Celebration # 12

 

The Key for Spies

Spies and traitors. Lies and treachery. Unexpected love where bullets fly.

One traitor destroys loyalty. What will two traitors destroy? Will the traitors reap the reward while Simon and Miri swing from the gallows?

Available in ebook and paperback.

https://books2read.com/u/3RKYpj

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MTSQTY7

trailer https://youtu.be/Ehc7VxUxCp4

This book~~lawsy, it was a struggle.

First, I decided that I wanted to write a book with a soldier, and out pops Simon Pargeter, liaison officer (spy) for Wellington in the Peninsular Campaign in Spain.

I wanted to place him in England. Nope, he wouldn't leave Spain. He planted his boots in the hills of north Spain and said, "I have a job to do. Leave me here."

Leaving him in Spain meant that I had to research the setting, the situation, the Peninsular Campaign with particular focus on Spain in 1813. I discovered guerrillas. (Well, I knew about them from Captain Sharpe! Sean Bean!) Figuring out Simon's job as a liaison officer required more research. Miriella and her disguise flowed into situation and Simon's job very quickly. By March I was ready to write.

The opening scenes came quickly. I stopped and blocked out the rest of the novel and continued writing.

By the end of May, though, words were coming very slowly. When I felt blocked, I stopped and tinkered on a slow-moving nonfiction project (which eventually published in September 2018). A day on KeySpies, a day or two for the nonfiction, back and forth, back and forth.

By the first of July, the words completely stopped. I knew what was going to happen; I thought for a while that knowing was the problem. Had I lost my curiosity with the story? No, that wasn't the problem.

Nothing in August.

I decided to go to Killer Nashville, a mystery writers' convention, at the end of August. I planned to attend seminars and come back refreshed and raring to go.

The first night there, though, as I sat in my hotel room staring at the TV, the character of Jesus Contreras started talking to me. What? I said, Que? And out flowed out a series of images of a shoot-out on a road in north Spain.

I hadn't planned such a scene. Where had it come from? Oh, already Jesus was a character in the novel. He was Miriella's right-hand in the band of guerrillas. Why was he intruding into this scene? Shouldn't Simon Pargeter be in the scene?

No, Jesus said. Senor Pargeter, he is not there.

I tried to ignore him, but Jesus was persistent. An hour, I thought. I'll give him an hour.

I wrote ten pages.

The next morning, as I went to panels, Jesus lurked in a corner of my mind. At 10:30 there was no session that I was interested in. I'll read, I thought. No. Jesus demanded that I back up to a scene that I had slogged through toward the tail-in of June. Give to me this scene, he said. 

So I did. And it was better. The words flowed, the energy level in the scene changed from a slog to a race. In an hour, I had 20 pages and a cramped hand.

That night, I gave him another early scene, one that I knew could be much better. 15 pages of success.

Saturday during breaks and at night, I gave Jesus more of the early unsuccessful scenes.

And Sunday. 7 scenes from Jesus' perspective, all full of energy, all advancing the story, all adding to the tension. Needless to say, I missed several sessions.

At home on Monday night, I inserted the scenes that I had re-written. On Tuesday, I considered what scenes he would need as the story continued.

Originally, The Key for Spies was going to be 60,000 words.

By September I had blown past the 60,000 mark, and the story had become a juggernaut of suspense.

In October and November and December, life is always hectic, and 2018 was no different. Yet KeySpies continued to grow. I was happier with the story than I had been for months! I blew past 70,000 words and 80,000 words.

End of 2018 I reached 90,000 words and knew I was near the end.

The final manuscript reached 100,000+ words.

And it was good! The Key for Spies published on 15 January 2019. Three primary characters, one primary antagonist with two secondary villains.