FBI on the Offense: "False Flags" Bag Two-Timing Turncoats

I love it when the FBI gets all aggressive in this piece (my feeble attempt at being "hip"), especially when it comes to counterespionage . Even better than catching American insider spies who have volunteered their cooperation to foreign intelligence services and delivered classified information is catching them BEFORE they get the opportunity to spy.

How does the FBI do that?

Welp! The FBI's operational arsenal runs wide and deep. One pretty effective tool is the False Flag operation. A Russian speaking FBI agent , we'll call him Michael Smith, goes undercover and presents himself to the potential spy as Micha Smirnov, a member of the Russian foreign intelligence service who would be willing to pay handsomely for some classified U.S. military information.   So, when a potential traitor volunteers his services to the Russians, he's REALLY volunteering to the good ole FB-One. The FBI is a first-hand witness to the illegal activity and prosecutions are pretty swift.

Key to getting a SUCCESSFUL prosecution in these cases, however, is that Micha Smirnov isn't  allowed to pressure, lead, or force the potential spy into illegal activity. No, the spy has to be the aggressor. The spy has to come to Micha and freely offer his services and then engage in an act of what they believe is espionage in order for Justice to prosecute. Actions are the only things that speak.
The spy can't just say it, they have to do it. The FBI, in this case, merely serves as the vessel and facilitator, an entity willing to accept what they offer.

These operations are pretty effective, as evidenced by the fairly recent arrests of former U.S. Army Specialist William Colt Millay and former U.S. Navy Cryptologist Robert Patrick Hoffman, II. Mr. Millay was willing to spill secrets on F-14 jammers and Mr. Hoffman offered information on tracking U.S. submarines.

What a couple of douche bags.

Anyway, I haven't seen a successful False Flag in years...but I'm sure glad they worked. The inner workings of these operations are pretty cool. I could tell you about them...but I'd have to kill you. And I'd like you to live long enough to read my books.

All you potential traitors out there--beware. The day you volunteer to the Russians might be your last of freedom. Undercover FBI Agents speak Russian too.

As the old saw goes, sometimes our best defense is a good offense.

Side Note: An operation similar (but not identical) to a False Flag  is featured in one of the upcoming J.J. McCall novels. I won't tell you which one. After you read it, you tell me. :)

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Today in Spy Land -- Iranians and Spies Oh My!

Iranians Hanged for Spying on behalf of the U.S.: What Happens When Intelligence Sources are Compromised...

 Espionage is an ugly game. It's all thrills and excitement until somebody gets executed. 

In Part Deux of my blathering about the Associated Press's belly-aching over DOJ seizing their phone records, I couldn't help but mention another story that caught my eye in news this week. According to a May 19th Huffington Post article, two Iranian men convicted of spying on behalf of U.S. and Israeli intelligence services (the CIA and Mossad), were hanged for committing treason. Yep. And they are usually hung in the streets to strike fear in those who might consider doing the same.

Now, I don't know if the Iranians' accusations were fully substantiated (they usually aren't). I don't know if the accused received a fair trial (probably not). And, in this instance, they may not have been compromised by a press report. But the Iranian government's actions should serve as a stark reminder to everyone, including the Associated Press, that some countries still execute our sources when they get caught. Sources die. And 9 times out of 10, they usually get caught because of careless and/or calculated compromises by cleared U.S. government employees.

People who betray their countries to divulge information to U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies, for whatever reason, take calculated risks. In doing so, they depend on our government's employees to keep their information secure. That's our responsibility, and if we don't follow through with it, people clam up--the same way the AP's sources have stopped telling them information for fear of losing their clearances, jobs, and/or going to jail (as they should fear).   

News organizations aren't concerned about the lives of U.S. government sources or the American operatives who handle them. Obviously. They're not concerned about National Security. Their priorities are ratings and readership. So, if a man in Timbuktu gets hanged because the information he entrusted to the government gets splashed on the front page in headlines that helped trace the information back to him, journalists report it with a shrug...because at least they kept secret the identity of the government employee who help them break the story.

That's cool, right?

Yeah...not so much. 


And that's all I have to say about that.

The Fogle Bungle 

In a side note, the American expelled from Moscow for attempting to recruit an FSB officer was declared persona non grata and summarily booted back to the United States. An intelligence officer who gets publicly outted in this brazen FSB manner and declared persona non grata is akin to an undercover FBI agent getting his face on the front page of the NY Times and having his gun and badge snatched away...but he's still allowed to be an Agent. Boy, that would suck. In that situation, Fogle can no longer do his job. This entire incident has pretty much has ended his intelligence career--at least the intelligence career he intended to have, operating in foreign lands and recruiting people to tell us secret stuff. Now, he will be forced into Desk Jockeydom or maybe he'll be sent to the Farm to teach a course on double agent operations and how not to get caught.

Le sigh. Le boo hoo.

Such is life.

Along with an entertaining romp through the world of counterintelligence, I hope my readers get a broader understanding of what our intelligence and law enforcement agencies do, not only to keep our country and citizens safe from foreign intelligence services and terrorist groups--but why it's important to keep our sources safe from insiders with no regard for national security.

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The Associated Press & The Intelligence Leak Stink

Wah, wah, wah...





Did you hear that? It's the sound of the Associated Press crying the blues because the Department of Justice seized their phone records to find the source of an intelligence leak--one that reported on the successful CIA operation in Yemen that helped avert a terrorist attack. An intelligence leak that put both American operatives and foreign sources in danger. Now they're upset because the DOJ is doing its job and trying to find the source of the leak. And as a double-edged sword, they've blasted the investigation all over the press which in turn has caused the intelligence leaks to seal up...because the sources don't want to go to jail.

Does anyone else see the irony here?

For anyone who doesn't know, cleared government employees sign sheets of paper called Non-Disclosure Agreements. When they sign them, they AGREE to keep their mouths shut and they agree not to share classified intelligence with anyone who is NOT properly cleared AND who doesn't have a need-to-know. Both of those things, not one or the other. They also affirm their understanding of the fact that if they do disclose classified information, they are breaking the law and will be prosecuted if caught. While the press might dispute the "need-to-know," there is no disputing the "properly cleared" part.

Reporters don't have security clearances.

Disclosing intelligence to them is illegal.

There is no murky legal line.

The DOJ (via the FBI) has every right to investigate. They can go to the Attorney General and ask to obtain access to phone records, not necessarily to spy on editors, but to catch the intelligence "leakers" speaking to the press. It's legal. It's justified. And the more the AP cries about it, the more irritated I get.

When a government employee with a clearance leaks information to the press it's not only ILLEGAL, but it puts the lives of our covert intelligence and military personnel at risk----as well as the lives of critical sources who put their own lives as risk to tell us information that keeps our country safe. If the Government can't protect the identities and reporting of its sources, then those sources will stop telling us information...including the kind of information that saves American lives every day. They won't trust our Government because blabber mouths with clearances run to the press. 

What I find utterly ironic here is that the Justice Department and the AP are making the same exact argument--they both want to protect their sources. The government's sources break laws to save American lives and the AP's sources break laws to give the press ratings and headlines.

If I have to choose which I'm going to support, I'm going for door number 1.

When intelligence personnel leak information to the AP, they put our National Security at risk and endanger the lives of our intelligence and military personnel. That's not only illegal, it's shameful! I hope the Bureau catches the S.O.B. leak and punishes them to the fullest extent of the law--and I'm glad those intelligence leaks are sealing up.

My novel The Seven Year Itch, in addition to giving readers a great mole hunt, shows what can happen to our sources if we fail to protect them. Yeah, it's ugly...and why I'm so passionate about this topic.

I wish I had won the $600 million lottery. Maybe I'd have enough money to buy the Associated Press CEO a clue. 

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U.S. Diplomat Arrested in Moscow: Let the Spy Games Begin...Again

I woke up this morning to the news that a U.S. Diplomat had been arrested for attempting to recruit a Russian Intelligence officer, in what I suspect was part of an ongoing Russian-controlled double agent operation. I suspect. The CIA officer was probably led to believe the Russian officer had planned to cooperate with U.S. intelligence, all at the behest and watchful eye of his agency.

(From ABC News)

What rather surprised me, and perhaps shouldn't have, is that the arrest wasn't back-channeled as  most are, handled quietly between the State Department and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After all, the FBI has made several low-key arrests that you wouldn't know about if you weren't looking for them--there was no public hoopla. But the Russians really went there. I mean, they didn't just arrest the guy, they splattered the officer's photos through the press along with pictures of a table full of spy gadgets, money, and disguises.
Ugh.

My heart sank when I saw it. A pretty big blow, one of which the CIA will deny deny deny. That's what they're supposed to do. U.S. intelligence does not operate in Moscow...and Russians intelligence doesn't operate in the United States. And if you believe that I have a used spaceship from the Planet Moron for sale in my backyard.

In my estimation, there are two reasons for the humiliating public demonstration--either this spells a shift in the mostly settled relationship the U.S. has shared with Moscow over the past few years and they want to let us know under no uncertain terms that we are not friends and never will be. OR--this is a right cross in response to the uppercut we served to them in 2010 when the FBI exposed the illegals network in an operation that received A LOT of press. I mean a lot. Hell, the FX network even created a show, The Americans, that I'm certain was at least inspired by the those arrests.

Either way, American intelligence doesn't usually take this kind of thing on the chin or turn the other cheek. No, we tend to get our "cowboy" on and come firing back, all barrels blazing. I'd be very surprised if we don't see a body blow delivered hard and fast to the gut of the Russian Embassy in Washington or one of the other U.S. residencies in San Francisco or New York. However long it takes, I don't think we've seen the last of the tit-for-tat machinations.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, this spooky game of espionage between Russian and U.S. intelligence will endure for years to come. That's why I love writing this new series! In my fictional world you'll get to read about a lot of stuff that you thought you'd only read in papers...and some stuff you'll never read about unless you read my series. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Best Writing Advice #6--Our of Order, Perfect Order

This is one of those pieces of advice that I preach but have to remind myself to follow. Right now, I'm working on Book 2 in my J.J. McCall Series. No kidding, every single day a new idea for a scene pops into my head, but they are scenes for the end of the book. I'm roughly in the middle. So, what happens is my ideas fill up my head while I hurry to catch up the story so I can write these GREAT scenes.

And then it inevitably occurs to me...why are you waiting? Why are you so focused on writing this book in order?

There is no rule that says you have to write a novel in any kind of order. You should write each scene as it comes to you. Keep in mind that scenes can be shifted around. If you're like me and use Scrivener, your novel is built in scenes and shifting a scene from one place to another requires little more than two mouse clicks.

So, go ahead and write OUT OF ORDER keeping in mind, that you can write nothing that can't be fixed later...and it all adds to the ultimate page/word count. Moreover, getting those great scenes out of your head will make more room for ideas in the scenes you've yet to write.

I started writing the book out of order and quickly got 5,000 words out of my head. I see smooth sailing from here!

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  The Seven Year Itch - Kindle ($2.99)

Kindle Fire Giveaway Winner In the...Pic!

Check out Carrie from Canada! She's this year's Kindle Fire Giveaway Winner! 

Stay Tuned for the Next Contest. 

And that's a mighty fine book there! Enjoy!

Cover Reveal - Son of A Itch (A J.J. McCall Novel~Book 2)

Coming Summer 2013

On the lam from the FBI, the ICE PHANTOM continues with plans to defect to Moscow but not before seeking revenge on J.J. McCall. Mean-while the FBI commences Task Force PHANTOM HUNTER, a team ordered by Director Russell Freeman to flush out suspected illegals within the U.S. Intelligence Community—and not a moment too soon. A listening device found embedded in the White House Situation Room walls, implanted by an agent of the Russian Intelligence Services, takes lie-detecting FBI Agent J.J. McCall and her cohorts’ next mole hunt to the highest echelons of the President’s staff. J.J. and her co-case agent lead the motley crew while she struggles to deal with her alcoholism, juggles conflicting feelings Tony and Six, and bumps heads with an egotistical Secret Service agent whose jurisdictional stonewalling compli-cates her every effort to identify the culprit before they get away.

Best Writing Advice #5: Excite Your...Self?

Yes, that's right. Excite yourself.

Okay, let me explain. After writing the first book in my J.J. McCall Series, some of the scenes left me a little flat. I mean, they were okay and certainly fit the story but I found myself wanting to put down my own story. And I figured if I wanted to put it down and stop reading, so would the reader. What do you do when you're less than thrilled about your own writing?

About this time, a video of an Ann Rice interview was circulating on the web (it's on YouTube) and she offered one of the best pieces of advice I've ever read from another author. Or maybe it was just timely. Anyway, she essentially suggested that we should read the scene and ask ourselves "What can I write to keep myself interested? What could I write to excite myself?" It sounds simple, but it's not when you're in the midst of your muck. Writers are not so different from readers, right? As a matter of fact, we ARE readers (or better be). If you write a twist or hook or make your character do something that keeps YOU from putting your book down, 9 times out of 10, it will do the same for the reader.

So when you get stuck on a lackluster or seemingly boring scene, think about what would make it more interesting for you...and then EXCITE YOURSELF!!

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  The Seven Year Itch - Kindle ($2.99)

And the Kindle Fire winner is ... Carrie

CONGRATULATIONS TO CARRIE (NOTIFIED THIS MORNING)!

SHE WAS RANDOMLY SELECTED FROM S.D. SKYE "SEVEN YEAR ITCH" BLOG TOUR PARTICIPANTS TO WIN MY 4TH ANNUAL E-READER GIVEAWAY!

ENJOY YOUR NEW TOY! :)

STAY TUNED FOR FUTURE CONTESTS, ANNOUNCEMENTS, AND BLOGS!!

My apologies for taking so long but 9-to-5 obligations tied me up the entire weekend. 

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Check out my new release: The Seven Year Itch (A J.J. McCall Novel). The Seven Year Itch - Kindle ($2.99)  
The Seven Year Itch - Paperback ($8.99)

Unexpected Virtual Book Tour Stop...Why I Write Romantic Suspense

Did you kn0w about my virtual book tour? Well, sit down a quick spell and I'll tell you about it. I've been on the 'net promoting the first book of my new series, The Seven Year Itch (A J.J. McCall Novel). As life would have it, my blog tour took a slight detour yesterday when the poor blog tour host fell sick and was unable to host. Since I hate to let a perfectly good post go to waste, I'm sharing it here.  

****And BONUS--if you leave a comment and include your email address, I will include you in the drawing for a brand new Kindle Fire and a $25 Gift Certificate at the end of the book tour (3/1).****

So enjoy my story on why I shifted from romantic comedy to romantic suspense.

The Seven Year Itch is the first in a planned five-book FBI Espionage (really counterespionage) series. In each book, the main character, Special Agent J.J. McCall, will face-off against Russian intelligence officers working in the United States under diplomatic and non-diplomatic cover. Many people say, “Well, the cold war is over. Are the Russians still relevant?” Very much so. Their intelligence residencies are just as active as ever—maybe even more so. And spying in general is the second-oldest profession and shows no signs of slowing down. 

I started this series because I actually worked in the counterintelligence field, so I have lots of insider information. For 20 years I served as an Intelligence Analyst in the U.S. Intelligence Community, the first 12 years as an Intelligence Operations Specialist in the FBI’s Russian Counterintelligence program. I worked so many interesting cases, but while I was there I never had an inkling that my life’s path would lead me to writing novels. I mean, I was reading the Tommyknockers by Stephen King to impress a guy never realizing Stephen and I would someday have something even remotely in common. Writing was something that was always in the far recesses of my mind. I never believed, at least at the time, that I had enough talent to make a career of it.

Once the writing bug bit (and it bit hard and fast), I didn’t have the desire to write non-fictional accounts of my experiences because frankly I always thought the FBI’s release process would be a pain in the neck. I also didn’t want to tread those thin lines between revealing too much and not revealing enough. So, a fiction series seemed best suited for my vision and could easily survive FBI scrutiny.

At first I avoided the spy stuff altogether and stuck to relationships. I began my career writing romantic comedy/chick lit under another name, and comedy and relationships is well within my comfort zone. My so-called love life is God’s running joke and provides me with an ample source of material. But I had always incorporated a bit of mystery into my plots which helped make them page-turners. In order to build this J.J. McCall series, romantic suspense/mystery/espionage seemed like the most natural progression. Also, the more confident I became in my ability and the more time I put between me and my access to sensitive information, the more comfortable I felt putting some of those experiences into a book or series. I knew romance. I knew how to build some elements of suspense and mystery, and my career supplied me with ample knowledge of the espionage game.

But after I finished the first draft I realized writing romantic suspense was far different from writing romantic comedy. 

This series is significantly more plot driven than those in my previous books. Romantic comedy is really character-driven. Where I could rely heavily on my humor and situational comedy to keep the audience hooked into my rom-com stories, I really need to incorporate a lot of twists and turns to help build the suspense and maintain the tension through the entire book, especially during the nail-biter ending. My romantic suspense novels are also told from multiple points of view, whereas I write in first person in chick lit. And I’ve found that even though I’ve tried to tone down the comedic element, I’m unable to stifle my comedic muse because readers are always telling me how funny the main character is. But I left her as is because the humor must be authentic if I tried not to make her funny and she’s funny anyway. The humor will hopefully balance out some of the more dramatic and serious scenes.

I cannot deny that this writing business is hard, and I’m in a perpetual state of learning. Writing romantic suspense is a different animal for me on many levels. But I don’t think you can grow as a writer if you don’t push yourself beyond your comfort zone, even if it takes you 27,000 drafts to do it.


Other Tour Stops Below...Or click here for the Goddess Fish Tour Page. 

February 11:  LizaOConnor
February 11:  STOP 2  Writing into the Sunset
February 12:  Nickie's Views and Interviews
February 13:  Christy McKee Writes for Women in the Sweet Spot of Life
February 14:  Sandra's Blog
February 14:  STOP 2  MeganJohnsInvites
February 15:  A Writer's Life
February 18:  Read Your Writes Book Reviews
February 19:  Let's Get BOOKED!
February 20:  Margay Leah Justice
February 21:  MK McClintock Blog
February 22:  My Devotional Thoughts
February 25:  Full Moon Dreaming
February 26:  Long and Short Reviews: Mystery/Suspense
February 27:  Janna Shay's Fair Play
February 28:  It's Raining Books
March 1:  Bunny's Review

Friend me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authorsdskye

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Check out my new release: The Seven Year Itch (A J.J. McCall Novel). The Seven Year Itch - Kindle ($2.99)  
The Seven Year Itch - Paperback ($8.99)

Comment on the S.D. Skye Virtual Book Tour For A Chance to Win a Kindle Fire & $25 Gift Card

Hello Book Lovers! 

S.D. Skye is going on tour...a virtual book tour that is--Beginning February 11th! Thanks to Goddess Fish Book Tours and some of the most fun bloggers on the Internet, I'm so excited to share a side of myself that few know about and to give readers a deeper look into J.J. McCall and how her character and this series came about. 

Beginning February 11th I'm kicking off my Virtual Book Tour for The Seven Year Itch, A J.J. McCall Novel. Every single stop will offer something new and different. Tons of interviews which speak to just about every aspect of my writing career and how I developed the J.J. McCall Series. There are also a few guests posts on variety of issues including How J.J. McCall became a Human Lie Detector; my 20 year career in the intelligence community and fun details  about my writing life (pantser or plotter? and are my stories based on true events? who would I wear to the Oscars?). I also share some of the best advice I've received over the course of my still short career.

Every one who comments over the entire course of the tour will be entered into a drawing for the chance to win a brand new Kindle Fire and a $25 Amazon gift certificate to kick off your book collection!

Tour Stops Below...Or click here for the Goddess Fish Tour Page. 

February 11:  LizaOConnor
February 11:  STOP 2  Writing into the Sunset
February 12:  Nickie's Views and Interviews
February 13:  Christy McKee Writes for Women in the Sweet Spot of Life
February 14:  Sandra's Blog
February 14:  STOP 2  MeganJohnsInvites
February 15:  A Writer's Life
February 18:  Read Your Writes Book Reviews
February 19:  Let's Get BOOKED!
February 20:  Margay Leah Justice
February 21:  MK McClintock Blog
February 22:  My Devotional Thoughts
February 25:  Full Moon Dreaming
February 26:  Long and Short Reviews: Mystery/Suspense
February 27:  Janna Shay's Fair Play
February 28:  It's Raining Books
March 1:  Bunny's Review

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And don't forget to subscribe to http://authorsdskye.com for automatic updates.

Check out my new release: The Seven Year Itch (A J.J. McCall Novel). The Seven Year Itch - Kindle ($2.99)  
The Seven Year Itch - Paperback ($8.99)

Why I L.O.V.E. Amazon Canada...

Okay, so I released The Seven Year Itch a little more than a month ago. And, by chance, I was doing a Google search and my novel popped up on the Amazon Canada spy novel list. Ever since I've been keeping an eye on the list. Today I looked and this is what appeared. What astonished me more than the fact that my novel is number 18 are the books in the number 17, 19, 20 positions. Tom Clancy, David Baldacci, and Daniel Silva. Really?

Can you say "dream come true"? It's only going to last for the next 20 seconds until the next ranking but at least I have a picture to show I was there.

I. Love. Canadians.

But it's available in the United States too (and I love Americans even more)! (see below)

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Check out my new release: The Seven Year Itch (A J.J. McCall Novel). The Seven Year Itch - Kindle ($2.99)  
The Seven Year Itch - Paperback ($8.99)

Best Writing Advice #4: Save the Cat

I loved this book--Save the Cat by Blake Snyder. Even though it's a screenwriting guide, it really gives authors some great tips on storytelling and character development. One of the best pieces of advice this book provides actually relates directly to the title.

In my romantic comedy writing, most of my characters are pretty likeable. Loveable in fact. They are very funny and going through very relatable relationship issues. And you have to have a pretty hardened heart to hate someone who makes you laugh. Even readers who get frustrated with the character and probably would like to give one-star review for her stupid life decisions in the beginning of the book, gave her three or four star reviews for humor.

Making your main character likeable is key to making the audience buy into your story.

Well, what do you do when you have a main character who may not be showing the best part of him or her self at the beginning of a story? Not only are they not likeable, they are downright unlikeable. Save the cat actually tells you to make your hero or heroine "Save the Cat" or perform some  redeemable act, do something generous, say something uplifting in order to show their softer more sensitive side. When you make a unlikeable character likeable by making him or her perform a heroic-like, then the negative is offset by the positive and the audience can empathize with the character for the rest of the story.

In The Seven Year Itch, I've created a lot of unlikeable characters. People on both sides are traitors to their countries. Ew. How can you like a traitor? Then I developed this whiny FBI agent who feels as if she's been wronged and not given a well-deserved promotion that the readers don't yet know whether she deserves...at least not in the beginning of the book. So how do you make any of the people redeeming? Well, let me tell you, I was saving a lot of cats. Even the worst villains have what they believe is a noble purpose, and you have to communicate that to make their evil actions understandable if not acceptable.

So, when you develop an unlikeable character that you need to make your readers relate to and even empathize with, let them Save the Cat. 

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 Check out my new release: The Seven Year Itch (A J.J. McCall Novel).

  The Seven Year Itch - Kindle ($2.99)

#Blog Author Spotlight: Jodie Pierce author of The Vampire Queen Series

Hello All, 

I believing in paying forward success, no matter how big or small they may be. So when it was suggested that I join other blogs in spotlighting other up and coming authors, I jumped on board. The first on the list is Author Jodie Pierce is the author of the The Vampire Queen Series featuring The Vampire Queen, Demise of the Vampire Queen, and The Vampire Chronicles.

 1. Tell us about your book(s).

I have written a vampire trilogy about a Vampire Queen that in the first book is awakened and has to relearn all her powers, spells, knowledge, purify the vampire race etc. In the second book she travels to Venice to head up a new coven. The third book she oversteps her bounds as the head of a school for 'different' children, forces unite to dethrone her. That's the books in a tight nutshell.

2. Who is your favorite character and why?

My favorite is the Queen because her range of emotions and personalities make her completely interesting and a challenge to those around her at times.

3. Is there a message you hope readers will take from your work?

 

No. I just write for fun.

4. How did you go about getting your book published?

I tried for years and years by emailing my work to publishing companies and when the email came in saying they wanted it I thought it was a spam at first...LOL

5. What's one thing you'd like readers to know about you or your work that they don't know?

Many of my writing comes from dreams.

6. What the best piece of writing advice you've ever received?

Never give up.

7. Pay it forward: What are some of your favorite books that you're currently reading?

The Banished One (book 3 of The Undeparted series) by Deborah Palumbo, a new favorite author friend of mine. I'm also reading Angel Kisses by Miss Stevie

 

 Thank you for joining me today, Jodie! For more information, please visit her at:

 

http://www.jodiepierceauthor.blogspot.com

http://www.thevampirequeen1.blogspot.com

http://www.vampiricallyrical.blogspot.com

http://www.thevampirequeen1.weebly.com

https://www.facebook.com/jodie.pierce.14

http://www.facebook.com/jodie.pierce779

http://www.facebook.com/vampirelyrical

http://www.groups.yahoo.com/groups/Sink_Your_Fangs_In
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5216941-jodie-pierce
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/jodie-pierce/25/357/b22
http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/thevampirequeen

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abAql94HrHA 

 

 

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S.D. Skye's Next Big Thing (I've been TAGGED!)

I've been tagged in The Next Big Thing... What's the Next Big Thing?

Well, one of my author-friends, Matt Coyle (a fellow International Thriller Writer member who has a totally brilliant novel coming out next May) tagged me to answer the following 9 interview questions about our current project or work-in-progress. He mentions me on his blog and, in return, I get to pay it forward and mention some up and coming authors on my blog--Rebecca Kyle, Carey Conley, Markeise Washington, and Rahiem Brooks.  You can visit their blogs starting next week to see what their next big projects are.

My work in progress is Book 2 in my new FBI Series featuring FBI Agent J.J. McCall--SON OF A ITCH (A J.J. McCall Novel). It follows my debut romantic suspense The Seven Year Itch (A J.J. McCall Novel).

1. Where did the idea come from for the book?

When I started this series, I decided that each book would feature a new and different case, so that each book delivered some level of closure and could stand alone, even if the romance elements were left "open." So, this second book features J.J.'s second case.

A Russian Intelligence Officer has installed a listening device in the White House Situation Room, where the President holds all of his classified briefings. Can you imagine the nightmare? With all the cleared personnel and Secret Service personnel, the question obviously becomes, whodunit? Who installed bug?

It's loosely based on a real case in which a Russian Intelligence officer installed a bug in the US State Department, which was widely reported in the media. *ahem*

2. What genre does your book fall under?

Every book in this series is a romantic suspense with strong mystery elements. There is also a lot of humor and some page-turning thrill rides throughout.

3. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I don't know the "actors" per se. But what I do know is how I envision them. 

The following actors, Henry Cavill and Gina Torres, are who I see when I'm writing

Henry is not Italian (beautifully British).


And Gina Torres is not African American (Cuban).

But this, my darlings, is America...and you get the picture.


4. What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

FBI J.J. McCall and her new Task Force clash with Secret Service while  lauching an investigation into who planted a bug in the White House Situation Room, meanwhile the ICE Phantom, now on the lam, plots J.J.'s murder and makes plans to defect to Moscow.

5. Will your book be self published or represented by an agency?

Although I'm represented by a NY agent, I declined an offer from a "big six" publisher. This series will be published under Frankie V Books, my romance-suspense/mystery/thriller imprint, barring a movie deal which prompts an utterly enormous offer from a NY publisher. [laugh here]

6. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I'm still writing the first draft of this manuscript, using Scrivener storyboard feature. I anticipate finishing this version by February.

7. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Honestly, I hate comparisons...and then to do them myself...impossible. Based on what my readers have said, if I were going to place this series on a bookshelf based on topics, I would probably squeeze it at the end of a shelf containing books by Ken Follett, LeCarre, Robert Ludlum, Tom Clancy, and Gayle Lynds. So, the "Itch" series would easily fit in on that shelf. Catherine Coulter has an FBI Series, but it's mostly murder mysteries not espionage.The difference in my novels is the main character is female and African American (like an Alex Cross) and works counterintelligence--as told by someone who worked in counterintelligence. That's kind of new. There aren't many FBI folks writing spy novels. I think I may be it...at least for now.

8. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

This entire series is based on a African American FBI Agent with whom I worked. She's a counterintelligence executive today and one of the few women (of any race) who have attained such a senior position. She played a significant role in many of the prominent cases over the last couple of decades, incluing the arrest of former Special Agent Robert Hanssen. I don't think her story, even fictionalized, would get told any other way. .

9. What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?

Along with a well-plotted story, you get lots more romantic tension in this novel as the love triangle gets amped up 1,000 percent. Also, you'll love the mystery. A lot of books give away the "whodunit" early. But the J.J. McCall novels will keep you guessing until the end.

No, really.

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 Check out my new release: The Seven Year Itch (A J.J. McCall Novel).

  The Seven Year Itch - Kindle ($2.99)