“Research, Girl, Research.”

Credit

When I got the idea for Pause, my BF said to me, “Research, girl, research.” I took that to mean I could sit on the couch, eat a giant bowl of ice cream, and watch tons of James Bond movies. Why? Because Pause has a lot of spy gadgets and spy speak and spy worshipping in it.

I wanted to be in the FBI when I was a kid. Kendra, one of my characters, wants to be in the CIA. Coincidence? Nope.

Kendra developed many of the gadgets in the story herself. I love undercover gadgets. They’re neat. Back when I wanted to be in the FBI, my friends made me a bullet proof vest out of maxi-pads.  Believe me when I tell you it was not made for stealth, but it was still the coolest thing ever.

Besides getting fat while watching James Bond movies, though, I also scoured the internet. Cool stuff, that internet. Here’s some spy related stuff I found:

1. dead drop – secret location where materials can be left for later retrieval. (I actually kind of used this in The Grave Winner, but it was mentioned only briefly).

2. dead telephone – signal or code passed with a telephone without speaking.

3. FINESSE – disguises developed by CIA using Hollywood consultants.

4. microdot – photograph reduction of a secret message that’s very small.

5. PLASMA – device used to pick a lock

6. spy dust – a chemical marking compound used to keep tabs on people.

7. window dressing – used in a cover story to help convice the opposition or casual observers that what they are observing is genuine.

8. brush pass – something is passed between a two people quickly and without notice.

So yeah, cool stuff!

What about you? What kind of research have you done for your novels?