Karen Lee Killough (born 1942) is an American

veterinary Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

radiographer Radiographers, also known as radiologic technologists, diagnostic radiographers and medical radiation technologists are healthcare professionals who specialize in the imaging of human anatomy for the diagnosis and treatment of pathology. Radi ...

and writer of science fiction

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

novels under the name Lee Killough. She lives and works in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

Writing career

Killough began her writing career with short stories. After a conversation at a

science fiction convention Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction genre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expre ...

with

Joe Haldeman Joe William Haldeman (born June 9, 1943) is an American science fiction author. He is best known for his novel '' The Forever War'' (1974). That novel and other works, including '' The Hemingway Hoax'' (1991) and '' Forever Peace'' (1997), hav ...

and

James Gunn James Francis Gunn Jr. (born August 5, 1966) is an American filmmaker and executive. He began his career as a screenwriter in the mid-1990s, starting at Troma Entertainment with ''Tromeo and Juliet'' (1997). He then began working as a directo ...

, she became convinced that the only practical way to continue writing was to write novels. She enjoys the conventions, and has explicitly said that the idea for her novel ''Deadly Silents'' was given her as a gift by a fan with whom she had discussed

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules Rule or ruling may refer to: Education ...

at a convention, who felt he would never get a chance to write a novel based on the idea.

Published works

Series

;Bloodwalk #''Blood Hunt'' (, 1987) #''Bloodlinks'' (, 1988) # ''Blood Games'' (, 2001) The first two were published in omnibus form as ''Blood Walk'' (, 1997) ;Brill and Maxwell #''The Dopplegänger Gambit'' (, 1979) #''Spider Play'' (, 1986) #''Dragon's Teeth'' (, 1990) All three were published in omnibus form as ''Bridling Chaos'' (, 1998)

Other books

* ''A Voice out of Ramah'' (, 1978) * '' The Monitor, the Miners, and the Shree'' (, 1980) * ''Deadly Silents'' (, 1981) * ''Liberty's World'' (, 1985) * ''The Leopard's Daughter'' (, 1987) * ''Wilding Nights'' (, 2002) * ''Killer Karma'' (, 2005) * ''Ancient Enemy'' (, 2013)

Collections

* ''Aventine'' (, 1982)

Anthologies edited

* ''Seeds of Vision: A Fantasy Anthology'' (2000) (with Jonathan Fesmire)

Personal life

She retired in January 2000 after 29 years of working as a veterinary radiographer at the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Her husband, Pat, lost the use of his legs by 1983 and must use a wheelchair.

References

External links

* at Meisha Merlin, publishers
Bibliography
at SciFan * {{DEFAULTSORT:Killough, Karen Lee 1942 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American mystery writers American science fiction writers American women short story writers American women novelists Writers from Manhattan, Kansas American radiologists Women science fiction and fantasy writers Women mystery writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers