Charlie and Rachel Hore (A Beautiful Spy) discuss the life and work of a female spy in the years between the First and Second World Wars, the man who inspired James Bond's M, and how Rachel took care to do right in her representation of a real person. Some podcast apps do not show description links properly unless the listener subscribes to the podcast. If you can't click the links below and don't wish to subscribe, copy and paste the following address into your browser to access the episode's page on my blog: http://wormhole.carnelianvalley.com/podcast/episode-43-rachel-hore Rachel Hore's The Dream House Rachel's article on Olga Gray for the Historical Writers' Association Wikipedia's article on Max Knight Wikipedia's article on Mata Hari (contains semi-nude photo) Wikipedia's article on John Buchan Wikipedia's article on Johnny Morris iTunes Podchaser Question Index 00:36 How did being an editor (HarperCollins) before becoming an author influence your writing? 01:46 Did you always know you wanted to write a book, had you always had a book in you? 12:55 This book is based on a spy, Olga Gray?... 15:30 Was it usual for people to be a spy for such a relatively short period of time? 17:28 Were there many women spies in this period of time? 18:57 Was it difficult to work with the facts and add your fiction into the story? 22:21 Was Max Knight an author in real life? 24:35 How did you expect readers to take to your fictionised Max? 26:08 How much did Minnie's relationship with her father impact her choices in these spy years? 32:23 Can you tell us about the Friends of the Soviet Union? 36:20 What's next? 37:21 A Beautiful Spy was your first novel about a real person - do you think you'd do similar again? 38:51 Do you feel you did right by Olga? Purchase Links A Beautiful Spy: Amazon UK Amazon US Amazon Canada Waterstones Hive Barnes & Noble IndieBound Indigo Chapters I am an IndieBound affiliate and earn a small commission on qualifying purchases. Photograph used with the permission of the author. Credit: Charlotte Murphy.