Shannon here: Linda Shenton Matchett shares her inspiration for her Historical Romance, Spies and Sweethearts. Comment or answer the question in this post to enter the drawing for an ebook copy. Deadline: May 18th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Linda:
I love volunteering at the Wright Museum, especially the opportunity to meet men and women who lived during World War II. I enjoy looking at our displays, and I’ve learned a lot about the famous and infamous, but there is nothing like sitting down and talking with those “ordinary” people who did extraordinary things simply because their country asked them.
When I was considering what to write about next, I decided to use my docent shift to see if any of our exhibits sparked an idea. While wandering through the museum checking out our displays that highlight the ways women served, I met a visitor who worked for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor to the CIA. With bright, sparkling eyes and a broad smile she regaled me with some of her exploits. At one point, she winked and whispered that she couldn’t tell me everything or she’d have to kill me.
My pulse raced….I had my story. I would to tell her story and that of the other brave women who risked their lives and reputations, since “nice girls weren’t spies”, to help put an end to the evil that was stalking the globe. I read numerous memoirs and autobiographies and watched dozens of YouTube interviews. I even managed to get my hands on the training manual for Britain’s Special Operations Executive, on which the organization of the OSS is modeled.
Reading through the manual, it didn’t take me long to realize I did not have what it took to be a secret
agent. Not only am I claustrophobic and acrophobic, I have an abysmal sense of direction. I’ve been known to misplace my car in a mall parking lot, so I can’t imagine being dropped into a field in a foreign country and have to find a location, to say nothing about the fact that I’m a very poor liar. I’d get caught in a “New York minute.”
Spies & Sweethearts is book 1 in the Sisters in Service series and features Emily Strealer, the youngest of three sisters. The book is four years old this month, and is still one of my favorite books to have written.
Question for Readers: Name one trait you think is necessary to be a successful secret agent and let us know if you would consider applying for the job.
About Linda: Linda Shenton Matchett writes happily ever after historical Christian fiction about second chances and women who overcome life’s challenges to be better versions of themselves. Whether you choose her books set in the Old West or across the globe during WWII, you will be immersed in the past through rich detail. A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Linda has been scribbling stories since her parents gifted her a notebook in the third grade. She now resides in central New Hampshire where she works as a human resources professional and volunteers as a docent and archivist for the Wright Museum of World War II. Learn more & connect:
Linda’s Website Linda’s Newsletter Signup Linda’s Facebook
Linda’s Youtube – Moments in History Linda’s Bookbub Linda’s Goodreads
About Spies & Sweethearts (Christian Historical Fiction):
She wants to do her part. He’s just trying to stay out of the stockade. Will two agents deep behind enemy lines find capture… or love?
1942: Emily Strealer is tired of being told what she can’t do. Wanting to prove herself to her older sisters and do her part for the war effort, the high school French teacher joins the OSS and trains to become a covert operative. And when she completes her training, she finds herself parachuting into occupied France with her instructor to send radio signals to the Resistance.
Major Gerard Lucas has always been a rogue. Transferring to the so-called “Office of Dirty Tricks” to escape a court-martial, he poses as a husband to one of his trainees on a dangerous secret mission. But when their cover is blown after only three weeks, he has to flee with the young schoolteacher to avoid Nazi arrest.
Running for their lives, Emily clings to her mentor’s military experience during the harrowing three-hundred-mile trek to neutral Switzerland. And while Gerard can’t bear the thought of his partner falling into German hands, their forged papers might not be enough to get them over the border.
Can the fugitive pair receive God’s grace to elude the SS and discover the future He intended?
Can’t wait for the drawing? Worried you won’t win? Interested in Linda’s other titles?
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Spies and Sweethearts Linda’s Books
Come back May 14th for Caryl McAdoo!
Thanks for hosting me!
Thanks for being here, Linda. I would think a spy would have to have a good poker face. I could never do it since I don’t have one. I’m terrible at lying and subterfuge, so I would get someone killed for sure 🙂
I read your first book about spies. I do not think I could do it. But it does sound exciting.
Hi Rory! I think you’re right about it being exciting.
You’re absolutely right about needing a poker face. I don’t have one either!
memory
Definitely!
I have a winner! Rory won the drawing. I appreciate Linda for being my guest and everyone else for stopping by.
Congratulations Rory! I’ve sent you an email about your prize.