Ten questions with I.S. Berry
Spy turned spy novelist, I.S. Berry is a debut novelist with a fascinating back-story!
1. Please tell us about your debut novel.
The Peacock and the Sparrow is about an American spy caught in the crosswinds of the Arab Spring who becomes ensnared in murder, consuming love, and an unpredictable revolution. It’s about the brume of espionage and the hazards of involvement. I was a spy for the CIA for six years, including one year in wartime Baghdad, and found espionage to be a dark and haunting profession. It was something that wouldn’t let me go; long after coming in from the cold, I felt compelled to write about it.
Later, I lived in Bahrain during the Arab Spring. The conflict was murky, fascinating, and nuanced. There was no clear “right” side. I had a revelation: it was the perfect prism for a spy story, for the moral convolution and unanswered questions of espionage. The Peacock and the Sparrow was born.
2. I’ve read that only 4% of the people who start a novel, finish writing it. Why do you think you beat the odds?
Well, I’ve had my share of false starts. I’ve probably attempted close to a dozen novels over my lifetime. I think this one stuck because I finally found the right story and the right voice. It clicked and felt right in a way that no other story had. But even with the perfect story, you have to force yourself to plug away. There will be low points, moments when you hate your story and want to give up. The process can be ugly; drafts are like half-sculpted statues. You have to keep faith that the finished statue will look entirely different. I always say to myself: my story’s not finished until it’s finished.
3. Was your debut novel the first book you wrote? (Any prior efforts hiding on your hard drive?)
The Peacock and the Sparrow was my first finished novel. I’d written a memoir years ago about my time in Baghdad, but it was too personal to publish. For me, fiction was a better fit than nonfiction, a more elegant way to process my experiences as a spy. It’s like author Tim O’Brien said: “Fiction is the lie that helps us understand the truth.”
4. What helped you become a better writer? Any books or resources you found helpful?
Writing, writing, and more writing. It’s a skill like any other: the more you do it, the better you get. And reading, reading, and more reading. Read anything and everything—classics, contemporary—to find both what speaks to you and what doesn’t. Absorb literary influences; mold and mix them until they become your own voice.
5. What was your process like getting an agent?
I cold-pitched agents! I was flying blind. I had no formal creative writing education, no experience, no connections. I looked up agents who represented authors I admired, sent them a query letter, and hoped for the best. Only now do I realize how crazy that was; at the time, it seemed reasonable. Multiple agents offered to represent me, which was way beyond anything I’d expected. I chose the agent who seemed to perfectly understand my book.
6. How did you celebrate when you learned your book would be published?
Not much, actually! My son jumped on the bed in delight—a moment I’ll remember forever—and that was enough for me. I think it didn’t feel quite real.
7. What was the most exciting moment involving the publication of your debut novel? (The moment you first saw the cover? The call when you learned when it was being published? When you cashed your advance check?)
There were several seminal moments throughout the process: when my agent told me I’d secured a book deal; when I finalized my book cover; when I got to choose the narrator for the audio version of my book. But I think maybe the most impactful moment was when someone posted a photo of an advance copy of my book; a total stranger was reading it! And she liked it! That was a surreal moment—the feeling that someone in the real world actually liked this thing I created.
8. What’s your best advice for someone who wants to be published?
Above all, come up with a story you absolutely love, that you can stick with through the ups and downs (of which there’ll be many). Write your book like it’s your last. Don’t think about how it will look to publishers or your audience—just write the best book you can. Be tenacious—you’ll get twenty defeats for every victory, but one victory is all you need.
9. What are you currently reading? Or, what’s one of the best novels you’ve read lately?
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes. So haunting and affecting. I love stories about things that torment us, that won’t let us go.
10. What are you working on now? Any projects coming out soon?
I’m working on my second book. I’m fictionalizing and reworking the memoir I wrote years ago about spying in wartime Baghdad and trying to hunt down Al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. I’m focusing on one particular operation: helping to apprehend an alleged terrorist only to learn later he might not be guilty—and its avalanche of consequences.