Maine Crime Writers

From time to time, we like to introduce our readers to other Maine crime writers. Please welcome today’s guest to the blog:

Elaine Lohrman: I did not intend to write a book. It was just something I fell into. Conversations with Nora is not a crime thriller, but we will get to that part later. Some fifteen years ago, my mother was deep into dementia, and I was struggling to understand how my once loving parent could turn on me so viciously. A lovely lady, whom I call Nora, faithfully walked by my side during that time, helping me cry and deal with the inexplicable anger that welled up inside me.  Every week we met over dinner to have those difficult conversations that always began with “Why?”  Nora had experienced the mental decline of her own mother and had a deep understanding of what it is like to be “divorced” by one’s parent. Nora was a Stephen’s Minister, a lay person trained in compassionate caregiving of caregivers. Yes, that sounds strange, for a caregiver to need care, but while my mother was lost in her own confusing thoughts, I too was lost.

During one of our conversations, Nora suggested that I begin keeping a journal of my emotions and the struggle to rise above the anger and sense of loss that comes when walking beside someone with Alzheimer’s. And so, I began writing, somedays furiously scratching the words into the paper and other days letting the thoughts be washed away by my tears as they fell on the fresh ink. After several months of writing, I shared the journal with my husband in an attempt to help him understand my journey. He read it with great respect and love, and when he was finished reading, suggested that my little journal should become a book. “Your experience could help others know that they are not alone; that there are others who have the same thoughts and emotions.” And that is how Conversations with Norah became a book, a raw and heartfelt dialogue between two people who had suffered great loss all too soon.

Once the book was published, I discovered that I had a passion for writing. I needed to tell a story. My blog, Bandaid for a Caregiver, was born out of that need and I quickly found that it had an audience among adult children who shared a thirst for understanding and caring for those who suffered from the debilitating grips of dementia. After six months of blogging, however, I found that I no longer had the desire to research and talk about this horrible disease. I no longer needed to talk about it. You can still find vestiges of the blog online, but I have moved on. As Gin Mackey, a fellow writer and poet, said in her poem, The Poet is In, “she writes to get the poem out of her hair.” There are stories that need telling and I must do the telling!

After a short hiatus, I eagerly picked up my pen again, this time to write in a completely new genre –  historical crime thrillers. (I told you that we would eventually get to crime writing. Thank you for staying with me to this point!)  There was no question as to which time period in history I would choose. The Victorian era has always fascinated me and in the tradition of Isaac Bell in Clive Cussler’s tales, the Angus Quinn series was born in my first novel. The Boathouse is set against the backdrop of New York City in the early 1890s. It is the first in a series of thrillers that spin compelling stories of police corruption, murder, and deeply enduring love. The Angus Quinn series grew from there and Incident on Hopper Lane soon followed, with a third book due out this fall.

I’m sure historical crime writers will agree that it is an exciting genre in which to write! However, it is not an easy genre. Creating characters that easily fit into a particular time period involves an enormous amount of research to uproot even the tiniest details of the day. For example,  researching the various brands of smoking products available in 1893, determining the latest in women’s dress fashions, or discovering the surprisingly underdeveloped policing procedures in the New York Metropolitan Police department, keeps me on my toes! No detail is too small to research, because somewhere out there among my readers, someone knows that forensic science was in its infancy in the 1890s and the practice of gathering physical evidence had just begun. That reader will know that fingerprints are an intentional, high-quality imprint created in ink, while a finger mark is left on a surface by an unknown individual and is often incomplete or smudged.

Writing with authority and historical accuracy is the trademark of a well-developed story that is rooted in the past. Long live historical crime thrillers!

Elaine Lohrman, a native Texan, refers to herself as an “accidental author.” Her first book, Conversations with Nora, published in 2012, began as a daily journal written during the tumultuous years navigating her mother’s Alzheimer’s. Reviewers  describe her writing as “splendid” and say that she captures the emotions of a “tearful, difficult journey.” Lohrman’s subsequent fiction works are “engaging reads with well-developed characters.”

While her careers have been diverse, spreading as far afield as teaching music therapy in public schools, designing custom bridal gowns, and working as an executive assistant for a major league baseball team, she has always been committed to writing.

Lohrman’s series of historical crime thrillers are set in the late 1890s in New York City’s Upper West Side and spins compelling stories of police corruption, murder, and social concerns of the time. The Boathouse and Incident on Hopper Lane are the first two books in the Angus Quinn series, with a third due out in the fall. She holds a B.M.E. in Music Education from Southwest Texas State University and a Masters in Educational Supervision from The University of Texas. Lohrman is a member of P.E.O., a philanthropic organization dedicated to helping women achieve their goals in higher education. A singer, avid gardener, and public speaker, she lives in Camden, Maine, with her husband Bill and their five-year-old Springerdoodle Daisy.