Unexpected Paths

Real spies. Real lives. A hint of romance.

Skip to content
  • Home
  • Blog
    • 2024 Year in Review
    • 2025 Review and What’s to Come
    • A Movie Review?
    • Annus Horribilis
    • Complex Characters
    • Expect the Unexpected
    • Inside the Heads of Spies – Part 1
    • Inside the Heads of Spies – Part 2
    • Measuring Writing Growth and Success
    • NaNoWriMo With Reluctance
    • Plot vs Character
    • PROLOGUES – What Does It Mean?
    • Reboot
    • Retreating to Write
    • Revising – Surgical Edits or Rewrite
    • 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 In a Name?
    • What’s Next?
    • Whatever Happened to My Podcast?
    • Whatup NovNov?
    • Who Am I Anyway?
    • Why Writing Workshops?
    • Writer Tech
    • Writing for the Reader vs. Writing for Yourself
    • 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

Haiku 366-28

January 28, 2016 / unspywriter / Leave a comment

Source: Haiku 366-28

Haiku 366-27

January 27, 2016January 27, 2016 / unspywriter / Leave a comment

Photo by Phyllis A. Duncan

life as theater
burdens abound
tossed ball lifts

Source: Haiku 366-27

Haiku 366-26

January 26, 2016 / unspywriter / Leave a comment

skepticism resides
in our DNA
but science is still truth

Source: Haiku 366-26

Haiku 366-25

January 25, 2016 / unspywriter / Leave a comment

some children are
mere badges of honor
only the climb matters

Source: Haiku 366-25

Haiku 366-24

January 24, 2016 / unspywriter / Leave a comment
Haiku 366-24

Photo by Phyllis A. Duncan

falling satellites
streaks of light
take me with you

Source: Haiku 366-24

Catechism

January 24, 2016 / unspywriter / Leave a comment

Source: Catechism

Haiku 366-23

January 24, 2016 / unspywriter / Leave a comment

We study spectra
For exoplanets.
Our idea or theirs?

Source: Haiku 366-23

Home

January 23, 2016 / unspywriter / Leave a comment

Source: Home

Haiku 366-22

January 22, 2016 / unspywriter / Leave a comment

target of Jonas
record drifts they say
snow, where is thy sting?

Source: Haiku 366-22

Very Interesting

January 22, 2016 / unspywriter / Leave a comment

Source: Very Interesting

Posts navigation

← Older posts
Newer posts →
https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?nrQLhpRTSIxEnRNZCTLRUy6bdNitvEOzl9pcZYGiIQs
Podcast Vers 2

Podcast Vers 2

NEW – The Better Spy Audiobook

lumen5-video-4

lumen5-video-4

Self-Inflicted Wounds: A Balkans Trilogy

Self-Inflicted_Wound-Update

Self-Inflicted_Wound-Update

Privacy Policy

I do NOT provide names, emails, addresses of visitors to this site to any third party for any reason.

When you sign up for free excerpts, your email address will be automatically added to my newsletter recipients’ list. The newsletter comes out twice a month only. I DO NOT sell or give away the email addresses of subscribers to my newsletter list; that is my promise.

When you receive your first email newsletter, if you do not wish to continue subscribing, scroll to the bottom of the email and select “Unsubscribe.”

You can review WordPress’ privacy policy by clicking HERE.

You can review MailChimp’s (my email service) privacy policy by clicking HERE.

Search Unexpected Paths

A WAR OF DECEPTION – BEST HISTORICAL FICTION

When I Blog

March 2026
S M T W T F S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  
« Feb    

Blog Stats

  • 61,086 hits

Tweets

Tweets by unspywriter

Copyright Notice

Unless otherwise noted, all material contained in this blog is ©2012 – 2020 by Phyllis Anne Duncan. Reprint with permission only.

A “Like” Would be Lovely

A “Like” Would be Lovely

52-week challenge author interview authors A War of Deception AWP AWP Conference Blogging books Characters Cliff Garstang creativity critique groups critiques ebooks Editing espionage excerpts Fiction Flash Fiction Fred Leebron Friday Fictioneers Haiku haiku366 haiku 366 historical fiction history Hollins University indie authors indie publishing inspiration Jennie Coughlin John Le Carre literature Madison Woods Margaret Atwood My Noble Enemy NaNoWriMo National Novel Writing Month National Poetry Month novel in stories Novels Pinckney Benedict poetry politics Press 53 publishing Reading Revising rewriting Rick Santorum Roanoke Regional Writers Conference Romance Rory's Story Cubes Seamus Heaney Short Stories speculative fiction spies Spy Flash Stephen King suspense SWAG Writers The Better Spy thriller Tinker Mountain Tinker Mountain Writers Workshop Virginia Festival of the Book Virginia Writers Club WriterHouse writers writers conferences Writing writing conferences writing contests writing life writing workshops

Twitter

Tweets by http%3Awww.twitter.comunspywriter

Follow Me on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/paduncan1/

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,236 other subscribers

Past Posts

Recent Posts

  • (no title)
  • Writing for the Reader vs. Writing for Yourself
  • What’s in a Name?
  • Past, Present, Maybe Future?
  • Writing Life After NaNoWriMo

Goodreads

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,236 other subscribers
Blog at WordPress.com.
  • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Unexpected Paths
      • Join 607 other subscribers
    • 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
 

Loading Comments...
 

    Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
    To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy