Writers in the Storm

by Piper Bayard

James Bond, Jason Bourne, Sydney Bristow, Jack Bauer... Nothing thrills like a well-crafted spy. However, most of us haven’t served in the Intelligence Community (“IC”) to have experience to draw on, so it helps to talk to someone who is the real deal. My writing partner, Jay Holmes, is the real deal. He’s a forty-plus-year veteran of field intelligence operations and a senior member of the US Intelligence Community.

Spy or Spook?

So is Holmes a spy? No. Holmes is a “spook.” As he says, spying is seamy. It’s what the Russians do. The preferred slang among American intelligence operatives, particularly older operatives, and in the American IC in general is “spook,” not “spy.”

Usage of the term “spook” in the Intelligence Community dates back to the 1800s and is derived from “a ghost that haunts people and is considered undesirable.” It has nothing to do with the racial slur, and operatives of all races are referred to as “spooks.” “Spies” are the agents of foreign countries that are spying on us, or they are foreign agents who are spying on their own countries on our behalf.

Now that we’ve settled that, let’s take a look at some character traits that all spooks share.

While members of the IC can have an infinite variety of personalities, religions, political opinions, and backgrounds, American spooks all have some character traits in common. These traits will be similar to greater and lesser degrees in other countries.

1. Highly Developed Mental Discipline

Members of the Intelligence Community must be able to compartmentalize information, as well as their experiences. They must mentally wall off the work life from the personal life, and vice versa. Otherwise, they would talk out of turn, get burned out, or worse, if a field operative, they would get dead.

2. Love of Travel and Experiencing Foreign Cultures

One reason spooks are drawn to the work is an abiding interest in people, cultures, and experiencing their world.

3. Recognition That Diverse People Actually Are Diverse

Anyone can talk about diversity. Talking is easy. Those in the Intelligence Community, on the other hand, must live those differences, and they know that recognizing and understanding the contrasting values, personalities, and customs of other cultures is paramount to both their survival and the success of their missions. They must work within that kaleidoscopic framework on behalf of American interests.

4. Superior Intelligence

Spooks really do have to be smart.

Holmes and I know what you’re thinking... But there’s this spook on [fill in the network] that says really stupid things. Yes. We often laugh at them and wonder what they’re up to. With members of the IC, as with everyone, intelligence is a tool that is dependent on the user, and it can always be limited or even nullified by character and hubris. The greatest mistake any spook, or any person, for that matter, can make is to think that because they know some thing, they know every thing. Falling into that trap is its own form of stupidity.

5. Wholly Committed

Members of the IC are not wishy-washy people, whether they spend their career at an analyst’s desk at Headquarters or in Third World countries hunting down our enemies. They commit their time, their relationships, and even their lives in service to their nation. The clandestine services take a piece from everyone who serves. Everyone.

6. Good Sense of Humor

Even the field spooks like Holmes, whose spirit animal is Grumpy Cat, have a great sense of humor. Without it, they would go mad in short order.

7. Loyalty

US spooks are loyal to America and to the ideals of the US Constitution and US society. This is not a blind loyalty or a fanaticism, but rather a deep commitment that makes them willing to sacrifice their lifestyle and potentially their lives in service to their country.

8. Socially Accepting

Religion, race, ethnicity, first language, and financial background are irrelevant to US field spooks as compared to skill and loyalties. In fact, such differences are highly valued and useful as long as the individuals are first and foremost loyal to America and to American constitutional ideals. The field is a meritocracy, and what matters most is who can get the job done and come home alive.

9. Covert Action Spooks Can Get Wild During Recess

Field spooks, specifically, have a “certain skill set” that lends them to being a bit wilder than the average bear when letting off steam. Holmes and I aren’t providing examples in order to protect the guilty.

10. Counter-Intelligence (“CI”) Specialists Are Sober and Intensely Patient

CI specialists are looking for that one irregularity—that one glowing clue. Or to sink to a cliché because it is so apt, the needle in the haystack, and they have to sift through tons of hay. CI spooks keep track of mountains of information and are highly skilled at catching that one anomaly or inconsistency in evaluating a foreign agent or in locating a mole within their organization. That requires the soul of patience and attention to detail.

The Real Secret

The overriding trait common to members of the IC, particularly to field spooks, is a farsighted optimism. It is a belief that what they are doing is helping to make their country safer for those back at home. It is the conviction that when they risk their lives, it is for a better tomorrow.

“If I didn’t believe I was helping create a better world, I would never jump out of the plane.” ~ Jay Holmes

Any questions about the character traits of real life members of the IC? Who are your favorite espionage characters in literature and movies? What heroic qualities do you see in them?

About Bayard & Holmes

Piper Bayard and Jay Holmes of Bayard & Holmes are the authors of espionage tomes and international spy thrillers. For more on the personalities and personal challenges of those in the Intelligence Community, see SPYCRAFT: Essentials. It is designed specifically for writers, and it also addresses the functions and jurisdictions of the main US intelligence organizations, tradecraft techniques, surveillance, the most common foibles of spy fiction, and much more. It is available in digital format and print at Amazon.

Please visit Piper and Holmes at their site, BayardandHolmes.com. For notices of their upcoming releases, subscribe to the Bayard & Holmes Covert Briefing. You can also contact Bayard & Holmes at their Contact page, on Twitter at @piperbayard, on Facebook at Piper Bayard or Bayard & Holmes, or at their email, BH@BayardandHolmes.com.

Laura

I looked it up. This blog was born in April of 2010, when our critique group sat in Charla Rae’s office and came up with the crazy idea of a blog to help writers improve their craft and not feel so alone, working in solitude. We’ve posted three times a week since then and have been quoted, reblogged, and received awards. Members of the group came and went, but WITS has remained. 

This, I hope, will always be true. 

But it’s time for me to move on. I love this place, and all of you, but I’ve come to realize that I’ve said everything I have to say. I’ll still be writing, and learning.  I’ll still be around — I’ll see you in the comments, and I’ll be blogging on WITS once a quarter. I’m not sure what will be next for me, but I’ll let you know.

If you want to stay in touch, friend me on Facebook HERE, or sign up for my quarterly newsletter HERE.

In the meantime, I hope you continue to enjoy and support WITS — with new blood, it’s likely to be even BETTER!

I thought I’d leave you (for now) with my top 5 favorite blogs of all time here on WITS. And since you know I’m the writer's cheerleader-in-a-too-tight-skirt, they’re inspirational:

• Everything I Need To Know About Writing, I Learned at Dairy Queen
• You Are Your Golden Ticket
• Where the Stories Come From
• Why Learning Takes So Long
• Notes to My Unpublished Self

Not saying goodbye — just so long for now. See you down the writing road!

Fae

I remember the night we decided to start a writer's blog. We spent a good deal of time trying to agree on a name. When I suggested Writers in the Storm, some asked if that was a Doors song. “If we change a couple of words,” I answered. Laura liked the idea because the publishing industry was in turmoil and the climate of the industry was like a storm. Someone shortened it to WITS, which we all liked a lot.

It’s hard to believe that was almost ten years ago. All I wanted to do was survive learning how to write and post blogs. I knew nothing about “connecting” electronically with anyone. But Jenny said we needed to start WITS as a platform for all of us. I wasn’t sure what that meant, but everyone else seemed to think that was important, so I went along.

I must thank all of you for reading my early-years posts, from the very early posts about my travels (From the Safari Journal) to the only writing craft topic I felt competent to blog about: a three-part world building series beginning with World-Building: Part 1 - Physical Setting to throwdowns with Laura, this one is my favorite on Inspiration vs. Perspiration in Writing.

Your comments and support helped me grow as a blogger, as well as become more confident in my writing skills so that I could offer 5 Conflict-making Choices Characters Can Make and career insights like 7 Tips to "Level Up" Your Writing Career.

Writers in the Storm has grown to something I never believed possible, and it’s because of you, our readers. I know you will understand when I share with you that it is time for me to concentrate on my own writing career now. I have to master marketing like I did blogging. I have to devote more time to writing my books. I have to “level up” my writing game by taking more intensive classes. 

All this is going to take a huge chunk of time, and though I’ve studied a lot of physics, I can’t create an hour like I can create a batch of chocolate chip cookies, so I’ve been looking at what needed to change. Writers in the Storm takes up three full months of my writing time a year, and that is time I need to reclaim.

I won’t be a stranger. I’ll still be reading and responding when I have something to say, even though I’ll be more in “lurk” mode. And I’ll keep you up on what I’m learning during the year with new posts.

This is a sad time (goodbyes are really hard for me), but it is time for me to let Writers in the Storm sail on without me as part of the crew. You can keep in touch with me at my website or email (fae@faerowen.com) or Facebook. You know I’ll be watching you and your writing progress. Share those successes as well as the tougher writing times. We’re all this boat together.

About Laura & Fae

They've been with Writers in the Storm from the beginning, they are lovely people, and they write fantastic books. What else do you need to know?

Julie Glover

Earlier this year, my co-writer and I released three novels of a mythological mystery/thriller series. Unfortunately, we didn't know quite know where our story fit, since it had elements of urban fantasy but was set on an island. And it was kind of a thriller, but also a mystery.

So we considered our specific story, which featured:

• A somewhat-uptight forensic psychologist
• A tropical island with a pink-sanded beach
• Mythology and magic

Armed with that information, we approached a designer, told her what we wanted, and she delivered three beautiful covers according to our request. Mind you, these were shorter books, we were releasing on a quick schedule, and we chose to streamline the look to save some money.

• 

• 

• 

Behind these covers are fabulous stories that you totally want to read—trust me!—but the books weren't selling well.

We decided to rethink our strategy, and along came a guest blogger here on Writers in the Storm who nailed where we'd gone wrong. From Your Cover Sells Your Book by Melinda VanLone:

She expanded this idea further in The Cover Two-Step:

Sure enough, our story wasn't easily categorized, but we could focus on the genre we were closest to—urban fantasy. Thankfully, within that area is an upcoming category titled supernatural suspense, which fit us even better.

Now we had something to work with—a target to aim for. And it no longer mattered to us whether the cover represented the story just so. Rather, the cover had to fit the genre, the tone, the imagery a potential reader was looking for.

We changed designers to a company that specialized in producing urban fantasy covers that had sold well. We spent hours upon hours going through covers in our genre to see what features were common, choosing stock photos we could recommend, and wording our request to our designer to give her an overall sense what we wanted, while allowing her to bring her own expertise into the process.

And then we waited.

Any author who has ever waited for a book cover — not knowing exactly what will show up — knows that it's the nail-biting and tenterhooks kind of waiting.

While we did do some back-and-forth with the designer on the first round, we fairly quickly arrived at these new covers:

• 

• 

• 

What a difference, right?!

Now you can immediately see that this is a supernatural suspense series with a strong female heroine. Who cares that she's a forensic psychologist? (You learn that on page one.) Who cares that she's uptight? (Also on page one.) Who cares that the sands are pink? (Chapter two.)

The point is knowing what kind of story you'll be getting. That's the promise we're making.

Do you need to redesign your cover(s)? Ask yourself a few questions.

• When I show my cover to others, can they easily name the primary genre or story tone?
• Is my book/series selling well?
• Are potential readers clicking on ads that feature my book cover?
• If you DYIed your original cover: Do I have more money now to hire a professional designer?
• Have cover expectations for my genre changed since my book's release?
• Is my cover comparable to bestselling books in my genre?

A cover redesign is not a guarantee of increased book sales. But I've heard enough positive testimonies to know that your cover matters. Your books having the right covers could be the difference between getting passed over and getting purchased. What a difference a cover makes!

Have you had a redesign of your book cover(s)? Are you considering a redesign now?

About Julie

Julie Glover writes cozy mysteries, young adult fiction, and supernatural suspense (under the pen name Jules Lynn). Her upcoming YA contemporary novel, SHARING HUNTER, finaled in the 2015 RWA® Golden Heart®, and her co-written Muse Island Series is available now, beginning with book one, Mark of the Gods.

You can visit her website here.