The Red in the Wrong Profession follows a widowed history teacher and his 12-year-old daughter who, at the local bookstore, discover a coded message tucked inside a classic novel, leading them to a possible espionage plot. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

I had learned that spies left messages in some rather unusual places, back before there was an Internet and electronic ways to communicate with their handlers or with other spies.  It intrigued me no end!  So I thought it would be fun for my readers to have a bookstore used as a “spy drop.”  Hey, Internet or no, it could still happen…

Spencer is a history teacher who ends up living inside history. How did you think about that irony while writing him?
 
I had a feeling someone like Spencer, who is an honorable character, even though he’s got a wicked sense of humor about the spy, Zinnia, would just love it if he became a part of history.  Suddenly he’s no longer teaching about the Cold War – he’s living it, and in the best way possible, by involving his brother who just happens to be in the FBI.

Preston straddles family loyalty and professional duty. What interested you most about that tension?

There are some things that Preston is prohibited from revealing, even to his family members.  And he doesn’t like that, but what can he do?  I think he does a terrific job of informing his brother and niece as far as he possibly can as the three of them work together to resolve what they found out was happening regarding the spy in their midst. 

The novel shows how misinformation and rumors spread through casual conversation. Was that a deliberate parallel to espionage?

It was more like I was trying to show who could and couldn’t be trusted. Quite a few characters aren’t what they appear to be. There’s certainly a lot of suspicion going on in that little town in Virginia where the story is set!

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