An Interview with Author Stephanie Kane

Author Stephanie Kane has a brand-new book out today and we here at Nerds That Geek were fortunate enough to get to talk with her about her latest novel and the craft of creative writing.
 
Nerds That Geek: Let’s talk a little bit, about what got you into writing?
 
Stephanie Kane: I got into writing because of a story I wanted to tell. In 1973, a housewife named Betty Frye was brutally murdered in her garage in the Denver suburbs. Back then, I was a college student at CU in Boulder who was about to marry Betty’s son. Her husband (my future father-in-law) was arrested, but the charges against him were inexplicably dropped. For thirty years, I was haunted by Betty’s murder. Then, in the 1990s, I decided to try to find out what really happened. In 2001, I published a fictionalized version of Betty’s murder as a mystery novel called Quiet Time. I had no idea that, instead of putting the murder to rest, Quiet Time would become the catalyst for reopening it as a cold case.
 
NTG: What inspired your new book?
 
Stephanie Kane: Cold Case Story picks up where Quiet Time left off. It explores what led up to Betty’s murder, how the cold case was opened, and how the murder and the cold case affected the whole constellation of people involved.
 
NTG: What can you tell us about your new book?
 
Stephanie Kane: Above all else, Cold Case Story is about a family that was fractured by a brutal murder. The story is also very personal for me, because Betty’s murder shaped my life and bookended my career as a writer. For forty years I ping-ponged between the roles of witness and writer, catalyst for a cold case, and bit player in the original crime.
 
NTG: What are you most excited for readers to discover in this novel?
 
Stephanie Kane: Cold Case Story is a true crime memoir. This is a real departure from my two mystery series starring a dyslexic criminal defense lawyer and a paintings conservator at an art museum. What I’m most excited for readers to discover is how real life shapes fiction, how fiction can in turn have real-life consequences, and how the craft of storytelling affects them both.
 
NTG: What’s a unique story or genre that you haven’t tackled yet, that you’d love to write?
 
Stephanie Kane: Named after renowned 19th century French detective Eugène François Vidocq, The Vidocq Society is a contemporary group of forensic experts who meet to solve cold cases. Using them as a model, I’d like to write about a secret society of artists who band together to solve and avenge crimes. Either that or a bodice-ripping romance!

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Stephanie Kane - Author of 'Cold Case Story'.