Novelists are often asked what inspires us to write. For me, the inspiration comes out of the restlessness that follows the completion of a novel when my mind is looking for an idea that will fill the void. Restlessness, sleeplessness, random thoughts that seem interesting… but become false leads. It’s an anxious time filled with uncertainty.
That was my state of mind in early 2022. I had finished writing Beirut Station, and I didn’t know what would come next. Donald Trump had lost the 2020 election, but he was still very much in the news with various ongoing investigations, including the Mar-a-Lago documents case and the House investigation into the events surrounding the January 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol.
All my novels had been set more than twenty years in the past, qualifying them as historical fiction, but my imagination was drawn to 2022’s headlines. I knew I wanted to bring my next book closer to the present.
My initial research focused on Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016, which was by all accounts assisted by Russian election interference. I was curious about Trump’s relationship with Vladimir Putin, which has become a hot topic again. Three incidents sparked inspiration.
In May 2017, Trump met in the Oval Office with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and Russian ambassador Kislyak and disclosed highly confidential, and very specific information, that compromised a U.S. asset.
In July that year, Trump met privately with Putin at the Group of 20 Summit in Germany. At the end of the meeting, he took his interpreter’s notes, ripped them up, and told him not to discuss what was said with anyone.
In July 2018, he met again privately with Putin in Helsinki. They were alone except for Putin’s Russian interpreter. The meeting was scheduled for 90 minutes and lasted two hours. There was no official record of what was discussed.
I was curious what was brought up in these meetings. I pondered, did more research in Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference, explored plot possibilities, and came up with the premise of The Poet’s Game: a long dormant Russian asset approaches the CIA with FSB’s kompromat on the new American president.
The Director of Central Intelligence has to decide what he’ll do. He has three choices: 1) ignore the kompromat, 2) inform the White House, or, 3) pursue the compromising intelligence without informing the White House. Ultimately, the CIA Director enlists Alex Matthews, the former Moscow Station chief who had recruited the Russian asset, but now is a successful investor in the Russian economy who regularly visits Moscow. The Director acts without informing the Oval Office, risking blowback if his confidential investigation becomes known.
Current events inspired the plot, but I also chose to put distance between the plot and the inspiring circumstances. The president is never named and I created fictional characters to give the story an independent life.
