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Mile High Lab Rat
by Ann Payton
Genre: Mystery
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A page-turning mystery that will strike a chord with anyone who’s coped with a toxic workplace, Mile High Lab Rat is also fun, thought-provoking, and authentic!
Coordinating a college science lab seems a terrific job for this fledgling graduate.
The instructors are fun and appreciative. Maci loves helping with field trips and magic shows, and the intrigues of science are endlessly fascinating.
Except, why all the secrets? The dean orders Maci to say nothing about finding a bleeding man in the parking lot.
Reporting missing lab equipment is also taboo!
When Maci investigates fraudulent expenditures the lab reagents she prepares fail. Toxic fumes from a broken bottle force an evacuation.
To make matters worse, someone uploads a devastating virus into a state-wide system—from Maci’s computer!
While she’s pushing to discover who’s behind the trouble, the instructors conclude that it’s Maci!
Her one loyal ally acts a lot like a stalker. She’s on her own dodging booby traps, bloody threats, and termination.
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**On Sale for Only .99 cents!**
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What Makes a Book Magical?
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Clan of the Cave Bear had me keeping an eye out for saber-toothed tigers as I drove my kids to school. Len Deighton’s Berlin Game brainwashed me into pointing out passersby who were obviously spies. (The trench coat? Duh.) Getting that immersed in a book is the magic I treasure.
I also love traveling by book—getting to know places on an uber intimate level so rarely achieved with an actual visit. James Lee Burke’s Robicheaux series gave me the goods on New Orleans. Carl Hiaasen rules Floridian swamps. John Grisham and Margaret Maron rock the south, Peter Hessler’s River Town shanghiaed my heart to China.
Naturally I consider a strong sense of place essential in my own novels. I wrote my adventure novel Rocky Mountain Walkabout with the idea of showcasing Colorado and giving readers a tour of my favorite hangouts. Then things got out of hand, and my husband and I had to make a run for the border, so I could capture Juarez’s true colors. My new novel, Mile High Lab Rat explores iconic Colorado scenery as well. My characters take a field trip to Hanging Lake in the Glenwood Canyon because I hiked that trail as a kid. Before I wrote the scene, I repeated the trip and gave every detail the attention it deserved. Breckenridge appears in the book, too, because it always charms me when I pass that way. I tried to buy my mom lunch at the Motherloaded Tavern, but it was closed that day. Funny how some part of me lays claim to places and historical events I’ve explored in my writings.
Genuine characters are also critical to the magic, and I relished bringing my Mile High College instructors and administrators to life with traits I observed in my 20 years working in a college science lab. Have you ever noticed that, even in conversation, some teachers tend to repeat key points, repeatedly? Teachers also tend to be rule breakers. Maybe being a rule maker corrupts a person’s respect for regulations? Or maybe a few rule breakers have colored my judgement…
Maci, my main character is into science and nature and is inclined to wonder what causes odd phenomena: What combination of wind currents formed that strangely shaped cloud? Why are some pinecones drenched in sap while similar cones on the same tree are bare? Are birds nesting earlier as the climate warms, or are their instincts locked into a cue such as hours of daylight per day?
I’d never really thought about my tendency to analyze such things, but now that I’ve considered it, yes, I’m all for filling life with wonder!
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Sometime in the 90s I decided I needed a dream to pursue between working and raising three children. As the science lab coordinator for a Colorado community college, I enjoyed helping revise lab manuals, so why not become a travel writer? I managed to learn enough to sell freelance articles to a few major publications. Then I wrote a travel adventure novel, which led me into giving lectures on cruise ships and writing another novel. Can’t wait to see where that dream’s going to take me next.
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