Unexpected Paths
Real spies. Real lives. A hint of romance.
Menu
Skip to content
Home
Blog
2024 Year in Review
A Movie Review?
Annus Horribilis
Complex Characters
Expect the Unexpected
Inside the Heads of Spies – Part 1
Inside the Heads of Spies – Part 2
NaNoWriMo With Reluctance
Plot vs Character
Reboot
Retreating to Write
So Long, Old Friend
Spies On The Run
Spy Novel Plots – Part 4
Spy Writing Basics – Archetypes
The Big Four, Plots That is – Part 1
The Mystery, or “Spy Novel Plot No. 2”
The Writing Life
The Writing Life – Again
THERE IS NOTHING LIKE A CON
They’re Called “Cover Stories” for a Reason
Virtual Writing Retreats Aren’t as Good as In-Person–Well, Maybe They Are
What to do in November Without NaNoWriMo
What’s Next?
Whatever Happened to My Podcast?
Whatup NovNov?
Who Am I Anyway?
Why Writing Workshops?
Writer Tech
Don’t Forget the Second Bananas – Part 2
Writing Spies
The Pigeon Tunnel
Vision and Imagination
Wait, You Write Nonfiction, Too?
Too Many Irons in the Fire?
When Book Events Go Wrong
When Book Events Go Right
Writing Retreat — What’s There to Retreat From?
A Mixed Bag of Thoughts
Writing’s “Impenetrable Wall”
Writing Historical Fiction is Easy? Well . . .
Writing Espionage When It’s Current Events
Wait, There Are Food Spies?
Book 3 Wants to be Written, but Book 2 Isn’t Finished – WTF?
Why Do Writers Become Writers?
About the Author
Bio
Author News
Author’s Social Media
Published Work
Free Excerpts
A PERFECT HATRED Excerpt
A PERFECT HATRED Excerpt 2
A PERFECT HATRED Excerpt 3
END TIMES Excerpt
END TIMES Excerpt 2
END TIMES Excerpt 3
END TIMES Excerpt 4
Reviews
Events
Works in Progress
My Books – and How to Buy Them
A Change for the Better
A War of Deception – Winner of the 2017 New Apple Award for Excellence in Independent Publishing: Best Historical Fiction
Book Group Discussion Questions for A WAR OF DECEPTION
My Noble Enemy: A Spy Flash Novella
The Better Spy – A Novel in Stories
The Yellow Scarf: A Spy Flash Novella
Blood Vengeance – A Collection of Linked Short Stories
Spy Flash
Spy Flash II
A Face in the Crowd – A Novelette
Series: Self-Inflicted Wounds
Self-Inflicted Wounds
A Visit From Grandfather Frost – A 2017 Holiday Story
Book Magnet – The Broader Concerns of All Humanity
Fences and Other Stories
Book Magnet: What You Have To Do
SERIES: A PERFECT HATRED
Discussion Questions for A PERFECT HATRED
Book Magnet: A Case of Mistaken Identity
Reader Magnet: Settling Scores
Love Death
SPY FLASH III: THE MOSCOW RULES
Old Love Does Not Rust
Book Trailers
Past Podcasts
Newsletter Sign-Up
Contact the Author
Info for Writers
Editing and Writing Services
Editing Credits
Publishing Services
What You’ll Get
Types of Work Published
Submission Guidelines
Contact the Editor
Info for Book Stores/Sellers
Unexpected Paths Media
Blog Archives 2016-2024
Don’t Forget the Second Bananas
Another Writing Year in the Books
November 22, 1963
Edit or Rewrite?
What I Meant Was . . .
What’s Next?
Inspiration Doesn’t Die, Only the Inspirer
C3 – Where You Can Find a Writing Family
Leaving Home is Good
Reviews are Good — Until They’re Bad
It’s Book Launch Time — In Three Days
It’s All About Those Quotidian Details
Undercover . . . in the CIA?
Challenging Myself
Traitors
Why SO Many Book Sales?
Researching Historical Fiction
The Ethics of Espionage?
Why Are We So Captivated by Espionage?
Switching Genres
Uncomfortable History
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
GETTING IT RIGHT
15 Years, 15 Wins
NaNoWriMo Year 15
Current Events or History
Trying to Get It Right
Historical Fiction or Current Events?
Art Imitates Life
Needing the Comfort of Writers When the Whole Community is Threatened
A Change in the Flight Plan
The Post-New Book Letdown
Why Writing Prompts?
Why Writers Workshops?
Writing on “Heavy” Topics
Distinguishing History from Fiction in Historical Fiction
Balancing History and Story
The Aging Writer
Getting It Right
I Stand With Ukraine
The Support of Writers
Ignore History? Not if you Don’t Want to Repeat It.
Should There Be Romance in a Thriller?
Sensitivity to History in Fiction
Holiday Story
NaNoWriMo’s Done – What’s Next?
New Year’s Resolutions – Did You or Didn’t You?
The Dark Side of Writing Thrillers
The Lure of Historical Fiction
When is Something Considered History?
Cover Reveal!
How Much Romance is Too Much?
We Have a Winner!
A Perfect Hatred: End Times Cover Reveal!
A Writing Renewal
Second-Guessing
TMWW&R – A Writing Retreat?
Not Merely a Tree
New Year’s Countdown
A Perfect Hatred – Origin Part 1
A Perfect Hatred – Origin Part 2
Origins of a Character: Maitland “Mai” Fisher
Origin of a Character: Alexei N. Bukharin
Process of Elimination?
Word Styling
Origin of a Character: Nelson
What’s a Bookversary? And What Does a Free Book Have to do With It?
Why I Love Baseball
Origin of a Character: The Directorate
Origin of a Character: Edwin Terrell, Jr.
Origin of a Character: Nathan Hempstead
TMWW&R – Part 1
TMWW&R – Part 2
Clean vs. Dirty?
How to Support Your Favorite Author
Interview with the Author – Part 1
Interview with the Author – Part Two
Where Do Your Characters Go When You Can’t Write?
You’re Doing THAT Again?
Writing is Scary!
Music to Soothe (or Not) the Savage Writer
Getting Writer’s Block in the Middle of NaNoWriMo
Why I Don't Write in December
My Writing Year in Review
A New Novella: A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER
My Dad, Nazis, and War Crimes
What Happens When You Type "The End" on a Series?
How Does a Non-Spy Write About Spies?
Why A Female Protagonist?
Life in the Time of COVID-19
Why a Female Protagonist?
George Smiley vs James Bond
Cold War or Cyber War = Russia
Q&A with the Characters
Books – Why I Love Them
A Virtual Tinker Mountain?
What Am I Reading?
My Workspace
The Balkans as Inspiration? (Part 1)
The Balkans as Inspiration? – Part 2
What is This Flash Publishing Thing?
What’s Next?
Podcasting – But You Won’t See Me on YouTube
It’s That Time of Year Again
When Planning Goes Wrong
The End – Again?
Old Spies Don’t Die…Until They Do
The Year We Wish Wasn’t
Book Plans
I Challenge You to a Reading Duel!
When is a Love Story Not a Love Story?
Why is the Cold War Still So Appealing?
A New Look at an Old Novel
Revisiting A FACE IN THE CROWD
A PERFECT HATRED – REVISITED
Recurrent Training
Two Days in May
Why Novellas?
Short Stories Again?
Talking a Buyer Out of a Sale
Being Uninspired
What is a Backlist Anyway?
A Most Productive Week
Yep, Doing “That” Again
Turning Backstory into a Novel?
Season’s Greetings and a Look Back
2022 Non-Resolutions
Media Kits
Search
Search for:
Month:
February 2024
February 7, 2024
/
unspywriter
/
Leave a comment
The Pigeon Tunnel
Subscribe
Subscribed
Unexpected Paths
Join 608 other subscribers
Sign me up
Already have a WordPress.com account?
Log in now.
Unexpected Paths
Subscribe
Subscribed
Sign up
Log in
Report this content
View site in Reader
Manage subscriptions
Collapse this bar
Unexpected Paths 