Interview with Katherine Reay

When I first picked up The Berlin Letters, I was transported to binge-watching Alias on sewing nights with my college roommate, eating sheet-pan pizza. I’ve always loved spy fiction, but I’ve never written any, so I was very excited to talk to Katherine!

Katherine Reay is a national bestselling and award-winning author of several novels, including A SHADOW IN MOSCOW and her recent release, THE BERLIN LETTERS, a Cold War spy novel inspired by the true women serving in the CIA’s top-secret Venona Project. Katherine currently lives outside Chicago with her husband and three dogs, always hoping her three adult kids will come visit soon. Follow Katherine on Instagram, Facebook and her personal website here.

I’m so happy Katherine agreed to this interview!

Did you ever go through a period of doubt, thinking this book wouldn’t see the light of day?

I go through doubt quite often — wondering that very question about each book I write. I think that emotion is an indelible part of us. But it’s what we do with it that matters. It’s kind of like writer’s block — that can “feel” very real too. I put that in quotes because feelings do change. They seem as imposing and as strong as the Berlin Wall one moment and they are gone the next. So I try not to pay them too much attention and keep going. As hard as it is, I remind myself I can only control the journey, never the outcome.

Do you have any tricks or tips for staying motivated?

I keep focus on the next step and resist looking too far down the road. If I concentrate on the reality that, say, three months from now I must hand my publisher a clean one-hundred-thousand-word manuscript, I’ll go climb back in bed. But if I accept that I can only live and act within today, and today I must put in four hours of work and move the story forward by a few thousand words, I’ll be okay. I guess I’d say — do what must be done today and leave it there.

Any reading recommendations?

Ah… I love this question. There are so many books I’ve enjoyed lately, but two stick out. The first is Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet. This story about the creation of Shakespeare’s play Hamlet and the plague is fresh, creative, and compelling, and O’Farrell’s prose is pure magic. The other book is nonfiction, All the Beauty in the World, by Patrick Bringley. Following the death of his brother, Bringley left his job at The New Yorker and worked as a security guard at The Met for a decade. It’s a wonderful journey of healing from loss, humanity, and glorious works of art.

And, if you’re looking for something to listen to, early in The Berlin Letters, Luisa switches off the radio on this classic tune, enjoy!

Thank you, Katherine!