Meet the Author: Mara Timon
Mara Timon is a London based New Yorker. City of Spies is her first novel. It was released on 17th September in hardback, eBook and audio, £8.99 (Zaffre) and is also available from Suffolk Libraries.
Who were your literary influences as you were growing up and when did you first feel that you wanted to write?
As a teenager, my dad introduced me to Jack Higgins’ books. Great stories, and great writing. I loved the way he played with my emotions - his baddies weren’t always bad, they were just fighting for their country (albeit on the wrong side), and I found myself rooting for them, even though I didn’t really want to. The writing bug bit me when I was 13 or so and I started writing a (very bad) novel that (thank heavens) never got finished. After that, I short stories, mostly for myself and a few friends. It was another few decades before I tried my hand at novels again. I’d been watching a history programme and something captured my imagination. ‘What if?’ I asked myself, and followed those what-ifs until a story unfolded, and I’m so glad I did!
City of Spies is your first novel. As a new author how has your literary journey so far lived up to the dream?
Wow. Well, there were a few knocks early on, but from the moment I signed with my agent, James Wills, I knew I was in good hands, and he found the right home for City of Spies with Katherine Armstrong and the team at Bonnier Zaffre. Each step has been exciting, and I’m not ashamed to say that I cried when I first held a copy of my book. It’s been magical.
Can you give us a flavour of City of Spies? Was Elisabeth/Cecile based on any particular person?
City of Spies is a WW2 espionage thriller. It is the story of Elisabeth de Mornay (codename Cecile), a Special Operations Executive agent who was operating in Occupied France. When her cover story is blown, she flees Paris and, one step ahead of the Gestapo, makes her way to Portugal. In Lisbon she receives a new identity and new orders: to break a German espionage ring targeting Allied shipping. To accomplish this, she has to forge links with the very people who want her dead. The problem? In neutral Lisbon, swirling with exiled aristocrats, businessmen, artists, smugglers, and of course spies, no one is who they claim to be.
I have the greatest of respect for the real-life women of Special Operations Executive. I wasn’t fortunate enough to meet any of them, but I have read their biographies and autobiographies. And while Elisabeth isn’t based on any of them, she was inspired by them all.
Are you a writer who enjoys the research part of books or would you always rather be writing?
I love the research. I love finding out bits of history I didn’t know about. Sometimes I can incorporate that in the story, sometimes I stash it away for future reference. Sometimes when I’m stuck on a plot issue, the history will show me which way the story needs to go. The hard part is incorporating enough of the research to make the story believable, without making it seem like a history lesson.
Is there anything you can share about your next project?
I just finished drafting the manuscript! The story is set in France, 1944 and is about 3 very different female SOE agents as they work to destabilise German operations ahead of the Normandy landings.
What is the best advice you were ever given?
“Write the book you want to read.” But if I were to give advice to a new author, I would add that the publishing process is long and not always direct. If you want to succeed you need to persevere, and be open to constructive criticism from your agent and editor. They’re there to help you succeed!
Can you tell us one thing about yourself that your readers may not know?
The first half marathon I ever ran was on Jersey, because I fell in love with Jack Higgins’ description of the island and wanted an excuse to visit it.
Describe yourself in three words.
Determined, creative, optimistic