Real Spies, Real Lives

The final chapters of Dangerous Truths , book two of Self-Inflicted Wounds , also end on a bit of a cliffhanger. You might say all of book three is the denouement!

Some more chapters from book two, Dangerous Truths , and my philosophy on sex scenes in thrillers. That got your attention, right?

Mai and Alexei get a hint of who might be involved in the murders of the "friends of Milosevic" and someone takes care of a complication for them. More from Self-Inflicted Wounds book two, Dangerous Truths . Preorder book two HERE .

Another reading from Self-Inflicted Wounds Book Two, Dangerous Truths . Mai Fisher confirms that if it is Russian mercenaries behind the murders of Yugoslavian officials, they're a sadistic bunch, and she finds that out the hard way. 

Launch day for Welcome to Belgrade (which you can buy HERE ), a resolution to our cliffhanger from Welcome to Belgrade and a few chapters from book two, Dangerous Truths, which you can preorder HERE .

Cliffhangers are a tried and true thriller trope, perhaps overused on occasion, but certainly a good way to keep a reader reading. Welcome to Belgrade is still available for preorder and launches a week from today.

Why not? Cliffhangers are one of the oldest tropes in a thriller. I try to avoid cliches, but a trope? Sometimes they can be an author's best friend. Welcome to Belgrade is available for preorder and will launch on October 1, 2020.

Episode 14! A few more chapters from Welcome to Belgrade , book one of the trilogy Self-Inflicted Wounds , and I ramble on a bit about John le Carre, British interrogation techniques, and 9/11.

From Self-Inflicted Wounds: Welcome to Belgrade (book one): Mai Fisher arrives in Belgrade for her mission to stop the political murders in Yugoslavia, unaware that Alexei has reactivated himself and is following her surreptitiously. Mai visits an old acquaintance, now a low-level Russian Mafiya boss in Belgrade to see what information he might have on the "friends of Milosevic" murders. Alexei, h...

Episode 12! We're moving along--and the audience is growing. Wish I knew what caused that so I can keep it up! This week's episode revolves around the opening scene of the first book in my trilogy Self-Inflicted Wounds . In Welcome to Belgrade , my character Mai Fisher meets with the notorious Serbian war criminal Arkan, and he insists that they make small talk so as not to raise suspicions about...

"He is finished" was the opposition's campaign slogan against Slobodan Milosevic in the election of 2000. It took a couple of weeks post-election to accomplish that, but it did happen peacefully. I'm winding up readings from my reader magnet, Dateline: Belgrade this week. Next episode--more background on why I wrote a trilogy about a European election.

More reading from the new reader magnet Dateline: Belgrade , with an emphasis on a change in the purpose and nature of street demonstrations in Belgrade in the year 2000. Why did the police lay off--most of the time? What did a student group and a radio station have to do with activism? And a hint about how changing a constitution backfired on the man it was supposed to benefit. I'm talking 20 yea...

Some background on a reader magnet entitled Dateline: Belgrade came about, and an introduction for the upcoming trilogy, Self-Inflicted Wounds . You may learn more about the Balkans than you ever wanted to know. And, yes, a thunderstorm passed over while I was recording. This episode contains some excerpts from Dateline: Belgrade and the trilogy. One excerpt touches on the disturbing topic of huma...

In the final story, "Brave New World," from the collection, Spy Flash II , we see that even the most sincere of politicians can succumb to the temptations of power, even if for good reason. And it takes a spy to show the way back to the light. Stay tuned next week for excerpts from an upcoming novella, Dateline: Belgrade , and be prepared to learn more about the history of the Balkans than you eve...

What role does a Klingon proverb play in the third story from the collection Spy Flash II , "Best Served Cold"? Listen and find out. Though this story's inspiration was four years ago, it unfortunately encompasses a topic still timely today, still unbelievably making headlines today: the killing of unarmed Black people by the police. A human story, not a spy story per se, "Best Served Cold" was di...

Story number two from the collection Spy Flash II . "Promise her anything" is the instruction to get an asset to agree to a marriage she doesn't want. But some spies fulfill their promises.

Trying to be more spontaneous instead of scripted, even when reading the excerpt. I may have, well, employed my limited ability to mimic accents. Be kind.

Some thoughts on including extremist characters and their philosophy in fiction, and an excerpt from A Change for the Better .

My thoughts on whether an event is history or a current event. Oh, and an excerpt from my novella, A Change for the Better . You can hear more excerpts at my website . Just click on the "Past Podcasts" tab.

Some insight into why I write historical fiction. 

Let's try this again--after some much-needed tutoring on sound editing. Enjoy!