Kate Flora: One of the most interest aspects of crime writing is, of course, all the

Sometimes research takes me in some strange directions, like to the shooting range.

research we do. True, it is easy to put off the writing while we do one more bit of research. It is also possible to get very lost in the weeds, as one question will lead to another and then another, until the block of writing time has passed. There’s always tomorrow, though. And there’s always recognizing the necessity to apply that annoying little word I like so much: DISCIPLINE.

(You have all heard my snarky comment about waiting for the fluttery little Muse of inspiration, right?)

Recently, in my next Joe Burgess mystery, Deliver Us from Evil, (working title, at least) I needed to find something that would be attached to a blanket the victim was wrapped in that might provide a clue to where she might have been held prisoner. That led me to explore rare and endangered plants in Maine. Yes, I went down the rabbit hole, for sure. It was fun to stare at photos of plants, read their descriptions, and learn where they can be been found in Maine. Some were in too many places. Some only along the coast, while I wanted the location to be inland, in the vast, thinly settled interior. https://www.maine.gov/dacf/mnap/features/rare_plants/plantlist.htm

Along the way, I learned a term I’d never heard before: hitchhiker plants. Sure, like everyone else who tromps through fields and forests, I’ve had lots of nasty little things cling tenaciously to my socks. I’d just never heard them called that before. It has been a delight, ever since, to slip that term into conversations. Life is no fun unless I’m always learning new things.

Regular readers of this blog have already heard my story about Thea and the flashlight, and how I emailed a number of my police advisors before I had her pick up the flashlight in the kitchen and head down to the dark basement to check on why the furnace wasn’t working. I learned that  one attribute of a good flashlight when you’re searching and don’t want to give your location away is a silent UI. I had to ask what a UI was. Not just an on and off switch, but a “user interface.”

Ah, adventures in writing.

Sometimes those research adventures are physical activities, like going out with wardens

Maine Crime Writer Kate Flora, retired game warden and rookie author Roger Guay, their book “A Good Man with a Dog,” and their secret weapon, Lucy, at the Guildford Library local author event June 11.

training dogs to do cadaver searches, watching in awe as dogs found cadaver scent in trees or buried in the ground, or hidden in a filing cabinet. Research might involve tromping through tick-filled fields to watch search and rescue dogs at work. Or hiding in the woods so the dog could find me. I never did get back the tee shirt they’d used as a scent object. Or going to the shooting range with the cops.

Recently, the lovely Lara Bricker invited some of us to a mystery brunch at the Exeter, New Hampshire LitFest. Our job—the writers who attended—was to take part in an activity called “Two Truths and a Lie.” I debated long and hard about what my lie would be, because I am a terrible liar. My voice changes and my face turns red and I rush through the lie because I’m so bad a tlying. So here are my two truths and a lie. Let’s see if you can guess which one is the lie:

1. When I was writing a scene in one of my Thea Kozak mysteries where she is kidnapped and put in the trunk of a car, I wanted to know what the experience would really be like for her. What it would feel like and sound like, so I asked my husband to shut me in his trunk and drive me around the neighborhood.
2. When I was up in New Brunswick, doing research for a true crime, I wanted to see where the body was found. The cop gave me a helmet and put me on an ATV to drive into the woods. I misjudged a sharp turn, banged up my wrist, and ended up in the emergency room.
3. Once, when I was on a ride-along, they invited me to join them on a stakeout looking for some thieves who were stealing copper. We were hanging out in the car, chatting, when I looked across the industrial park, spotted a car, and said, “Is that them?” I’d found the bad guy.