Topic: Conflict and Suspense

Please join the Riverside Writers Club on 13 May to hear Austen Camacho talk about Conflict and Suspense.

We meet at 1 pm eastern. This will be a hybrid meeting, with some members gathering at Salem Church Branch Library, and others joining via WebEx. Our meetings are open to the public, so please feel free to join us.

Here’s the link for the virtual meeting. https://teenenrichmentnetwork.my.webex.com/meet/teenenrichment

About the Topic

Much of what the public believes it understands about espionage in general and the CIA in particular, and anything in between, comes from spy fiction (spy-fi): novels, television series, and movies. Sometimes the writers get it right. More often, they do not, to the detriment of the public’s understanding of what intelligence officers do for our country, the development of misimpressions at home and overseas of the missions and operations of these organizations, and a winnowing of the number of talented people who would otherwise consider a career in intelligence. Intelligence is one of the world’s oldest professions, and possibly the most misunderstood. This presentation (and its book version) will give you tips on how intelligence officers go about their work, what some of our arcane language means, and what they are like. It will point out common myths, and suggest how you can avoid perpetuating their more deleterious effects on your credibility and their public images. This presentation covers the types of material that the author (retired CIA) and his colleagues frequently see in fictional writing about espionage, and will lead you away from some of the more common glaring errors. As a bonus, the presentation also offers numerous photos from inside the CIA. It will give you just what you need to provide an accurate flavor of where intel officers work, what they do, how they sound, how they think, and what motivates them. You can improve the accuracy of your writing and eliminate unintentionally irritating slurs against American patriots by paying careful attention to these observations.

About the Speaker

Austin S. Camacho is the author of seven novels about Washington DC-based private eye Hannibal Jones, five in the Stark and O’Brien international adventure-thriller series, and the detective novel, Beyond Blue. His short stories have been featured in several anthologies including Dying in a Winter Wonderland – an Independent Mystery Booksellers Association Top Ten Bestseller for 2008. He is featured in the Edgar nominated African American Mystery Writers: A Historical and Thematic Study by Frankie Y. Bailey.