Conversations

Stuck at home because of Omicron? Looking for new things to watch and listen to? Have I got a list for you!

For a start, I’d be delighted to have you join me at either of these upcoming events: 

Wednesday, January 12, 2021 I was so happy to hear that The Woman All Spies Fear is a finalist for YALSA’s Excellence in Nonfiction Award, and I’m excited to be part of a free online conversation with the other four finalists about nonfiction, writing, research, and why history matters. Register here with the host, SLJ, to watch the 1.00 pm ET panel (or to receive a link to it afterward).

Sunday, January 16, 2021 Join me at 12:30 pm ET for an online talk about Elizebeth Smith Friedman, hosted by the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau Country. I’ll be sharing some insights into both her remarkable code-breaking career and her fascinating marriage to William Friedman, who is sometimes called the “Godfather of the NSA.” Register here

Over the past few months, I’ve also recorded interviews about codes, spies, and Elizebeth Smith Friedman with some wonderful hosts. If you’re looking for something to listen to while you wash the dishes or make dinner or walk the dog, you can find our conversations here: 

Author, Can I Ask You? with Joni B. Mitchell

Wine, Women & Words with Diana Giovinazzo Tierney and Michele Leivas

On the Record with Tom O’Connor (starting at 4 minutes in)

They’re all terrific interviewers, and the first two shows have plenty more episodes available! Definitely worth checking out if you’ve got cabin fever.

Online with The Woman All Spies Fear

It’s just a week till the The Woman All Spies Fear officially debuts, and my author copies are already here! Aren’t they stunning?!

I’m grateful to illustrator Karolis Strautniekas and designer Andrea Lau for their brilliant work on the book, and to all the people at Random House who have helped bring it into being.

Elizebeth Friedman was a brilliant women who fought gangsters, the Mob, and Nazi spies – only to find herself pushed into history’s shadows. I’ll be talking about her remarkable life (and sharing photos!) at a couple of online events this month, and I’d be delighted to have you join me:

Wednesday, 20 October 2021, at 1pm EDT: I’ll be giving a free online Cyber Chat for middle and high school students, via the National Cryptologic Foundation’s online classroom

Wednesday, 27 October 2021, at 12 noon EDT: I’ll be talking about the hidden life of Elizebeth Smith Friedman (and sharing lots of wonderful photos!) in a free online talk hosted by the International Spy Museum

Both events are free, but they require you to pre-register. I’ll be doing some radio and podcast interviews as well, and I’ll be a guest on Write Space with Kirby Larson, talking about writing, history, and The Woman All Spies Fear. I’ll post more details about those events later. It’s a busy few weeks, but I’m glad to have the chance to shine a light on this extraordinary woman and her hidden life.

[Edited 22 Oct 21 to update dates and links!]

Behind the scenes

Tags

Television

For ten months now, I’ve been mostly locked down at home. It’s a drag, but it’s the smart thing to do if you’re high risk like me. When I can, I walk in local fields. My excursions are rare, and usually involve clinics and hospitals.

The one glorious exception is my trip last August to a TV studio. I went there to film an interview for an American Experience documentary about Elizebeth Smith Friedman, the amazing real-life female code breaker who is the subject of my next book, The Woman All Spies Fear.

Covid had wrecked our original plans to film in NYC in March, so I figured the documentary would go on without me. But I hadn’t reckoned on the determination of the producer and director, who found a way forward. At a time when local Covid levels were very low, they found an Oxfordshire studio that does work for the BBC and that was taking good precautions. They told me I’d be the only guest in the studio that day, with only a small camera crew at a distance, so I decided to take the risk.

It was a bizarre and wonderful experience. The film crew was terrific, and they’d rigged up a zoom link with the US-based team. That way, the director could interview me as if she were in the studio herself. It worked like a dream…

…except for the wasps.

While the camera was rolling, I was stung not once, but TWICE, by wasps that had found their way into the studio. I got out my Epipen but luckily didn’t need it — though I did need the two packs of frozen mixed veggies the film crew offered me from the freezer. After the second sting, the crew decided to wrap the lower half of me in a black velvet theater curtain, then stand guard over me (at 6 feet, with masks) to swat away anything that buzzed. And that’s how I did the interview, which went on for over six hours. It was quite a day.

If you’re in the US, you can see the film on PBS on Monday night — the first American Experience episode of 2021! It’s called The Codebreaker. I’m just a small part of it, but I think it will be GREAT! Catch it if you can.

A new year & a new cover

Happy New Year, everyone! May it be better than the last one. It’s been a long time since I was so happy to finish off a calendar and move on to the next.

I’ve been lying low with a lupus flare for the last several weeks, but I’m slowly getting better, and today I have something fun to share — the cover for my next book, THE WOMAN ALL SPIES FEAR, out in October from Random House!

The artist is Karolis Strautniekas, whose done some fabulous work in the NYT and the New Yorker, among other places. Often authors don’t have any control over covers, so I was delighted to have some input into this one, and I couldn’t be happier with the final result.

Here’s the book description:

In the summer of 1916, a young English major sets out to solve a mystery about Shakespeare. It involves a rare book, a strange millionaire, and the secret world of codes and ciphers. Within a year, she has transformed herself into one of America’s top code breakers — and that is only the beginning of her brilliant career.            

During World War I, Elizebeth Smith Friedman cracked thousands of messages and trained Army officers in cryptology. In the 1920s, she foiled the plans of mobsters and confronted them in court. By the late 1930s, she was one of the most famous code breakers in the world. In World War II, she hunted Nazi spies.

A woman of many secrets, she was later pushed into the shadows. To discover her full story, you must delve deep, the way a code breaker would, searching for the truth that lies just out of sight. This biography tells the riveting tale of an overlooked American heroine — a real-life adventure, mystery, and love story.

The book can be pre-ordered now on Amazon, and it will soon show up on bookshop.org, too. If you do pre-order it, you have my undying gratitude!