A Cold War Novel of Lies and Love
Once a month I post something on this page from behind or around my book. Some posts cover events that happened in the Soviet Union and the world in the same months as the novel but never made it onto the page or were cut from the second edition. Others cover how the book was written (for example the songs I played while working on particular chapters). There are also questions for readers/reading groups and book clubs, and occasional pieces about the characters in the book, fictional or historical.
Before Jack was fully formed on the page, he came to me through a song. For months I played Sting's "Shape of My Heart" on repeat, sometimes before and while I wrote or re-wrote a page or a line. I didn’t hear a card player’s story. I heard a man who played spy games for a living and kept his true heart closed. I heard a gay man with “not too many faces” who was forced to keep the one he’s wearing.
This is Jack.
Listen to it and let me know … Continue reading about November Theme: Jack’s Song