Tips & tricks

Research is like detective work. You have to slog, work hard, look for clues, keep notes, stay organized and keep following the trail. But while you’re doing that, you’ll discover another trail that branches off, and then another trail and another. Before you know it, you’ll have found exciting new information that will enhance your book. Sometimes research is like trying to decode a word scramble or fitting together the pieces of a puzzle. Let your eyes and your brain relax. The clues are all there in front of you, and you’ll be able to see what’s tickling at the edge of your peripheral vision. Follow that, and you’ll find what you’re looking for—and sometimes something you didn’t even know you needed. That’s treasure-hunting. And treasure-hunting is also part of doing research. Read, read and read some more! For Surprising Spies (coming out in Fall 2020), I read everything I could find about spies during WWII. Every book has footnotes and a bibliography. I scoured those and then tracked down those sources and read those books, and scoured their notes and bibliographies. I watched films. Every film has credits. I paused the films to read those credits, and followed those trails, too. I perused websites and blogs. I talked to people. I went to lectures and talked to the lecturers. I talked to fellow authors and asked for their recommendations. I chatted with booksellers and librarians and found leads that way. That’s networking. And networking is part of doing research.

Ten of my research adventures (and a bonus or two)

1. Smuggled Secrets: Nothing is ever wasted! I bought some books about WWII spies at a library book fair and the cashier commented on my purchases. I told her I was researching a book about WWII spies and she said that her father had been a pilot during the war and was held captive in a WWII prisoner-of-war camp in Germany. She offered to lend me the diary and photos he had smuggled out of the camp when he escaped. I wasn’t able to use the information for Surprising Spies, but I logged it for a future book. 2. Code Talkers: Priceless primary source material! At a family holiday party, I was talking to my nephew’s girlfriend. I mentioned that I was researching a book about WWII. She told me that she had recently interviewed a Navajo Code Talker and that his story was compelling. I asked if she thought he’d be willing to talk to me and she assured me that he would. She put us in touch and we were able to do our interview by Skype. 3. Spy Gadgets: It always pays to ask! A friend told me that he knew an ex-CIA agent and agreed to put us in touch. The agent put me in touch with another former agent, who sent me some great books he’d written on everything to do with the world of espionage. The author put me in touch with another colleague who happened to own the largest collection of espionage gadgets in the U.S. The collector allowed me to include images of some of those gadgets in my book. 4. Family of Spies: Be bold! A writer and filmmaker I’d met while researching another book made a documentary about a WWII spy I didn’t know much about. In the film, he interviewed two of the nephews of this spy. When I asked, he kindly put me in touch with both of them, and a subsequent interview with one of them provided some personal anecdotes and great quotes, while the other nephew sent me copies of letters and stories written by his aunt. I was able to include some in the book. 5. Magic Photos: Serendipity! I travelled to London to do some photo research. Before going, I tried to be as efficient as possible, and worked hard to determine exactly what images I was looking for. I made appointments at two archives. While looking through a photo album at the Imperial War Museum, I suddenly realized I hadn’t requested any photos of a certain important object that is included in the book. In fact, I didn’t even know if such photos existed. I opened another photo album and right there in front of me was a group of photos of that exact object. 6. Top Secret Files: Follow the trail! While doing research at the National Archives UK, I noticed a brochure at the front desk. It was all about one of the spies in the book. It said that her top-secret personal file had recently been declassified, and it was there in the archives. I spent the whole next day going through that file as well as other recently declassified top-secret files. 7. Official Secrets: Think outside the box! I was having a lot of trouble tracking down a particular document. I’d found footnotes about the Official Secrets Act agreement form in other books, but could not find the actual document anywhere. It occurred to me that the same document would probably be in the personal file of another spy working for the same agency. Sure enough, I found it, and was able to cite it directly. 8. Boastful Letters: Primary sources! In one of the archives, I found a personal letter from a spy to his wife. In the letter, he described something he’d invented and how it could be used. I was able to quote directly from his letter. 9. Talking to Spies: Use everything! For another book, I had interviewed some men who worked in the French Resistance with one of the spies in Surprising Spies. I was able to use direct quotes from those interviews, rather than having to paraphrase. 10. Forgotten Memories: Persistence! When writing another book, I’d met and interviewed one of the people I included in Surprising Spies. When I phoned him to ask his permission to include him in the current book, he told me about something he’d recently remembered. He was visiting a WWII museum in France and saw a photo on the wall that looked familiar. He realized it was a photo of him as a teen, with a group of other teenage boys. That brought back a memory he’d completely forgotten: a great story of resistance, which I was able to include in the new book. 11. Bonus! I compiled lots of weird and wacky information along the way about a particular aspect of espionage. It wasn’t entirely unrelated to Surprising Spies, but there was so much of it, my editor suggested I save it for another book. The topic? It’s still top-secret. But as soon as that new book is ready, I’ll let you know! 12. And Another Bonus! Wanna know more? Check out this video of me talking about how to do research.