Who: Kate Flora
What: Crime writer, winner of Maine Literary Award for crime fiction, former assistant attorney general
Why: Maine is a great place to spin a chilling tale and tis the season
Books: Her novel “ And Grant You Peace” comes out in November. Her true crime story “Death Dealer” came out in September.
What is it about crime that interests you?
The whole question of good and evil while watching people lie. While in law school I was fascinated by what is it with some people. I used to read crime novels quite a bit then.
Then you went on to become Maine’s assistant attorney general. Did you get a lot of material on the job?
That was a thousand years ago. I got background information and developed a curiosity of people behaving badly. I was working mostly on deadbeat dads and human rights issues. I learned a lot about human nature and why some people have decided to opt out of the human compact.
How did your interests move from litigation to literary?
I stopped practicing law and when my second child was born I said “what will I do?” I always wanted to write. I am the model for determination, for the aspiring novelist who wants to get published, my message is: do not back down.
You published your first book, “Chosen for Death,” at 45?
Yes, it took me 10 years. When I teach writing classes I tell people it takes a long, long time to get published. I am a good role model for you. Don’t give up I tell them. My mother published her first novel at 83.
You’ve written 14 novels and nonfiction works. Where do your story ideas come from?
From fiction and the real world. The story behind the story. You read in the headline: A body was found in such and such a place and police are investigating. The clues are through the maze of who did it? Unless it’s obvious, I follow it as if I’m looking over the shoulders of the police. Sometimes I make up the crime and I make up the clues.
Which is easier?
Fiction is easier. It can take nine months to a year to write fiction, sometimes you can wait years for a verdict for nonfiction, but I like the mix. They inform each other. I use the skills and techniques in dramatic fiction and learn how the cops feel and operate for nonfiction. There is a wonderful crossover going both ways.
There are all sorts of crime novels, tell me about your style?
They are medium-boiled. Not traditional, not cozy. I’ve got blood, maggots. My mother-in-law called me “that sweet girl, those awful books.” My police procedural stories are dark and gritty.
“Death Dealer: How Cops and Cadaver Dogs Brought a Killer to Justice,” is a true story of a domestic homicide in New Brunswick, where a body was found by Maine Wardens and search and rescue volunteers in Canada. How did you conduct your research?
I got the introduction from the wardens because they liked what I did in “Finding Amy” (the story of Amy St. Laurent, who disappeared in Portland in 2001). Here, two public safety agencies got together and were willing to think outside the box. Maine Warden Lt. Pat Dorian, brought me the story. He was my entree to Canadian police. I had long phone conversation about the case. Then I went up and spent days sitting and interviewing cops.
What informs my fiction are these relationships with police officers willing to talk to me. They educate you to become a better crime writer.
Is Maine ripe for mysteries?
Yes. Look at Stephen King. Like me he grew up a poor kid in Maine with the dream of being a writer. That’s my story, coming from a chicken farm in Union. His book “On Writing” is very similar to what I teach. We draw from the same experience.
It sounds like a fascinating career.
I’m pretty specialized. Sometimes I get calls from people asking, “will you solve my daughter’s murder?” … “Will you do this?” What I like is this strange little niche where I get to look over public safety officers’ shoulders and talk about their world.
