Hey, guys!
Today we will be discussing education and espionage. Hannah Carmack, the author of Seven-Sided Spy, wrote an amazing essay on the subject. We hope you enjoy!
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Education and Espionage
~Hannah Carmack~
Education and Espionage
~Hannah Carmack~
Up until high school, I was not the best student. While a majority of my peers went into freshman year with a handful of AP course recommendations and impressive honor-roll records. I was going in seemingly lost. All my friends were smart enough for the excelled-English courses and excelled-mathematics, while I was stuck in entry-level classes. My grades usually lingered around a C/Low-B range, and I was never interested in the content being covered.
Now, pedagogy scholars could argue for days over whether the school was failing me or I was failing myself, but that’s not the point here. What matters is that I didn’t stay that way. Very early on in my freshman year of high school, I made the choice to take an AP History class against my academic advisor’s recommendations. This class is only reason my novel SEVEN-SIDED SPY is able to tote its historical fiction tag so proudly.
While some kids found their passion for biological chemistry in our Life Science class, or others their love of political science in AP Government, I found my love for espionage and international affairs in AP World History. SEVEN-SIDED SPY focuses on the intertwining story of seven intelligence agents –all from varying parts of the world – in 1963. We enter the book at the height of the civil rights-era, the beginning of the free-love moment, and the earliest days of the Vietnam war.
As you can imagine, the pressure was on. I found myself constantly repeating the mantra, fact-check yourself before you fact-wreck yourself. The time spent researching this project was endless. Even as we sent things off to the proofer, we were still looking up what the inside of a 1962 Corvair would look like, and figuring out if you could cram three adults into the back of a Karmann Ghia- the answer is yes, but not without sacrificing a couple arms and maybe a leg. We just recently caught a reference to cup holders. A major inaccuracy since cup holders didn’t show up in automobiles till around the 80’s. Then you’ve also got all your spy-tech, slang, political affair references to double, triple check. It made for a daunting project, easily softened by a love of history and a strong education system.
I’m not afraid to admit that this book wouldn’t be nearly as accurate or as seeped in its time period without having built a love of history early on. I wouldn’t have even known what inaccuracies to look for had I not been sitting 45 minutes a day listening to my teacher and peers discuss the history of intelligence work and the political tone for 1963.
That’s not to say all historical fiction needs to be written that way, more than I wouldn’t have been able to write historical fiction without it. For me, it was love at first sight with history classes. Things were easy to understand, while also spellbinding. History is the novel of past and the foreshadowing of our future –as it seems we are destined to repeat ourselves. 
Here is more information on Hannah's debut novel Seven-Sided Spy!
Published on: January 15, 2018
Published by: NineStar Press
Genre(s): Historical Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Young Adult
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.8 stars (18 reviews)
Synopsis:
In the midst of the cold war, the CIA’s finest and most fatal female agent, Diana Riley, vanishes. Kidnapped by the KGB and taken to the backcountry of North Carolina, she and her team of unsavory partners are forced to undergo illegal experimentation.
But, when the experiments leave them horribly deformed and unable to reenter society without someone crying monster, the previously glamorous and high-maintenance spies must escape KGB captivity and avoid recapture at the hands of Nikola, a ruthless KGB agent with an intense and well-justified grudge against her former flame.
But, when the experiments leave them horribly deformed and unable to reenter society without someone crying monster, the previously glamorous and high-maintenance spies must escape KGB captivity and avoid recapture at the hands of Nikola, a ruthless KGB agent with an intense and well-justified grudge against her former flame.
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Seven-Sided Spy is out now in eBook format!
Happy reading!
Olivia
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