Tag Archives | The Spy Who Left Me

Winners from the Spies, Murder and Mystery – week 3!

Wow! Those three weeks flew by. I hope you’ve found new authors and new books to read!

And here are the winners from last week!

Signed copy of Uncommon Criminals goes to Kelly Polark!

An ebook of The Emotion Thesaurus goes to Sherrie Petersen!

A print copy of The Spy Who Left Me goes to Mart Ramirez!

An ebook of Untraceable goes to Laura Marcella!

An ebook of Suffocate goes to Laura Diamond!

Congrats to all the winners! Please use the contact form up on my menu bar to give your mailing address if you won a print copy. If you won an ebook, leave me your email and which version – Kindle or Nook – you prefer.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day if you live in the United States! I’ll be back on Thursday!

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Using spy gadgets in fiction with Gina Robinson!

Welcome! Welcome! Mystery fans! We’re celebrating A Spy Like Me today and all week!

I’m excited to welcome Gina Robinson today to talk about spy gadgets! #cool She’s the author of two spy books for adults and I can’t wait to read them!

Facebook ~ Twitter @ginamrobinson


I write what I like to call spylicious romance. Another term might be action adventure romantic comedy. My books are filled with love, action, and humor. And spy gadgets–everything from real, currently available on-the-market devices, to humorous gadgets spies wished they had. That’s the great thing about writing about spies–you can make gadgets up as the need arises. Think about the things Q creates for James Bond. Does anyone really have a car with an ejector seat, a high-powered oil jet, and .30 caliber machine guns behind the headlights? Bond does. Why shouldn’t your spies? Oh, and Bond had a set of rocket-firing bagpipes, too. You never know when a nice set of pipes will come in handy.

Need ideas for what kinds of spy devices to invent for your plot? Turn to the experts. I write humor so I often go to classic humorous spies for my inspiration. One of my very favorites is the old, classic Get Smart TV show. I have several seasons of it on DVD and I pop by Get Smart fan sites whenever the need arises.

Max Smart had one of the first cell phones–his shoe phone. Which now, in the more modern Get Smart movie, resides in a museum. Thanks to his creators, Max was decades ahead of his time. Max also had all sorts of phones disguised as everyday objects, as well as guns in every form–pool cue guns, charms on charm bracelet guns, even rubber duckie guns. Don’t give that one to the kids by mistake at bath time.  He also had poisonous soap and a ping-pong ball grenade. His sidekick, 99, had poisonous lipstick. Are you sensing a theme here? Anything goes.

If you’re looking for something a little more realistic, visit one of the many spy supply sites online. You’ll be amazed at the real spy items the everyday person can buy–teddy bear cams, rearview sunglasses, listening ears, video pens.  I have a video pen. It’s great fun to use. I also have several pair of rearview sunglasses–love them! I used them for comedic effect in my novel The Spy Who Left Me.

That’s my real message–whether you use real or imaginary devices, just have fun.

Gina Robinson is the Kindle bestselling author of The Spy Who Left Me. Her latest novel, Diamonds Are Truly Forever, releases on May 22, 2012. Check out her website, www.ginarobinson.com, for a full listing of her books.

Amazon ~ Barnes and Noble

 

Gina’s offering up a copy of The Spy Who Left Me! Thanks so much Gina! I love me some spy gadgets!

Enter to win Uncommon Criminals. 
Enter to win The Emotion Thesaurus.

Thanks everyone!

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Want a sneak peek into the next three weeks of Spies, Murder and Mystery?

So the posts are rolling in and I’m loving what I’m reading and can’t wait to share it with all of you in the next three weeks.

 

What? Haven’t you heard?

To celebrate A Spy Like Me I’m holding a 3 week Spies, Murder and Mystery Marathon.

Read more about it here.

But here are some sneak peeks!

Six common challenges when writing a traditional mystery and some ideas for getting around them, by the fabulous Elizabeth Spann Craig, author of Quilt or Innocence.

Don’t miss it!

What does the Deepwater oil spill, the European debt crisis and the barefoot bandit have to do with Elisa Ludwig’s YA debut, Pretty Crooked?

You’ll have to wait to find out!

When does a 13-year-old author find the time to write? And what do his teachers and friends think?

Spencer Brokaw of The Impenetrable Spy tells all.

Teddy bear cams, rearview sunglasses, listening ears, video pens – all needed spy equipment.

Find out how Gina Robinson uses them in her fiction, The Spy Who Left Me.

Hollywood scandal inspires Anne R. Allen to write The Gatsby Game.

Curious about which scandal? Return next week!

Becca Puglisi, co-author of The Emotion Thesaurus talks about cake, er, I mean sub-plotting and editing.

Don’t miss out!

That’s just a taste of what’s coming. More great authors. Terrific info! Lots of stories behind the stories. And, of course, book giveaways!

See you next week!

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