MYSTERY AUTHOR ANNE LOUISE BANNON ASKS: ARE BOOKS SET IN THE 1980'S CONSIDERED HISTORICAL FICTION?

Mystery author Anne Louise Bannon is an author and journalist who wrote her first novel at age fifteen. Her journalistic work has appeared in Ladies' Home Journal, the Los Angeles Times, Wines and Vines, and in newspapers across the country. She also spent more than ten years as a TV critic. In addition to her mystery series, Anne is also the co-author of Howdunit: Book of Poisons with Serita Stevens. Learn more about Anne and her books at her website.  

Is it Historical Yet?

In my youth, I came up with a perfectly lovely series of spy novels that turned out to be more romance than spy. Over the years, I’ve re-written them, fleshed out the characters, officially named it the Operation Quickline series, but one thing held up – the original 1980s setting.

So, fast forward to a couple of years ago. I’m at a writers’ meeting and someone asks this agent what she considers historical, and she says late 1980s and before. Okay. The days of my tender youth are now considered history. Hmmm.

When it comes to my own aging, I’m pretty cool with it. I wear my gray hair proudly. I’m working on accepting my extra pounds with the same grace. I’m certainly not going to lie about my age, which is almost sixty-two. After all, I have had the good fortune to last as long as I have, and with God’s grace, I’ve got another couple of decades or so to go.

But wrapping my brain around the idea that people consider the time of my early twenties as history. That one is going to take more work than getting used to the extra weight. I get that it’s over thirty years ago, almost forty. But that still says recent past to me. I mean, it doesn’t feel like it was all that long ago.

Yet, in some ways, it really is. The daughter I gave birth to was born in the middle of that decade and is now thirty-five years old. The world has changed quite a bit since I was the first person in the theatre department at Cal State, Fullerton to write a masters thesis on a word processor. The phone I put in my pocket has more computing power than that Apple IIe that I wrote on.

Attitudes have changed. I have changed. I hope I’ve gotten more resilient since then, and I really hope I’ve gotten a lot more open-minded. I know I’m a better writer than I was then, which is why I made the decision to re-write the Operation Quickline series. 

The joy of working with something I wrote so long ago is revisiting those times, looking at the person I was then, and realizing, yeah, I have grown, and not just my waistline. And there’s also looking at my old work and realizing that I was not a bad writer. And that I was pretty darned cute in my mid-to-late-twenties. Yes, that is a mullet I’m wearing in that photo – it was the best-damned haircut I ever had. If only it weren’t so dated. Sigh.

Finally, there’s the blessing of having those everyday kinds of details already in the text so that I don’t have to remember when we got word processors and when the full Star Wars trilogy was first available on video. Even if I have to look something up, I have a starting point and a frame of reference that I will never have for Nineteenth Century Los Angeles, no matter how many pictures I look at, and books I read.

So, I guess it’s not all bad having someone call the time of my youth history. It’s still going to take some time to get used to, but with luck, I’ll be around long enough to call it ancient history.

Operation Quickline Box Set

A compilation of the first five books in the Operation Quickline series, featuring Lisa Wycherly and Sid Hackbirn, agents for an ultra top-secret organization, who may seem like opposites but have a lot more in common than they think. The set includes the following titles:

That Old Cloak and Dagger Routine

Lisa Wycherly had no idea what she was getting into when Sid Hackbirn recruited her as his partner in an ultra top-secret organization called Operation Quickline. But then, neither did Sid.

Stopleak

Lisa and Sid are set up as bait to plug a leak in the system. Surviving the elaborate trap will be a lot easier than learning to appreciate each other.

Deceptive Appearances

When Sid and Lisa are called to Lisa's home town of South Lake Tahoe, they find themselves in the middle of a murder and a drug operation. 

Fugue in a Minor Key

Lisa's nephew is in trouble at school. An old girlfriend of Sid's has dropped his son into his lap. Oh, and they have to find out who's selling secrets from local defense plants.

Sad Lisa

Lisa gets engaged to her boyfriend only to have the case she and Sid are working blow up in the worst possible way.

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MYSTERY AUTHOR ANNE LOUISE BANNON ON CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS AND NEW KITTIES

 

Anne Louise Bannon is the author of the Freddie and Kathy mystery series set in the 1920s, the Old Los Angeles series, set in 1870, and the Operation Quickline series, starring Lisa Wycherly and Sid Hackbirn. Today she joins us to discuss the significance of one of her favorite holiday traditions in the first book in that series. Learn more about Anne and her books at her blog. 

A Fave Tradition Comes to Life in My Novel

Way back in the 1980s, when Sid Hackbirn and Lisa Wycherly first started coming to life, I was fascinated by the dichotomy of a young, devout woman sharing a house with a man whose hobby was sleeping around. I had to give Lisa a good reason for sharing Sid’s place – he recruited her as a spy.

But I also had to give Sid a good reason for his sexual appetite, one that would make sense and keep him from coming across as slimy. So Sid was raised by a Communist hippie who taught piano lessons and was also an atheist. In Sid’s universe, sex was just something you did, and he grew up utterly bemused by people’s attitudes and hang-ups. He also grew up not celebrating holidays, particularly Christmas.

Being the good, devout little Catholic girl that Lisa is, she, of course, is horrified. She brings Christmas into Sid’s house for the very first time. It was important to show Lisa having an effect on Sid’s life, given the effect he’d been having on hers. What better way to do that than have Lisa engaging in what has always been my favorite tradition – getting and decorating the Christmas tree.

It’s the memories that spring to life every time I get a whiff of that tree smell. My dad charming the tree lot guy into knocking a few bucks off the price. Hanging the ornaments that I’ve been hanging on Christmas trees since I was a small child. Just seeing them in the box gives me a feeling of rootedness and peace. My first tree as an adult, which I decorated with my ex in his apartment. My now-husband and I choosing a new ornament every year to document our then-new life together with my daughter.

In my family, we waited until at least the second weekend before Christmas to get our tree. I was always grateful that my parents didn’t hold to the old tradition (based on celebrating Advent) of waiting until Christmas Eve to get and decorate a tree. My mom often tried to do the whole color-coordinated thing. But I always protested and it was one of the few times I won. There were years she got a more “tastefully” decorated tree but I’m pretty sure she appreciates the more eclectic mix of ornaments because she kept those old ones until I was old enough to commandeer some for my own household. Please note, Mom does not keep things easily, so if she really didn’t like eclectic, she would have gotten rid of the old ornaments.

This year, sadly, I will most likely not be decorating a tree. We have kittens. Two adorable fluffy seven-month-old terrorists who would only see a nice, bright jungle gym with all sorts of fun, shiny things to bat at. With previous cats, we had put the unbreakable ornaments on the bottom and even tied the breakable ornaments to the branches. The problem, in this case, is the climbing. These two love climbing and are surprisingly good at jumping to get what they want. There’s only so much you can do to stabilize a Christmas tree, and with the one kitten turning into a decidedly larger cat, it’s just not worth taking the chance.

But as I walk by the tree lots, I’ll still be snorting that evergreen scent, and I will find some time to put some carols on softly, and sit back and reflect on the holidays and how blessed I truly am.

It’s why Lisa looks at the tree and reflects on the message of the evergreen – that love doesn’t change from one season to the next. Which may be why decorating the tree is my favorite tradition.

That Old Cloak and Dagger Routine 

In 1982, Lisa Wycherly was broke, out of work and desperate. So when Sid Hackbirn offered her a job as his live-in secretary, she jumped at it, little knowing just how dangerous it would be. Living at Sid's house was scary enough, given Sid's tendency to fool around and Lisa's unexpected attraction to him in spite of their directly opposed values regarding sex. Sid was a spy for an ultra-top-secret agency and had recruited Lisa to work as his associate. Sid knew he was turning Lisa's life upside-down. He had no clue what she'd do to him.

As Lisa learned the spy biz, things got rocky almost immediately. Lisa wasn't used to being in danger and didn't always react well. Sid tried to maintain his usual emotional distance but soon found that Lisa was not going to let him. It took the kidnapping of a college professor to force the two to really talk, and Lisa to face her own fears.

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TRAVEL BACK TO THE 1960'S AND MEET PSYCHEDELIC SPY NOELLE McNABB

Today we sit down for a chat with Noelle McNabb from author Sally Carpenter’s new Psychedelic Spy Mystery Series.

What was your life like before your author started pulling your strings?

I play the Winter Witch in the Candy Cane Capers, a silly musical show at the Country Christmas Family Fun Park, a holiday theme park in Yuletide, Indiana. When school is in session, the park is only open weekends, so in those months I work part time at the Groovy Vinyl Record Store. I spend time with my family and friends and teach tricks to my cat, Ceebee. He’s very smart but a glutton.

What’s the one trait you like most about yourself?

I’m smart and flexible. That comes from being an actress. Improv helped me to think on my feet. I have a good memory, learn things quickly (like lines) and remember faces.

What do you like least about yourself?

That I’m twenty-five years old and still stuck in my boring hometown. Even though the year is 1967, the older generation acts like it’s 1950. What a drag. I’m saving money so I can move to Hollywood and be a big star, but some days I wonder if I’ll never make it.

What is the strangest thing your author has had you do or had happen to you?

She got me involved with a super-secret spy organization called SIAMESE (Special Intelligence Apparatus for Midwest Enemy Surveillance and Espionage). Those cats are so far under the radar, nobody knows about them—and they like it that way. One of their couriers almost died on my front porch, and next thing I know, I’m running around at night in the weirdest places, looking for missing microdots.

Do you argue with your author? If so, what do you argue about?

So far we haven’t argued much. My author is much like me. She and I are both tall, are former Girl Scouts, love cats, go to church, and watch too much TV. We both grew up in small, rural Midwest hometowns. When she was my age, she, too, wanted to go to Hollywood and be an actress with her own TV series. Years later she finally made it to L.A., but instead of acting she wrote mystery novels about an amateur sleuth who once had his own TV series.

What is your greatest fear?

That in my spy work I’ll die in some faraway place and my family will never know what happened to me and I’ll be buried in a strange place in an unmarked pauper’s grave.

What makes you happy?

When I do something that makes my parents proud of me. They were pleased when I made honor roll and dean’s list in school. They’ve always gone to the plays I’ve been in. They were impressed when I found the killer of the young man who showed up on my doorstep.

If you could rewrite a part of your story, what would it be? Why?

I want to brag about the work I do for SIAMESE, but I must keep it a secret, which drives me crazy. When I was away for a couple of days on spy work, Mom wondered where I went and I had to lie to her. I hated doing that. One of my good friends is a reporter for the Yuletide Herald newspaper and he’s been snooping around. Someday he’s going to find out about SIAMESE. I can’t tell him, either.

Of the other characters in your book, which one bugs you the most? Why?

Gus E. Monty, one of the many dopey boys I grew up with in school. He sells insurance. His parents are bugging him to get married, and since I’m one of the few old maids left in town—most girls in Yuletide get married when they leave high school—he’s always pestering me to go out with him. Ugh. I’d rather be caught by an enemy agent than to date that creep.

Of the other characters in your book, which one would you love to trade places with? Why?

I like who I am, but the person I admire most is Destiny King, the SIAMESE agent I work with. She’s a beautiful black woman, very sharp and good at what she does. She’s a black belt martial artist and can pack a punch when we’re in a fix. At first, she didn’t seem to like me, but now we make a good team. But she won’t talk about her personal life. Because of her job she doesn’t get close to people. I’d like to know more about her.

Tell us a little something about your author. Where can readers find her website/blog?

I’ve mentioned a little about her already. She lives in Southern California and works full time at a community newspaper. She has a cat that is a mouser like Ceebee. She’s written four books in the Sandy Fairfax Teen Idol series, three short stories published in anthologies and a chapter for the “Chasing the Codex” group novel. To atone for killing people on paper, she also pens a newspaper faith column. She posts once a month at the Ladies of Mystery blog. Her website is http://sandyfairfaxauthor.com.

What's next for you?

A guru comes to town, preaching about love and peace and meditation. His hippie followers arrive as well, which doesn’t set well with the old folks. One of the hippies dies of a drug overdose, but I don’t think it was accidental. And my boss at SIAMESE thinks the guru has something up his sleeve besides his hairy arm—perhaps a scheme that might involve my dad’s work at the electronics plant.

Flower Power Fatality

A Psychedelic Spy Mystery, Book One

The Cold War gets cozy in this retro-cozy spy caper set in 1967, a year of music, miniskirts—and murder! Actress Noelle McNabb works at the Country Christmas Family Fun Park in Yuletide, Indiana, but she longs for the bright lights of Hollywood. Real-life drama comes her way when a stranger with a fatal gunshot wound stumbles across her doorstep. When she attempts to finds the man’s murderer, Noelle encounters a super-secret spy agency, SIAMESE (Special Intelligence Apparatus for Midwest Enemy Surveillance and Espionage). SIAMESE recruits Noelle on a quest to find missing microdots under the guidance of a street-wise agent, Destiny King. As Noelle goes undercover in a cheesy nightclub and faces the enemy in late-night chases, she uncovers family secrets and finds her moral values put to the test. Along with her pet cat, Ceebee, and the kooky residents of Yuletide, Noelle discovers it takes a village to catch a killer.

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BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--TO LOVE A SPY BOXED SET

Marie Higgins is a bestselling, multi-published author of Christian and sweet romance novels who writes about refined bad-boy heroes who make your heart melt and the feisty heroines who somehow manage to love them regardless of their faults.  Learn more about her and her books at her website.

Got to love a spy!!

What does it take to be a spy? How about a historical spy? Those of us who love a good spy story, always think of the spy being a man, especially in history. During my research while writing my latest release, Secrets and Lies, I learned quite a bit about women spies. My story is a Victorian romance, and takes place in New York City after the Civil War in 1870. Did you know there were many women spies during the Civil War? They needed to help their soldiers in some way in hopes of ending the war. Women could get away with being a spy, mainly because the men would never suspect a woman of being in espionage.

Secrets and Lies is about Nicole Bastian who works as a Secret Agent for President Ulysses S Grant.

On secret assignment from President Grant, Nicole Bastian is tasked with investigating a string of train robberies in which government money was stolen. The stakes are high and she is utterly devastated when she uncovers information that indicates the man of her dreams, Ashton Lee, one of the wealthy owners of Conrail, is the number one suspect. Desperate to remain cool and impartial, Nicole strives to keep her suspicions quiet until she learns what Ashton is keeping from her. At the same time, she’s determined to keep her own secrets from Ashton, hoping he never finds out.

Ashton Lee is immediately attracted to the woman he’d met at the masked ball. Unfortunately, there’s something not right about her, and he can’t put his finger on why he thinks this way. She’s mysterious, beautiful, but very secretive. Dare he allow her to soften his heart? And more importantly, will she understand why he keeps secrets from her?

Check out the book trailer.

Secrets and Lies boxed set BuyLink

Secrets and Lies is also in a boxed set with five other bestselling authors, titled To Love a Spy. All the authors have written historical romance stories dealing with spies.

To Love a Spy

A collection of wickedly suspenseful and wildly charming historical romances with bold heroes and dauntless heroines who must use unconventional methods to deliver justice—and hopefully find a love that proves a perfect fit for their hearts. The collection includes:

The Lieutenant’s Promise by Aileen Fish, USA Today and National bestselling author.

Caught in the path of an impending battle between approaching Federal and rebel troops, headstrong Em Gilmore clashes with handsome Lt. Lucas over keeping her family safe. 

Secrets and Lies by Marie Higgins, National bestselling author.

Love for the man of her dreams wasn't the only thing she was trying to hide. 

Blood for Ink by LL Muir, National bestselling author.

Northwick is determined to uncover the identity of The Scarlet Plumiere, a gossip writer who has exposed his friend to the ridicule of the ton. But if he unmasks her, she's as good as dead... 

Anna and the Conductor by Bess McBride, National bestselling author. Amid the ravages of the American Civil War, abolitionist Anna Douglas and a mysterious Underground Railroad conductor risk their freedom and lives to carry others to safety. Can their newfound love survive the chaos and destruction of war? 

Love, Lies, Traitors, and Spies by Melissa Lynn Blue, National bestselling author.

The last year has harbored little more than horror and loss for Juliet Jackson, but when her fiancé, Cole Turner, shows up one night claiming to have information that will end the war she is faced with a rare opportunity to take control of her own destiny. The only problem is that Cole is serving as a Union army spy, and Juliet is a staunch Virginian... 

The Mapmaker's Wife by Kathy L Wheeler, National bestselling author.

A flippant proposal and an attack on her person finds one young woman married to the mapmaker who only needs someone to take control of his ungovernable child. Feelings quickly shift into something less platonic and when the enemy gains vital secrets, her suspicions land her in jail.

To Love a Spy boxed set BuyLink (ONLY 99 CENTS!)