We are delighted to welcome author Karla M. Hull to Omnimystery News today.
Karla's new first in series mystery is A Sip of Death (September 2015 trade paperback and ebook formats) and we recently had the opportunity to spend some time with her talking about it.
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Omnimystery News: Tell us a little more about your new series lead character. What is it about her that appeals to you as a writer?
Photo provided courtesy of
Karla M. Hull
Karla M. Hull: Bridget O'Leary is an idealistic, smart woman who is still recovering from the murder of her husband when she is asked to become the provost of the university. Within four months in this new job she is faced with three unexplained deaths on campus while still trying to figure out who murdered her husband. With her life in turmoil and evidence that the campus deaths may be murders she will have to learn how to navigate the minefield of university politics to ensure that justice is done.
Bridget appeals to me on several levels. In order to solve these mysteries she has to repress her own grief and like many strong women is able to concentrate on the needs of others while digging an emotional hole in her own life. I like her naiveté and her belief that people are inherently good even though her idealism will be severely challenged when she comes face to face with evil. I also like her quirkiness including her dry sense of humor.
OMN: How do you expect her to develop over the course of the series?
KMH: I believe that a mystery series should mirror life with all of the joys, complications, and tragedies people endure. How characters react to life events is largely based on their past patterns of behavior but occasionally someone or some event will create a catalyst that dramatically changes the nature of a character's response. For example, my protagonist, Bridget O'Leary has perfected the art of denying her grief. In the first book, A Sip of Death, she is able to handle her new job in spite of her personal pain but her defenses are slowly cracking and she will be struggle with her demons in the upcoming books. As an academic, she believes she can think her way out of depression and grief, she will find it is not that simple.
A mystery series provides the perfect home for readers to learn more about certain characters in each new book and to be surprised when those characters are faced with absurd but believable situations that call on them to rise to the occasion or die trying. Some of my characters will grow morally and mature throughout the series and others may find themselves slipping into the darkest corners of their minds. Every character will experience a bumpy road but some of them will find themselves at the bottom of a crater trying to climb out.
I want my main characters to become part of the reader's family. Some of the characters will become favorite aunts and uncles others will resemble the relative that you dread seeing on Thanksgiving.
One of the pleasures of writing is to have readers ask me "What will happen to Liam?" Or, "When will Sam and Bridget realize they are in love?" I find myself responding by discussing what I think will happen. I recently had a long conversation with a reader about several of my characters. I ended the conversation by saying, "thanks for asking about them," as if we had been discussing my own children. In fact, they are like my children. I can try to influence their behavior but sometimes a character simply decides to do the unexpected.
OMN: How much of your own personal or professional experience have you included in the book?
KMH: Several years ago I was serving as a dean when the provost of the university died suddenly. I was appointed to take his place and within four months in that position the university experienced it's first murder on campus. My protagonist, Bridget O'Leary finds herself in a similar situation. Having said this, most of the situations in the book are a mixture of my observations and experiences from working in several universities across the nation and a large dose of my overactive imagination. In this book, the parents of a dead student find out about her death on Facebook. This did happen while I was serving as the provost and it was widely reported in the national news. After having experienced this tragedy I reflected on dozens of students, faculty, and staff that I had encountered in my 30 years at universities and realized that their sociopathic tendencies and mental illness could have resulted in horrific events.
I continue to work as a professor at the university where the murder occurred and many people on campus are "certain" they know the real identity of certain characters in my book. It amuses me because nearly every university has characters like the ones in my book.
OMN: How did the series come to be titled "Grievance Collectors"?
KMH: When I began planning the book series I realized that all of the stories I was imagining had a central theme — Grievance Collectors. Some people are grievance collectors who experience an injustice and hold a grudge against the perpetrators but others replay the experience in their minds so often that they begin to plan revenge. My series will explore a range of characters who are grievance collectors.
I love the notion of serendipity. I had decided that Grievance Collectors would be my series title and I researched it to make sure no one else had used it. To my surprise I found out that the FBI was using this term for profiling people who hold grievances that result in mass killings. The fact that the FBI and I were on the same page sealed the deal. I fell in love with that title and never considered changing it.
OMN: What kinds of films do you enjoy watching? And do you think any of them may have influenced how and what you write today?
KMH: A Sip of Death was definitely influenced by films and mystery series. My readers have commented that my book is full of surprises and plot twists that keep them guessing. This is the ultimate compliment and intricate plot twists are always a characteristic in my favorite films and mystery series.
I am an avid film viewer particularly film noir and classic mystery stories like The Postman Always Rings Twice. I also enjoy many of the British and Irish crime series. However, one of my recent favorites is The Killing set in the US northwest. I like it because of the intriguing plot twists, the flawed protagonist, and the ability to see a crime through the lens of multiple people including the parents, siblings, community, killer, and protagonist. I love the way multiple viewpoints complicate and deepen the story. The depth of character development and the dreary tone creates the perfect mood for this series.
I also like films like Run, Lola, Run where the director shows a scene multiple times and changes one aspect to get a different result. For example, in the first scene Lola may run into the street because she is late for an appointment and she is hit by a car. In the next scene, everything is the same except Lola runs into the street five minutes earlier and she is not hit by a car and doesn't die. Seemingly random encounters intrigue me and I am no longer a believer in coincidence. In my books coincidental encounters are the perfect tool for the creation of red-herrings.
OMN: What's next for you?
KMH: I am writing the second book in my Grievance Collectors series, Dead Day. I hope to have this published next summer. My main characters will recur. In most U.S. universities there is a day or week, often called Dead Day, where students do not have to go to classes supposedly giving them time to prepare for their final exams. In my next book, Dead Day will take on a whole different meaning.
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Karla M. Hull is the mother of two daughters, Jennifer and Teresa, and has been married for 39 years. Currently she is a professor teaching courses to graduate students in the higher education leadership program at a university in the southeast. For the last thirty years, she has been a student, professor, and administrator in a variety of universities and colleges across the country. She has taught undergraduate and graduate students, and served in the roles of department chair, dean, and provost/vice-president of academic affairs. Previously, Karla has written one textbook and a self-help book for parents. After spending years of her professional life writing books and academic articles she has turned to writing mysteries.
For more information about the author, please visit her website at KarlaHull.com, or find her on Facebook and Twitter.
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A Sip of Death by Karla M. Hull
The Grievance Collectors Series
Publisher: Karla M. Hull
Every university has its secrets …
Dr. Bridget O’Leary becomes the Provost while still tormented by the recent murder of her husband, and soon learns that she can’t simply think her way out of the problems encountered at the university. She will need to add a gun to her administrative toolbox as she works with Hazel Mars, a university police officer, Sam Adams, a city police detective, and Nathan Radford, a bright, troubled student to solve the mystery of three unexplained deaths on campus.
— A Sip of Death by Karla M. Hull
