A Spy Grinning In The Dark

So I have lots to tell but spies and authors must keep their mouths shut till the time is right ;-). But in the works is a contract with MIRA Books, the imprint for Harlequin/Silhouette, and I get to write a story that I've been thinking about for about two years now.

And the MIRA editors loved it so much, they've agreed to three books to make it into a series! I called it the "female super soldier spy" series; I finally get to write my female uber-spy, yeeeeeha! This is a gift that I'll be thanking for Thanksgiving, for sure.

An uber-spy thinks of that one assignment that would challenge his very being--what makes him passionate about his profession? I believe, if you want to be uber-anything, you have to zero in on the passion. It's not just, oh, I love to spy, or I love to roof, or I love to write...there has to be more.

I know why I love to roof and believe me, it has nothing to do with aching muscles and shaking my head at fucked-up crapentry for the last decade ;-). There is a moment when I sit by my cooler, taking a water break on the stacks of shingles, when the sky is a brilliant blue and the breeze teases me gently, and I stare up and see the lone hawk flying or being chased by a small but mad seagull, and there is always one tree that catches my attention and I always try to see the very highest tip of that tree, the apex where tree and sky meet, and I always tell myself at that moment, "I'm the only one who's looking for it."

I know there doesn't seem to be any connection between that activity and my job, but that's why I love roofing. The it moment.

This is the right moment to go Mariah Carey: "Wait a minute," she coos in her latest hit, "This is getting too deep." That line always cracks me up. It is Mariah Carey, you know. ;-)

Actually, the female super soldier spy idea came to me during one of my it moment a few years ago. After that, I had started to write sections of FS(3), and this was way before The Protector, before the SEAL trilogy. Don't get me wrong, I love my SEAL boys but they never haunted me like my FS(3) did. This story wanted me to step out of my comfort zone and go deeper, go play with the next generation of spies. I have tons of research on all the things dearest to my heart, especially spy technology and bureaucratic blindness, and now I get to do it for real. It's my it moment, when something I've been mulling over for what seems like an eternity manifests itself into my reality.

And that's why I love writing. My stories sort of manifest themselves at the oddest moments!

Do you have an it moment when you're sitting quietly? Pay attention to it. It's your inner you talking, and if you're a writer, it might be your Muse.

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