Writers in the Storm

Piper Bayard & Jay Holmes

*** For those of you who write about covert operatives, we invited Bayard & Holmes back to share some insider tips on how to write believable spies. Enjoy! ***

The basic function spooks serve is to spy on people and organizations. Technology makes that task easier. One major segment of that technology revolves around “bugs.”

In spy parlance and crime stories, the term “bug” refers to electronic devices for clandestinely monitoring targeted spaces. We’ve all seen and read about fictional spooks locating bugs in homes, offices, and hotel rooms. The characters usually find them in a few seconds on lampshades, behind pictures, and inside desk phones. It’s cute and convenient for writers to pretend that bugs are so easy, but it’s far from the truth.

The Soviets successfully bugged the US Ambassador’s residential office in the US Embassy in Moscow from 1945 – 1952 with a gift of a carving of the US Great Seal. After that, the CIA invested heavily in developing better bugging and bug-detection technology. They developed “audio teams” whose specialty it was to bug targeted spaces. The term predates video surveillance. Modern intelligence services around the world now all field such specialty teams.

Bugging technology has improved tremendously since audio teams were first formed, but they still use some of the basic practices and principals developed prior to 1960. While other types of intelligence operatives partake in bugging activities as opportunities allow, when time and opportunity permit, a specialized team can do a better and less detectable installation of bugs.

How an operative or a specialty team bugs a location depends on several factors.

• Time—How soon do they need the information?

If critical information is needed quickly there may not be time for an audio team to show up and do a thorough job. In that case, field operatives would do the job, and they have varying degrees of training and expertise in basic bugging techniques.

• Time—How long will they have to plant the bugs?

If a team or operative has only a few minutes, then they will use the simplest installations of disguised bugs. If a specialty team has as much as twenty minutes to work, they consider it a luxury. With less time, they will be less thorough.

• Time—How sophisticated is the target?

In twenty minutes, a six-man team can install a high quality eavesdropping system that will be difficult for a sophisticated opponent such as a Russian or Communist Chinese embassy to detect. With a less sophisticated target, such as a drug gang or a third world military or diplomatic installation, a good team can do a great job in as little as five minutes.

• Time—How long must the power source for the bug last? (Are you seeing a theme?)

Transmitters—bugs—need a power source. They are now smaller than a dime, and in the smallest devices, battery power is limited. However, technology allows for bugs to use external power sources, such as the target’s own electrical system, without a direct tap into the electrical system.

The bug’s transmission need not be powerful. In fact, if a bug transmits too strong a signal, the target can too easily detect it.

• Location—Where can the operative or audio team monitor the bugs?

If the operative or team can’t safely monitor the installed bug from a nearby location, such as an apartment or business in an adjoining building, then larger (but still compact) relays can be installed nearby to receive and re-transmit the bug’s weak signal.

They can also install monitoring equipment in a vehicle. A car’s trunk can contain equipment that can trigger a relay to quickly transmit information and recordings picked up by the bug in a matter of seconds when the car drives past the relay.

• Alternative Installation Methods

Sometimes, the operative doesn’t need to access the space. Many a bug has been placed by sending a nice gift to a target, such as a heavy desk clock, a lovely antique lamp, or the US Great Seal carving referenced above.

The trick in these cases is to have a viable source for the gift. A contractor trying to do business with a foreign embassy might serve as such a source if the contractor is in the employ of the folks doing the bugging. Unfortunately, most of the premier targets, such as a Russian Embassy, will not be easily duped into accepting gifts and placing them in secured areas.

In the most ideal case, a targeted building can be bugged during construction. These windfalls are infrequent, but they provide the best opportunity for placing the most sophisticated, long acting bugs.

A more frequent event would be gaining access when repair work is being done. If you can intercept a delivery of new furniture or appliances, then you have a great opportunity to place the highest quality bugs with well-disguised installations without setting foot on the premises.

The Field Spook’s Bugging Kit

Once your character gains access by way of bribery or burglary, his bugging kit need not be any larger than a paperback novel.

A basic bugging kit would include bugs that can be programmed to record and/or transmit on preset schedules. The bugs can also be turned on and off remotely to foil bug sweepers. The kit would also contain a small hand drill, a minimal paint kit, and epoxies for patching minute holes in walls. The paint is odor free and fast drying. For the finishing touch, the kit would contain a “puffer” for adding a layer of ambient dust to a painted area.

The entire kit may be disguised in something such as a travel-size chess set or built into real cosmetic containers for a female spy.

• How a Field Spook Plants a Bug in a Wall

The operative first selects an advantageous location—often just above a baseboard. She begins by drilling a small hole, catching the dust on a little piece of plastic. She then selects a bug from her assortment, pops it in the hole, and seals the hole with epoxy. She empties the wall dust from the hole into a baggie and then uses the plastic as a palette to mix dabs of paint to match the color of the wall. With a small brush, she paints over the epoxy and then collects all of her materials to take with her. As a finishing touch, she sucks up ambient dust from against the baseboard with the puffer and puffs it onto the freshly painted wall until it looks like the surrounding area.

In short, your characters’ bugging efforts will be believable if you consider the full nature of the opportunities they have for surveillance and plan their bug installations accordingly. Where are they? How much time do they have? Who is the target? What equipment do they have? Work logically with your space, time, and tools, and your characters will bug like the pros.

Do you have any questions about bugging? What kinds of surveillance equipment do your spooks use in your books?

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Piper Bayard is a bestselling author and a recovering attorney. Her spy thriller writing partner, Jay Holmes, is an anonymous senior member of the intelligence community and a field veteran from the Cold War through the current Global War on Terror.

You can contact Bayard & Holmes in comments below, at their site, Bayard & Holmes, on Twitter at @piperbayard, on Facebook at Bayard & Holmes, or at their email, BH@BayardandHolmes.com.

Susan Spann

Exercise caution when reading the “Grant of Rights” in your publishing deal. The “grant of rights” designates exactly which rights the author is licensing (or “granting”) to the publisher, and in many cases it seems straightforward, but dangers and pitfalls often lurk in this part of the publishing contract.

Contract language varies widely from publisher to publisher, and even from deal to deal, but let’s take a look at some of the most common traps and pitfalls to beware in a grant of rights:

Pitfall #1: Grants of rights split across multiple paragraphs.

This isn’t a “trap” as much as a warning. Most publishing contracts contain a primary grant of publishing rights in the paragraph labeled “grant of rights” and then a grant of “secondary rights” in later paragraphs. Authors who aren’t paying close attention (or who don’t read every paragraph of the contract carefully) might miss the later grants, and not realize just how many rights the publisher is requesting.

Note: this isn’t usually an attempt to “pull a fast one” on the author. Legitimate publishers’ contracts are open about the places where rights are being granted. In most cases, use of different paragraphs to transfer different types of rights is merely a function of the way attorneys write contracts.

Solution: Read the contract carefully. If you’re having trouble keeping track of the rights, make a two-column list with “publisher” on top of one column and “author” (or “me”) in the other. Every time a right is mentioned, list it in the appropriate column. When you’re finished reading, you’ll be able to see exactly which rights you’re granting and on what terms.

Pitfall #2: Copyright grabs.

This occurs when the contract contains language stating the publisher will register copyright “in Publisher’s name” or otherwise states that copyright in the work will belong to the publisher. Legitimate publishing contracts do not contain an assignment of copyright. They contain “licenses” or “grants of permission” for publishers to make use of certain rights, but copyright always remains with the author alone.

Note: The publisher typically does own the copyright on the cover art and other art or graphics supplied by the publisher. That’s not the same as copyright in the book itself.

Solution: Never sign a contract that requires you to assign your copyright to the publisher. Make sure all contracts contain a clear statement that copyright in the work belongs to the author alone.

Pitfall #3: The contract takes more rights than the publisher needs.

Publishers need the rights to publish your work in as many formats as the publisher actually intends to publish. If the contract is for print and ebook, the publisher needs both print and ebook rights. Publishers usually ask for additional (subsidiary) rights as well, and it falls to the author to evaluate and decide which rights to grant and which to withhold.

As a general rule, authors should beware a deal where the publisher insists on film, TV, apps/gaming, and merchandising rights. These rights typically spring from the author’s work – not that of the publisher – and represent a windfall to the publisher. Most of the time, authors prefer to keep these rights for themselves, and many (if not most) legitimate publishers have no problem allowing authors to keep them.

Foreign sales and translation rights are a trickier issue, because many publishers have a foreign rights department that handles the sale of foreign and translation rights. The key is remembering that the publishing deal is a business transaction. Evaluate the offer and make the decision with your business mind—not your heart.

Note: Many times, publishers will agree to reversion of certain subsidiary rights and rights to publish in certain formats if the rights are not licensed or sold within a certain, specified time. That may be a good “middle ground” for rights the author would like to keep but which the publisher insists on making part of the initial deal.

Solution: Creative negotiation, willingness to compromise, and ultimately the willingness to walk away from a deal are the keys to success with broader rights requests. Evaluate the deal and decide what you are willing to offer (meaning, you, as opposed to what your mom/friend/cousin/person-at-the-market thinks you should do). Sometimes we have to compromise to make a deal happen—but never forget that a bad deal is worse than no publishing contract at all.

This post doesn’t cover all of the issues surrounding grants of rights, but it does hit the high points of some very important contract pitfalls.

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And since we’re on the topic: what are your biggest rights-related concerns? I'll be answering your questions in the comments.

About Susan

Susan Spann writes the Shinobi Mysteries, featuring ninja detective Hiro Hattori and his Portuguese Jesuit sidekick, Father Mateo. Her debut novel, CLAWS OF THE CAT (Minotaur Books, 2013), was a Library Journal Mystery Debut of the Month. The second Shinobi Mystery, BLADE OF THE SAMURAI, released on July 15, 2014.

Susan is also a transactional attorney whose practice focuses on publishing law and business. When not writing or practicing law, she raises seahorses and rare corals in her marine aquarium.

You can find her online at her website, http://www.SusanSpann.com, and on Twitter (@SusanSpann).

 

Top photo credit: LOSINPUN via photopin cc

Two months ago I wrote about writing lessons I learned in the Galapagos Islands. I've been thinking about that post. After returning from a week floating on a lazy river in Mexico, I've got more ideas on the subject, especially since I now have characters and a plot for another brand new book. (I can't travel anymore, my brain might burst if I get any more book ideas!)

As a math teacher, I'm always on the lookout for new, better ways to help my students understand abstract concepts. As writers, I believe we're all on the lookout for new characters and fresh plots because, unfortunately, compelling characters and plots rarely materialize out of thin air. I'd like to share three gold nuggets for crafting your humdrum experiences into amazing stories.

1. What task are you grumpiest about in your daily routine? Amplify that activity and figure out who would be willing to complete that activity every day of their lives? Why would that person be willing to do that probably-thankless job?

Example from Fae's life: A couple of years ago I decided to do my first "cleanse"–twenty-one days of protein powder drinks and protein (not sweet energy!) bars. After the first week I decided I was crazy, but I wanted to finish what I'd started. By the end of the second week, I wondered who would knowingly ever agree to do what I was doing. Easy, only a prisoner in jail would survive indefinitely on my "diet." Only a terrible crime could sentence a person to such a facility, which would have to be inescapable. Riots by prisoners would be useless. (This is obviously how I felt every time I turned on that cursed blender.)

My YA prison world was born. The whole farthest-away-from-Earth planet was the prison for the losers of a planetary war. To the young people born on the world, protein drinks and bars are normal. They don't relate to their parents' stories of a barbecued burger or ice cream.

2. Think of your last vacation or week-end trip. What was the best part–the location, the people you were with, something you planned to do, or something that was spontaneous and not under your control? Whether it's a contemporary, historical, paranormal, or futuristic, you can morph that experience into something for your characters to enjoy, something where they can connect.

Example from Fae's life: Last week I floated down a lazy river, looking at the iguanas on the edge, the palm trees surrounding the river, listening to conversations of others who raced past me. I bobbed down little rapids, swam out of doldrums, ducked under waterfalls. By the third day I was reveling in what great–and necessary–R & R this trip was after the stress of the previous month. And the seeds for a new book emerged.

Okay, I write science fiction, so I'm looking at an R & R planet with outdoor activities, including my lazy river, a casino, and other leaning-to-the-corrupt options. An excursion to the countryside would work for a historical. A paranormal could have wonderful possibilities in such a setting. Perhaps one of the characters would own the property.

3. Think of the last really bad thing that happened to you, either physically or emotionally. Yep, make it happen to the character that will have the most trouble handling it.

 Example from Fae's life: Last week, I went down a waterslide for the first time in my life. It's not that I'd been afraid, but as a former lifeguard, I was always the one to catch the kids at the end of the slide. I climbed the three stories of stairs and watched kids throw themselves down the chute. I did the same. It was exhilarating. It was fun. Right until I landed on my knee at the bottom of the shallow water at the end of the slide.

Luckily I was traveling with my friend who is a physical therapist, so I was confident she was right that nothing was broken. But the pain was terrible, and the movement and icing were brutal. Two days later I was back in the lazy river, protecting my leg from the rafters passing me, worrying if I'd be able to exit the river when I got tired. I walked like a peg-legged pirate and couldn't sit or stand without groaning–an improvement from swallowing screams the first twenty-four hours.

And guess what? My  SEAL-type hero of the new R & R book, well, he does something stupid, hurts his knee and is incapacitated for 24 hours. Only he's not just in excruciating pain, he's in jeopardy. Heck, if I hurt, I can make my characters hurt. And the best part is, since I felt it, I can get the words down on the page to help my readers feel it, too.

Do you have an example from your life that you've used as inspiration for a scene or a whole book? Is there something you'd like to use but haven't figured out how?

About Fae

Fae Rowen discovered the romance genre after years as a science  fiction freak.  Writing futuristics and medieval paranormals, she jokes  that she can live anywhere but the present.  As a mathematician, she knows life’s a lot more fun when you get to define your world and its rules.

Punished, oh-no, that’s published as a co-author of a math textbook, she yearns to hear personal stories about finding love from those who read her books, rather than horrors of algebra lessons gone wrong.  She is grateful for good friends who remind her to do the practical things in life like grocery shop, show up at the airport for a flight and pay bills.

A “hard” scientist who avoided writing classes like the plague, she now enjoys sharing her brain with characters who demand that their stories be told.  Amazing, gifted critique partners keep her on the straight and narrow. Feedback from readers keeps her fingers on the keyboard.

When she’s not hanging out at Writers in the Storm, you can visit Fae at http://faerowen.com  or www.facebook.com/fae.rowen