The Traitor Beside Her is an intricately plotted WWII espionage novel weaving together mystery, action, friendship, and a hint of romance perfect for fans of The Rose Code and Code Name Helene. Justine Byrne can't trust the people working beside her. Arlington Hall, a former women's college in Virginia has been taken over by the United States Army where hundreds of men and women work to decode countless pieces of communication coming from the Axis powers.
I'm pleased to welcome author Mary Anna Evans to The Writing Desk:
Tell us about your latest book
The Traitor Beside Her is a WWII-era suspense novel about two young women, Justine Byrne and Georgette Broussard, who are assigned to go undercover in a room housing the most critical code breaking operation in Washington, DC. Justine and Georgette know that one of cryptanalysts is an enemy spy, selling some of the most Allies’ most critical secrets to the Axis powers, and it’s their job to find out who it is. The Battle of the Bulge is raging, so the brillian code breakers working alongiside the spy are desperately needed, but they’re useless until Justine and Georgette can find the traitor. The only advice their boss can give them is a short sentence, three words long: “Trust no one.”
What is your preferred writing routine?
I like to get up early and get a cup of coffee. (Actually, it’s a latte that my sweet husband makes for me.) Then I settle into my writing chair, which is a comfy recliner, and get started. I like to write in big blocks of time. I can get so much more done in one three-hour writing session than in three one-hour writing sessions, but life is busy. I use the time I have available. When the coffee’s gone, I usually go get a Coke and a Hershey bar to keep the creative juices flowing.
What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
Read a lot and write a lot. I teach writing classes for college students, so I obviously believe that it helps to have someone with experience to guide you, but you can still be a writer if a mentor isn’t available. I didn’t have one when I was getting started. Check out books on writing from the library. Find a supportive writing community online. Do whatever makes sense for you personally to keep you motivated to write, and then just sit down and do it. And don’t forget to be proud of yourself for pursuing your writing dreams.
What have you found to be the best way to raise awareness of your books?
I’m active on social media, and I rarely turn down a chance to speak in public. My basic premise is that people can’t buy what they don’t know about, so I am always looking for ways to reach potential readers.
Tell us something unexpected you discovered during your research
While I was writing The Traitor Beside Her, I needed to write a scene where an intelligent, successful man is taking out a woman he wants to impress. I found a photo and a description of the interior of a fabulous 1940s Washington, DC dinner club. I found a description of the entertainment. I found the menu. I found the drink menu. And one of the drinks had the same name as the secret agent weapon that Justine has hidden in her evening purse. It was just too perfect. I’m very fond of that scene, and I wish I could spend an evening at that dinner club.
What was the hardest scene you remember writing?
At the climax of Findings, the fourth book in my Faye Longchamp series of archaeological mysteries, four people suddenly encounter each other. Person One and Two love each other, although neither of them has ever admitted it. Person Three and Four need Person One and Two to be dead. Person Three loves Person Four. Person Four has played Person THree for a fool, because she loves only herself.
Person Three wants to save Person Four, so he fires his gun at Person Two. Person One loves Person Two, so he throws himself in front of that bullet. Person Four sees that she can only escape if she is the only person left standing, so she shoots Persons Three and Two. Then she takes the only boat on the island and leaves behind a dead person, a gravely injured person, and a person who is badly injured, but not so badly injured that she isn’t able to shoot and kill the evil Person Four as she flees.
This action takes place in minutes, maybe less than a minute, but it took pages for it to play out on the page. Writing that scene taught me how to use point of view to stop time. A character would squeeze a trigger and then I would switch point of view to a character who is watching it happen and deciding what to do. Then I would switch point of view to the person who is deciding to sacrifice his life to save someone who doesn’t even know he loves her. That scene was a heckuva lot of fun to write.
What are you planning to write next?
I’m working on a Gothic novel that I pitched as Rebecca-meets-Who’s-Afraid-of-Virginia-Woolf-meets-Dark-Academia. It’s about a young woman whose father dies on the day her mother goes missing, leaving her to pick up the pieces of a life built completely on lies. But she lives in a fabulous house on a cliff overlooking the Hudson River, so how terrible can it be, right? (Too bad she doesn’t have enough money to keep the house and too bad that getting a job to help with all those bills is pretty hard for a woman in the 1940s….)
Mary Anna Evans
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About the Author
Thanks very much for hosting Mary Anna Evans today, Tony.
ReplyDeleteCathie xx
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