Thriller author Kay Sparling chats with me about her new feminist cold war spy thriller, Mission THAW.
Bio:
Kay Sparling is an international opera and sacred singer. Now retired, she lives in the Upper Midwest with her feline writing buddy, the invincible Paducah. When not teaching voice lessons or writing, Kay enjoys gardening, hiking, adventure travelling, and cooking for family and friends.
Welcome, Kay. What inspired you to write this book?
My eyewitness experiences during the Cold War in Austria, Germany, and the eastern European countries that were previously under the Soviet regime.
Excerpt from Mission THAW:
August 1987 Vienna, Austria
My voice coaching got out early; it’s nearly noon. It’s hot and unbearably humid. Heading towards the trolley stop, I zig-zag through the hordes of tourists.
After a block or so, I turn to see if he’s still following me. Yep, it’s the same guy. Dressed like an American, the one I saw leave Roan’s dorm room last night. When I told Roan about being tailed, he laughed and tried to distract me by kissing me, but it didn’t work.
I laid into him about skipping out on language study dates. He’s well aware that we’re required to meet in order to pass the fluency test—the test I need to pass to start my apprenticeship at the Vienna State Opera. If I don’t, I might lose my grant and be told to pack my bags, and that isn’t happening, Mr. Roany Dutch Boy.
A traffic light stops me. Hopefully that guy will go the other way.
Once walking again, I decide that I’ll find myself a new study partner, but I’ll keep Roan as a boyfriend. He’s got the cutest dimples and makes me laugh. Smiling, I recall that he’s not bad between the sheets either. I’m heading to the university to catch him for lunch. Boy, has he got some explaining to do!
I see a trolley approaching my stop and decide to run the rest of the way to catch it. It’ll be close, but I might make it. Then I see her—a young mother with a baby stroller exiting the rear of the trolley. Just as she steps down and places the stroller on the cobblestones, her long skirt gets caught in the closing doors. Knowing that she’ll be dragged, I run faster, screeching at the top of my operatic lungs, “Halt, Halt!” The crowd in front of me turns and parts as I sprint down the sidewalk and stop on the tracks in front of the trolley, holding up my arms.
The driver yells and motions for me to clear the tracks. Damned grump! Still huffing and puffing, I tell him about the woman and point to the door. He checks his rearview mirror, releases the door, and waves me away from the tracks. Struggling to get my wind, I step back up on the curb and let the trolley pass.
What exciting project are you working on next?
Kaitlyn’s next mission is during the Bosnia war and her new CIA partner is a Catholic priest who was involved in Mission THAW.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
Most of my life I considered myself a professional singer. I guess I first considered myself a writer when Mission Thaw was released in August of 2024.
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
No, I do not write full time because I still have a full-time job. By day, I am a legal associate helping a badass lawyer team fight health insurance companies that don’t want to pay for worker’s compensation cases. By night, and any other time I can squeeze it in, I write.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I would say beyond a doubt, it’s my sassy comebacks and the ability to make a joke in the worst of times and circumstances.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
From the age of 5, after seeing “The Sound of Music”, I pronounced to my family that I was going to do THAT. That I was going to be in musicals. By the age of 7, I had my professional debut as the youngest Von Trapp child in “The Sound of Music”.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I primarily wrote this book to depict how political refugees are used by evil dictators and how everything that happened in 1988 is happening now. Note: Vladimir Putin was a KGB officer in East Germany during the period of this book.
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