shipping and ask them to fax copies of the manifests for their deliveries to Brent-Cooper. A couple of their boxes are missing. Once you’ve done that, can you get down here? Lots of ruffled feathers over the power. Oh, and Grantwood & Bethel is missing one of their key people. They think he may be lost somewhere in the city. And Sue Savotsky of Trimstates doesn’t like her location—the carpet’s not clean, and the people across the way are playing loud music.”

“Her again?”

“ ’Fraid so. But she likes you, so if you wouldn’t mind—What’s that?” The last two words were directed at someone else. “Gotta go. Need you ASAP.” Janelle ended the call.

I reached for the latte getting cold on a corner of my desk.

Someone else yelled, “Heather!”

Jo startled me so badly I almost splashed coffee on my white silk blouse. That would make a really good impression on the clients down on the showroom floor. Or the hunk in the doorway.

I turned toward her office. “What?”

“I can’t find the latest press accreditations list.”

“I put a copy in your inbox this morning. Did you look there?”

“Yes. It’s not . . . oh, wait, here it is.”

How did our marketing director manage to get her shoes on the right feet in the morning? I rolled my eyes, momentarily forgetting I wasn’t alone.

A warm, masculine chuckle reminded me. “You must be the person who runs the place.” The voice was deep and rich, sexy as a Milky Way bar—the kind with dark chocolate.

I turned to face the stranger, who’d taken a couple of steps toward my desk. Tall, lean, around thirty, blond hair cut short, light eyes of indeterminate color.

“I’m Heather McNeil, the director’s assistant,” I answered. “I do my part. May I help you?”

The right side of his mouth curled into the beginnings of a smile. For a moment there was a delightfully predatory gleam in his eye, but then the light went out, as if he’d shut it off. Damn!

“Scott Brandon. I had an appointment to apply for the security officer’s position you’re advertising,” he said.

“You need to see Craig Vincelli, down the hall. He’s the security chief.”

“He wasn’t in his office. Someone directed me up here. There wasn’t anyone at the receptionist’s desk, either.”

Jo came out of her office, shuffling an armload of papers. “Gotta take these down to the press room. Back shortly.” She paused to admire the newcomer, then raced down the hall when she heard the elevator bell ping.

“God knows where Tina is,” I said, as much to myself as to the man standing there. “Craig’s probably out running down the missing boxes. Or the missing executive. Just a minute.” I picked up the phone and dialed Craig’s cell number.

He answered on the third ring, breathless and in a hurry. “Yeah?”

When I explained, he said, “Crap, I forgot. I’ll be there in ten minutes. “Give Brandon the paperwork.”

I said I would and hung up.

“You’ve mislaid boxes and an executive?” Scott Brandon asked. “The boxes I can understand, but aren’t executives kind of hard to lose?”

“Not in D.C. They manage to lose themselves all the time. In traffic, in museums, in the Metro, in the halls of power . . .”

He frowned. “You’re too young to be so cynical.”

“There’s an age limit? No one told me.”

“Real cynicism takes bitter experience.”

“And you’re so ancient?”

Something flashed in his eyes, something dark and dangerous. “I’ve walked the walk and—”

“Turned the talk into a lecture. Come with me.” I stopped at Tina’s desk to get the application forms and led him to the small conference room. “Sit in here and fill these out. Bring them back to me when you’re done.”

*~*

Author Bio:

Karen McCullough is a web designer by profession, and the author of a dozen published novels and novellas in the mystery, romantic suspense, and fantasy genres as well. She has won numerous awards, including an Eppie Award for fantasy, and has also been a four-time Eppie finalist, and a finalist in the Prism, Dream Realm, Rising Star, Lories, Scarlett Letter, and Vixen Awards contests. Her short fiction has appeared in several anthologies and numerous small press publications in the mystery, fantasy, science fiction, and romance genres. She has three children, four grandchildren and lives in Greensboro, NC, with her husband of many years. Her most recent release is the ebook version of A Gift for Murder, originally published in hardcover by Five Star/Cengage and mass market paperback by Harlequin Worldwide Mysteries.

Website: http://www.kmccullough.com

Blog: http://www.kmccullough/kblog

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarenMcCulloughAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kgmccullough