Stealing from the Dead:  You don't need to be an international spy to write a page-turning thriller, or a law enforcement professional to write a police procedural. This discussion shows how authors put new twists on old plots, research facts and settings, and discover potential stories right in their own neighborhood.

Sisters in Crime is a robust organization of mystery and thriller authors whose speakers span New York Times bestselling authors to emerging greats. Each engages and entertains while sharing their experiences in the fast-changing world of publishing.

Today’s panel includes:

Charlene d’Avanzo
Charlene is a retired marine ecologist and award-winning environmental educator who turned to writing mysteries to help people better understand climate change in the context of a fast-paced, exciting story. The first in her Mara Tusconi "Maine Oceanography" series, Cold Blood, Hot Sea, published by Maine Authors Publishing, features a female oceanographer and amateur sleuth threatened by climate change doubters. The second book, Demon Spirit Devil Sea, won an Independent Publishers Book Award (IPPY). The third book, Secrets Haunt the Lobsters Sea, released in 2018. Charlene lives in Yarmouth, Maine and like her protagonist, Mara Tusconi, is a sea kayak nut.

Susan Fleet
Susan leads a what she calls a “Music and Mayhem” life. After playing trumpet in the Boston area for many years, she moved to New Orleans, the setting for her award-winning Frank Renzi mystery series. Susan has published eight books in this series, featuring a New Orleans PD homicide detective, the most recent being SNIPER. She has also written two true crime books, DARK DEEDS, Volumes 1 & 2 focusing on real life cases involving serial killers, stalkers, and domestic homicide. Now she divides her time between Boston and The Big Easy. While teaching at Brown University and Berklee College of Music, she published biographical articles about musicians. Her ebook, WOMEN WHO DARED: Trailblazing 20th Century Musicians, features violinist Maud Powell and trumpeter Edna White.

Kate Flora
Attorney Kate Flora's sixteen books include seven Thea Kozak mysteries, five gritty police procedurals; Steal Away, a suspense thriller (written as Katharine Clark) and two true crime books. Finding Amy was a 2007 Edgar nominee and has been optioned for a movie. Her second true crime, Death Dealer, involves an international collaboration to catch a brutal Canadian killer. Her fourth Joe Burgess, And Grant You Peace, won the 2015 Maine Literary Award for Crime Fiction. Redemption won in 2013. The co-written Maine Game Warden's memoir, A Good Man with a Dog, was a 2017 Agatha nominee. Her eighth Thea Kozak mystery, Death Warmed Over, appeared in 2017. Flora's short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies, including the Sara Paretsky edited collection, Sisters on the Case. She is a former editor and publisher at Level Best Books, former international president of Sisters in Crime, and a founding member of the New England Crime Bake conference and the Maine Crime Wave. She teaches writing for Grub Street in Boston, and is the 2018 recipient of the New England Crime Bake Lifetime Achievement Award.