Maggie is a member of Sisters in Crime, James River Writers, and the American Association of University Women. She has worked as a software developer, retail sales manager, and customer service supervisor. Maggie graduated from Elizabeth Seton College and earned a B.S. degree in Business Administration from Rochester Institute of Technology. She has called New Jersey, Massachusetts, and California home. These days she lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband, Glen, and cats, Morris and Olive. She enjoys reading, walking, movies, traveling, theatre, and museums.
Website: http://www.maggieking.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaggieKingAuthr
Patricia: Maggie, when did you know that you
wanted to be a writer?
Maggie: In sixth
grade I wrote a mystery and read chapters to my friends (my first fans!) on the
way home from school. Then I moved on to another activity—probably boys—and my
writing went dormant until the nineties. During the last year I lived in Los
Angeles, three of my co-workers took creative writing classes at UCLA
Extension. I read their work and was impressed. My competitive nature emerged
and I thought, “I could do that.” But it wasn’t until I moved to
Charlottesville, Virginia in 1996 that I put my bold thought into action. I
took writing classes at the University of Virginia and the Charlottesville
Writing Center. I grew to despise those pesky writing prompts but I did get
started on writing a mystery, my genre of choice. To answer your question, I’d
reached the point where I knew I wanted to
write. “I could do that” had become “I do that.”
Patricia: If,
for some reason, you couldn’t be a
writer, what profession would you choose?
Maggie: If I
wasn’t retired from a day job, I’d return to the IT world. But I am retired and
would likely a) volunteer in the community; b) teach people how to use their
desktop computers and mobile devices; or c) become a student of just about any
subject. A combination of the three options creates a fourth possibility.
Patricia: Do you have a bucket list, things
you still want to do and/or places you want to visit?
Maggie: For travel, my bucket list includes
Southeast Asia, South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia, and New Zealand.
I’d love to return to Greece and Italy. And I have about fifteen US states left
to visit. For activities, there’s ziplining, baking authentic German bread by
hand, learning to play bridge and mah-jongg. Walking across America has a place
on the list, but after seeing the movie Wild I’m not as
enthused. Still, I’d like to do something really, well, wild.
WHEN HIGH-POWERED EXECUTIVE Roxanne
Howard dies in a pool of blood outside the Moonshine Inn, Richmond, Virginia’s
premiere redneck bar, the victim’s sister enlists Hazel Rose to ferret out the
killer. At first Hazel balks—she’s a romance writer, not a detective. But Brad
Jones, Rox’s husband, is the prime suspect. He’s also Hazel’s cousin, and Hazel
believes in doing anything to help family. Never mind that Brad won’t give her
the time of day—he’s still family.
Hazel
recruits her book group members to help with the investigation. It’s not long
before they discover any number of people who feel that a world without Rox
Howard is just fine with them: Brad’s son believes that Rox and Brad were
behind his mother’s death; Rox’s former young lover holds Rox responsible for a
tragedy in his family; and one of Rox’s employees filed a wrongful termination
lawsuit against her. The killer could be an angry regular from the Moonshine
Inn—or just about anyone who ever crossed paths with the willful and
manipulative Rox.
When a second murder ups
the ante Hazel must find out who is behind the killings. And fast. Or she may
be victim #3.
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