Fiona McIntosh talks about The Spy's Wife

Fiona McIntosh

I'm now past 80,000 words into this story for you.  It's been very slow over Christmas as I think all of us - not just me - needed a refreshing break from the grind that was 2020 and a chance to re-set.  I took a full three weeks off and while I felt busier than ever, it wasn't with storytelling.  It was all about family.

I have started back in with The Spy's Wife soon after the New Year heralded its arrival and now I'm working with commitment to get it finished and a first draft off to my editor.

I love its concept and I've started a little further back in the story than I might traditionally because I deliberately wanted to show the background of the two people who find themselves trapped in a situation that is not of their making but they both feel betrayed by it, angered by it and forced to fix it.  

Essentially it's the story of a man and woman from wildly different backgrounds finding each other and taking each other at face value. They fall in love only to discover that each is a sort of chameleon. I couldn't just fling you into that tense situation without first allowing you to share their lives before they know each other and then during that lovely time of falling in love.

So now at 80,000 words, I feel I still have a lot of story I want to share but only another 30,000 words or so in which to do that.  Ah well, all part of the fun of being a storyteller and I feel sure my editor will very quickly slash away a lot of words to give me more to play with.  

I know all of you can recognise the fellow in the middle of this picture - a rare moment of delight in his expression - but I wonder if you can guess who the gent is to his left in the image?  It may surprise you who he is, and I am hoping this man - or perhaps more likely, his son - will walk into the pages of my book that will form the major pivot point for the story.  

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