Saints & Spies
Page 32
Tomorrow We Spy — Talia’s first mission with her husband could be their last.
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And before that . . .
The Spy Another Day series prequels!
Read about Talia and Elliott’s first meeting, that one kiss, and how Talia met and fell for Danny, all in one omnibus edition!
Spy Noon (novella)
Mr. Nice Spy (novella)
Spy by Night (full-length novel)
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The story of how this book came about is the story of making a writer. Once upon a time, this book was a funny idea Sarah Anderson and I came up with. We both wrote feverishly, her on Lucy and Paul’s story, me on Zach and Molly’s. We finished the novels in under two months.
Eventually, after many, many critiques and rewrites, a publisher offered me a contract for my novel. When they refused to negotiate on certain terms, I tearfully had to turn it down.
Now, seven years after I first started writing this book, it’s finally coming to readers as my fifth novel, my seventh work of fiction, my tenth book. The vast majority of everything I know about writing, I have learned from this story, from tearing it apart and putting it back together again, from refining and polishing it, and from the amazing people who made this possible.
As this was once going to be my first published novel, I received an extraordinary amount of encouragement, feedback and help from so, so many people.
My patient husband, Ryan, has endured hours of writing time, plotting, discussion and agonizing over this book. He was the first person to hear the plot and encourage me to write it. Our children, Hayden and Rebecca at the time I drafted this novel, and now with Rachel, Hazel and Benjamin as I’m publishing it, have also been very patient, as I spent way too much time with imaginary people instead of them. My parents, Ben and Diana Franklin, have taught me to love reading and writing from a young age, and along with my sisters Jaime, Brooke and Jasmine, they have believed in and encouraged me. My friends Kim Tran and Erin Brown have also supported my writing for more than a decade, and other friends like Lynne Kelson and Megan Mitchell have been there to cheer me on through the submission process.
I’d like to give a special thanks to Marnee Blake for being the first reader of the full manuscript and my Catholic consultant. An amazing number of others have also helped by reading the full manuscript, among them: Holly Horton, Diana Franklin (AKA Mom), Christine (C.K.) Bryant, Cindy Ricks, Stephanie Black, Julie Coulter Bellon, Deana Barnhart, LisaAnn Turner, Nikki Wilson, C. Michelle Jefferies and Rachel Hert. Each of them offered encouragement, advice and critiques to make this book better.
In this latest iteration, Ranée S. Clark provided invaluable feedback to finally fix the timeline problems that have plagued me from the beginning, so I could finally feel confident sending this out into the world. Kierstin Marquet, Emily Gray Clawson and Ben Franklin (AKA Dad) also gave final feedback, and naturally, Sarah Anderson gave it one last read-through before it was ready for you.
Sarah M. Eden gave me fantastic advice on writing an Irish character, and Aisling Doonan kindly consented to read a complete stranger’s book and offered excellent help on perfecting my Irish and Catholic phraseology, since she’s both Irish and Catholic. Jenn Wilks provided editorial feedback, but any errors here are not her fault. I’m blaming gremlins. Or lazy fingers. Or possibly one of my children. (The two-year-old likes to “help” me type.)
Finally, I must thank my friend Sarah Anderson once again. We have written together for fifteen years, and without her, this book — and especially Lucy and Paul — never would have come to life. She walked with me through every word and gave me her support, feedback and ideas daily.
And of course, the source of all inspiration, talent, time and effort is my Heavenly Father, and I’m eternally grateful to Him for these blessings.
Thank you!
PHOTO BY JAREN WILKEY
An award-winning author, Jordan McCollum can’t resist a story where good defeats evil and true love conquers all. Her first four novels, the Spy Another Day series, were all voted as finalists for the Whitney Awards, a juried prize. In her day job, she coerces people to do things they don’t want to, elicits information and generally manipulates the people she loves most — she’s a mom.
Jordan holds a degree in American Studies and Linguistics from Brigham Young University. When she catches a spare minute, her hobbies include reading, knitting and music. She lives with her husband and five children in Utah.
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