Biography
Let's make this brief: Some years ago (never mind how many, exactly) I was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the youngest of six children of outstanding parents. Despite their best efforts to nurture my brain, I majored in political science at John Carroll U., which left me no marketable skills save typing. I nearly joined the DEA but married instead. I spent 10 years as a secretary, went back to college at Cleveland State, got a degree in Biology and dogged the staff at the Cuyahoga County Coroner's Office until they gave me a job. I spent the five happiest years of my life there until my husband couldn't stand the cold any more and we moved to Florida.
I do have some tangible credentials: I'm a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the International Association for Identification, the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts, and am certified by the American Board of Criminalistics. I have had over 480 hours of instruction in forensic topics and have testified in court over 40 times. I hope that sounds suitably impressive.
Sorry. Brevity has never been my strong point.
Ellery
I'm a member of Sisters in Crime and, in particular, the subgroup of Sisters In Crime, the Guppies (the Great UnPublished)...without their support and help I'd still be lost in a sea of shifting POVs and inactive verbs....
My husband and I in the Dry Tortugas
Dad & me
While in Cleveland, I was a forensic scientist for the Cuyahoga County Coroner's Office. I usually spent my day with bloody clothing (other people's, I mean!), and also analyzing DNA, hairs, fibers, paint, glass, gunshot residue (on victims' hands and clothing) and other trace evidence.
Here in Florida I work as a latent print examiner for the lovely (and booming) city of Cape Coral. I spend most of my day in front of a computer, looking at fingerprints, which comes off as glamorous on TV, I'm not sure why.
Here's what it really looks like:
A favorite pic of my mom
The posse--(clockwise from
upper left)--me and siblings
Susan, Mary, Michael and John.
Yoga...my latest interest
Photo: Susan M. Klingbeil
