by Gayle Lynds82nd Airborne, Forward Operating Base, Afghanistan, Thanksgiving 2007Years ago during the Vietnam War, I wanted to thank my friends fighting overseas by sending care packages of Thanksgiving cookies and pumpkin bread that I baked. It’d be a taste of home, I thought, and surely...
SOME OF THE BEST SPIES WEAR FUR
by Chris GoffYears ago, Smithsonian Magazine published an article by Tom Vanderbilt entitled "The CIA's Most Highly-Trained Spies Weren't Even Human." It's worth sharing.During World War II, a psychologist named B.F. Skinner received defense funding to research a pigeon-based homing device...
Quintessential Rogues
. . . by Karna Small BodmanWe Rogues write novels about plots, spies, and danger among other things. And we are often inspired by "real life" experts in spy craft, who we could call "Quintessential Rogues" in their own right. I'd like to share two brand new stories with you about some...
SPY SCHOOL: Or Things You Can Learn From the Ex-CIA Guy
by Chris GoffGadgets and info every spy needs to have.I have a confession to make—my husband Wes, a wonderful guy who is my biggest supporter, has begun amassing "spy tools" and "spy tips." Ever since I started writing the Raisa Jordan thrillers, he started following the exploits of a former CIA...
A Brilliant Woman — but who knew?
….by Karna Small Bodman Today I want to tell you the story of a brilliant scientist who, for decades, was recognized only for her beauty, not her intellect. But first I want to let you know that one of our own talented Rogues, August Thomas, author of a terrific debut thriller, Liar's...
Trains, planes, cars, and motorcycles
S. Lee Manning: Gayle Lynds’ excellent quiz on her last post made me think about spies and transportation. In international thrillers, spies travel – a lot. They have to get from one country to another. Once there, they use transportation to do surveillance – to ditch tails – to meet up with...
“SPY GIRL”
by Chris GoffElizabeth “Betty” Peet McIntosh (1915 to 2015)During World War II, Betty worked for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the predecessor of today’s CIA, lying in the line of duty.Born in Washington DC, the daughter of a sportswriter, she attended Journalism school, then worked...
THE TRIPLE AGENT
by K.J. HoweStories about double agents pepper the annals of the history of spies, stories showcasing misplaced trust and betrayal. Still, how could a soft-spoken physician become a triple agent, deceiving those who live and breathe the trade? That is exactly what happened on December...
Intelligence at work
...by Karna Small BodmanAll this week my Rogue colleagues are writing about the importance of gathering intelligence and how our brave intelligence agents work day and night to protect this country. While there have been questions from time to time about some of the methods used by our...
THE MOUNTIES GET THEIR MAN!
by KJ HoweDoes intelligence matter? It is a sad state of affairs when we have to even consider the self-evident answer to this question, but in the Western world we have many naysayers. One only has to look at past examples to determine that intelligence operations...