Former White House insider Karna Small Bodman talks about her upcoming political thriller, FINAL FINESSE, with ITW contributing editor CJ Lyons.You have a very unique background that makes you particularly suited to write political thrillers. Tell us about yourself.
After being on the air for over a dozen years - as a TV News Reporter and Anchor in San Francisco and Washington, DC, I also did political commentary for the ABC Network in New York. Then I had the honor serving in the Reagan White House for 6 years - first as Deputy Press Secretary and later as Senior Director and Spokesman for the National Security Council. Working with national security issues on a daily basis gave me tons of ideas for the political thrillers I'm writing today.
Each of my books, CHECKMATE, GAMBIT and now FINAL FINESSE deals with a different national security threat to our country - at least ones I see "out there." I do a lot of research on current issues and when GAMBIT was featured on The Today Show, instead of calling these stories "fiction," they called them "faction" - a neat description that would apply to many of the books by our thriller writers today.
FINAL FINESSE is your 3rd book featuring a strong female protagonist. What kind of women did you work with while you were at the White House? Any who would compare to Samantha Reid or Cameron Talbot?There were many very bright women in the Reagan administration (and subsequent administrations) and I was influenced by a lot of them, though my heroine's were not based on any single individual. During the Reagan days, I saw Jeanne Kirkpatrick in action at the UN, met with Margaret Thatcher at #10, watched Liddy Dole in the Cabinet, worked with women who headed up the Legislative Affairs office of The White House as well as several on the NSC staff. In fact, for FINAL FINESSE, I got a lot of help from a woman who Special Assistant to the President for Central and South American Affairs (that story involves "villains" from South America who - easily - come across our Mexican border to sabotage natural gas pipelines, causing havoc throughout the heartland).
Your books compare global politics to a chess match. How did your insider knowledge lead to this world view?
During any Presidential campaign, we often hear candidates berating a previous administration for their foreign policies. But when they actually get into office and get their first national security briefing, let's just say it can make their hair stand on end. There are many REAL threats to our country - especially now - and having seen many of them "up close" - it's a very sobering experience. Also, I've heard about many attacks that did not take place because of the vigilance of a President - BUT no administration can take credit for something that did NOT happen. Otherwise they could jeopardize what we call "sources and methods" (by signaling to the "bad guys" that we penetrated their cell, listened in on their communications etc.). The FIRST job of any President is to keep the country safe - that's what I like to write about.,
What's next for you?
I've done the research and, written the synopsis for book #4 and started to write it - and am also considering another big project that may tie in to a movie deal.
Karna Small Bodman's FINAL FINESSE will be available from Forge in May, 2009.
As a pediatric ER doctor, CJ Lyons has lived the life she writes about in her cutting edge suspense novels. Her debut, LIFELINES (Berkley, March 2008), became a National Bestseller and Publishers Weekly proclaimed it a "breathtakingly fast-paced medical thriller." The second in the series, WARNING SIGNS, was released January, 2009. Contact her at http://www.cjlyons.net
