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Karen E. Olson
Check out Karen's 2010 appearances.
Born in New Haven, Connecticut, I grew up in the city's
suburbs. Early on, I developed a love of books and great
pizza. I wrote my first "book" when I was 9.
I went to Roanoke College in southwestern Virginia to study
literature. In addition to reading a lot of dead white male
British writers, I worked on the school newspaper. Woodward
and Bernstein had inspired me, and I still wanted to write
fiction, but thought I could supplement that with a
newspaper job.
I found a job as a reporter at a weekly newspaper in Old
Saybrook, Connecticut. That was when I discovered my salary
made me eligible for food stamps. I also realized I wouldn’t
be taking down any presidents, since my first story was an
interview with the town’s new dog warden and then I spent a
lot of time at planning and zoning and school board
meetings. I hopped from small paper to small paper, until
finding out I could make a decent wage working nights as a
copy editor.
Being a vampire wasn't so bad, and I started writing fiction
in the middle of the night when I got home from work.
I had been reading a lot of Oprah-type books, in which women
characters spent a lot of time being victims. I discovered
that in mysteries, the women protagonists were smart and
didn't allow themselves to be victimized. I decided that was
the sort of protagonist I wanted to create.
Annie Seymour is a tough-talking, smart police reporter at
the fictional New Haven Herald. She’s not as cynical as she
thinks she is, but she has strong ethics and a curiosity
that’s necessary to be a good journalist. I wanted her to
live and work in New Haven, because it has such diverse
neighborhoods, a gritty past and great restaurants.
Annie and I have a common bond in that we're both longtime
journalists, but she's a much more fearless reporter than I
ever was. She's also chosen to continue to be a reporter,
whereas I discovered I really enjoyed editing and page design.
I left the newspaper business in 2006 after a 20-year
career. I now edit a medical journal part-time at Yale. It
was not an easy decision to make, but it’s made life a lot
more simple, and I have more time to devote to my fiction
writing. Also, unlike Annie, I've settled down with my
husband, a former journalist now political flack for a
high-ranking elected state official, and our daughter.
I have to admit, however, we do both enjoy the thrill of a
good story.
Books:
 Pretty In Ink, March 2010
The Missing Ink, July 2009
Shot Girl, November 2008
Dead of the Day, November 2007
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