Writers Tricks of the Trade Issue 3, Volume 8 | Page 19

DENNIS N. GRIFFIN
S POTLIGHT I NTERVIEW
In 1994, after a 20-year career in investigations and law enforcement
in New York State, t rue crime author and historian Dennis N. Griffin retired. He
published his first novel, The Morgue, in 1996 and currently has 18 mys-
tery/thrillers and true crime books in publication.
very competitive genre. As a relative new-
bie with no name recognition, sales were
enny, what inspired you to begin
mediocre, and I was treading water as far
writing your first book, The
as far as royalties went. Maybe it was time
Morgue, back in 1994?
for me to move on, I thought.
D
Well, that book was a fictionalized ac-
count of the last case I investigated prior to
retiring as Director of Investigations for the
Wadsworth Center of the New York State
Department of Health. It was a story I felt
needed to be told and I had absolutely no
intention of ever writing another book.
However, those intentions went by the
wayside and I caught the writing bug.
You certainly did. How many books have
you written total?
Now, 24 years later, I have authored or
co-authored18 books, eight fiction and 10
nonfiction.
So, that was the start? You wrote the one
book then continued down the path of a
multi-published author?
Even though I’ve stayed with it for all
these years, it hasn’t always been easy—far
from it. In fact, in 2004 I was on the verge
of giving up the keyboard and finding an-
other hobby. That is what writing was to
me at the time—a hobby. To that point I
had only written crime-related fiction—a
F ALL 2018
But, I’ve always know you as a true crime
author. In fact, we’ve co-authored three
books together and only one was fiction.
What was responsible for the change?
You are right. Something happened that
changed everything for me. I attended a
writer’s conference and during a break I
talked with one of the speakers. I explained
my frustrations to her and that I was on the
cusp of quitting. After some back and forth
she suggested that I consider switching my
focus to police-related nonfiction. She said
that with my investigative and law-
enforcement background I’d be a natural
for it. I gave the idea serious consideration
and after the conference, with her help, I
tackled my first nonfiction, Policing Las Ve-
gas, a history of law enforcement in Las Ve-
gas and southern Nevada.
I’m sure you had to do lots of research,
but did the Las Vegas Metro help you in
any way?
Absolutely. In order to write the book, I
needed the blessing and cooperation of the
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
P AGE 14
W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE