[Author’s note: These are the notes I used to give a 30-minute talk via Zoom to the McMinnville, Oregon Lions Club on 9/2/20. I was invited to give the talk by Sam Justice, a fellow soldier I first met at the Defense Language Institute in 1981. We are still friends after all of these years. The notes have been modified to eliminate personal references, and edited for clarity.]

I’ve been asked to talk to you today about how to write a spy novel. I’m flattered ...