From Russia with Love

One thing that's nice about being an itinerant writer is the great excuses it gives me to visit all sorts of exotic locales.  When I wrote my first thriller based on the character of Natalia Nicolaeva, I spent a week in Istanbul scouting locations.  That book, originally titled Natalia, never did sell very well.  I think that the title had something to do with it.  Natalia just didn't say anything much to clue in potential readers what type of book it actually was.

Flash forward six years, and I am hard at work on a sequel.  Not only that, but I have a third installment planned as well.  I will start with a new series of titles and new matching covers.  The books, in order, will be called Russia Girl, Vendetta Girl and Spy Girl.  The locations will be Istanbul, St. Petersburg and London.

Given that I'd never actually been to St. Petersburg before, or Russia at all, I decided that this must be remedied.  On that count, I just spent a lovely three-day weekend there taking in the sights.

I must say, I found St. Petersburg to be a charming city, and the people I met were all very gracious.  All in all, it was a great weekend and now I've got all the insight I think I need to set my story there.  One of the scenes takes place at the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, as seen over my shoulder above.  I already have a rough draft done, and I think this novel is going to turn out to be another good one.  If all goes well, after Spy Girl I will move on to Mystery Girl, set in a city to be determined.  For the time being, keep your eyes out for the relaunch of the newly titled Russia Girl, coming soon!