The texture of the world inspires me, so travel provides a lot of source material. I was inspired to write my last book, The Peacock and the Sparrow, after living for two years in Bahrain during the Arab Spring, and my travels through Europe a few summers ago largely inspired the setting of my second book, which I’m currently writing. I also get inspiration from reading great books and finding exciting prose or themes I want to further explore. Sometimes I’m inspired by films—usually gritty, artistic, noir shows like Babylon Berlin—but I read far more than I watch.
How do you deal with writer’s block?
Write through it. No other way.
What mystery in your own life could be a plot for a book?
I worked as a CIA counterterrorist case officer (spy) in Baghdad from 2004 to 2005. One of my sources helped apprehend an alleged high-value terrorist who had reportedly participated in the 2003 bombing of U.N. headquarters in Baghdad. Years later, I learned we might have gotten the wrong guy. It was the darkest kind of mystery: Did I save a life or ruin a life?
What are you currently working on?
Book number two, another spy novel. A half-British, half-Iraqi woman volunteers to work for Belgian intelligence, penetrating an Al Qaeda cell in Europe during the Global War on Terror. When an operation goes bad, her loyalties are tested, and she becomes a double agent. Along the way, she pieces together the fate of her parents, who disappeared under Saddam Hussein's brutal regime. It's a story of radicalization and redemption, the conflict between east and west, being an outsider, trauma, and the paths we take.
Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?
It’s a prequel of sorts to The Peacock and the Sparrow—the backstory of Almaisa, the female character (but it’s also a standalone). I got voluminous feedback from readers wanting to know more about Almaisa. I was also inspired by The Little Drummer Girl, my favorite le Carré novel, which is similarly about a female penetration of a terrorist group.
What kind of research did you do for this novel?
I didn’t do much research for The Peacock and the Sparrow, as my experience living in Bahrain was sufficient. For book two, I read Agent Storm, the memoir of a Danish CIA source who penetrated Al Qaeda;Murder in Amsterdam about the killing of filmmaker Theo van Gogh;Prisoner in Baghdad, a memoir of a British woman falsely imprisoned in Iraq for espionage; and myriad articles about terrorism in Europe during the Global War on Terror. I’ve also done research on real-life events, including a Mossad plot to overthrow Saddam Hussein, and a forgotten American weapons cache hidden in Austria during the Cold War.
In general, what emotions do you usually wish to elicit with your writing?
I want my stories to be provocative, to make readers think and ask themselves what they would do in the situation presented, to raise uncomfortable policy and human issues. I also want to leave readers feeling haunted, with questions that linger after they’ve turned the last page.
Best advice on writing you've ever received?
Don’t write for an audience. Be persistent.
What is the weirdest/wildest topic or fact that you’ve had to research or uncovered in your research?
Writing The Peacock and the Sparrow, I learned more about illicit methods of human disposal than I ever thought possible, particularly the mafia practice of throwing someone into a river with cement-weighted shoes. There’s an entire history behind “cement shoes”—and, oddly enough, the practice has achieved a kind of cult status in Sweden.
Can you tell us a two-sentence horror story?
I tried to imagine what his last words were. Maybe he wasn’t speaking at all.
What else would you want readers to know about you?
I’m featured in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, I lived in the Roxy nightclub in Prague, and I can’t cook.
Where can readers find you online?
Web: isberry.net
IG: @isberryauthor
Threads: @isberryauthor
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