A Symphony of Spies follows a brilliant but indiscreet physicist who leaks classified secrets to his inner circle, leaving a sharp-minded analyst to trace the fallout. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

A Symphony of Spies is informed by my undergraduate career at Amherst College and the camaraderie shared among my circle of friends. Each of my classmates was individually brilliant, but not one of them had the expertise in subatomic physics of fictional freshman, Drew Reid.

Drew is compelling precisely because he can’t keep secrets. What interested you about that kind of character?

I am an introvert. The seeming effortlessness of others to percolate through society fascinates me, as do the strategies to communicate that we are less so inclined to use. Drew Reid is desperate to connect with others and mistakes the disclosure of classified secrets for intimacy.

The musical world feels lived-in and specific. How does musicianship mirror espionage in your view, and do you see performance and intelligence work as forms of exposure?

Musicianship and spycraft are forms of art. They both require mammoth amounts of self-discipline in order to yield success. It has long been said that engineers make great musicians because of their sense of organization and discipline. I don’t know that secret agents have ever been subject to a similar survey, but I suspect they would score well with the tools required for musicianship (and I think musicians make great spies).

Will this novel be the start of a series, or are you working on a different story?

I am considering a sequel to Symphony, but I am currently working on sequels to my first novel, BookMarck, and a new epic set in Greece.

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