Forum: Story Ideas

Anyone interested in writing about growing up a spy?

Tangoran 🚫

I'd like to know if anyone out there would write a story about learning the tricks of the spy craft trade while growing up. Start young, 6 or 7 learning martial arts, languages, and lock picking then go from there. Weapons, following, escape and evasion, electronics, and things like that. The whole time the young man has no clue he's being groomed to be a spy until his late teen years.

Ban Adkins story about Rick Jackson seems to be heading that way, but it's set in the 50's and 60's. As much as I love Banadins story I'd like to see a more modern storyline.

I think it would be an awesome concept and could span dozens of chapters.

Replies: REP joyR

REP 🚫

@Tangoran

about learning the tricks of the spy craft trade while growing up.

Most espionage does not resemble the James Bond or Hollywood's image of how a spy goes about their business.

One of the common real-world scenarios of espionage is Spy goes into office and sits down at his desk, he proceeds to read the foreign newspaper and extracts information from the articles. The information is put with other information and a pattern is seen. At that point more information is sought to support and flesh-out the assumed scenario. Some action is then taken based on the scenario. As an example, the scenario may lead to the belief that there will be a grain shortage in Russia, and the US repositions itself to aid Russia or make the situation worse for them.

A second scenario might be a US agent assigned to our Russian Embassy tells a Russian about information we want from their workplace. That person goes to work and makes a copy of the information, and then two meet and information and money are exchanged.

Replies: Switch Blayde

Switch Blayde 🚫
Updated:

@REP

Most espionage does not resemble the James Bond or Hollywood's image

Alfred Hitchcock said, "Drama is life without the boring bits."

No one wants to read about or watch a movie about a spy leading a mundane life. Fiction is not reality. It's escapism from the reader's own boring life.

Replies: awnlee jawking

awnlee jawking 🚫

@Switch Blayde

No one wants to read about or watch a movie about a spy leading a mundane life.

George Smiley wasn't an action hero.

AJ

Peterspeter 🚫

See the Richard Jackson stories by Banardin.

joyR 🚫

@Tangoran

Start young, 6 or 7 learning martial arts, languages, and lock picking then go from there. Weapons, following, escape and evasion, electronics, and things like that. The whole time the young man has no clue he's being groomed to be a spy until his late teen years.

If he was actually so dense or naive as not to realise he was being extraordinarily and presumably secretly trained, what use would he be as a spy..?

If you left out lock picking, all but basic weapons, escape and evasion, etc. It might be possible as there are kids who receive martial arts training starting young, some will be taught to shoot/hunt by their father, many schools have electronics as part of their curriculum.

Reluctant_Sir 🚫

So... this is quite the archeological dig! 2 years after the thread died, in fact.

By the by, @Tangoran DID write the story himself, or started it anyway.

https://storiesonline.net/s/18402/growing-up-in-a-spy-family

It got to 14 chapters and was actually pretty fun to read, in a cracker-jack kind of way, though it needed a proof-reader.

He hasn't added to it in quite a while, unfortunately.

Lapi 🚫

Most have already said that in RL a spy is not the James Bond profile. The life is usually forced on people. Outside of a 'Deep Cover' role staying un-observed is the hard part. Some say the best cover is to act like you are playing to be an agent or even a spy. The problem then is no one/side trusts you.

IMHO it is not a very exciting career option.

Replies: Dominions Son

Dominions Son 🚫

@Lapi

in RL a spy is not the James Bond profile

Technically, James Bond isn't a spy, he's more an assassin. License to kill and all that.

Replies: PotomacBob

PotomacBob 🚫

@Dominions Son

Technically, James Bond isn't a spy, he's more an assassin. License to kill and all that.

Therefore, it follows, the author of the James Bond series made a technical mistake when he named one of the early books The SPY who loved me" (or something like that).

Replies: Ernest Bywater Dominions Son

Ernest Bywater 🚫

@PotomacBob

Therefore, it follows, the author of the James Bond series made a technical mistake when he named one of the early books The SPY who loved me"

Not really, as the general legal definition and the general public usage definition of a spy is a person engaged in intelligence activities. While this is usually seen as the gathering of information it also encompasses the placing of device for gathering information, analyzing the information, and taking actions to hinder the operations of the opposition in such activities as destruction of material or the killing of persons important to the opposition. While an assassin doesn't usually gather information, per se, they are still a spy due to destruction aspects, just like the resistance fighters in WW2. However, what you see of Bond in the books and films is more that of a stalking horse meant to keep the attention on them while the more active agents work in the background unhindered, so Bond is like a diversion for the real workers.

Replies: PotomacBob

PotomacBob 🚫

@Ernest Bywater

However, what you see of Bond in the books and films is more that of a stalking horse meant to keep the attention on them while the more active agents work in the background unhindered, so Bond is like a diversion for the real workers.

As an amusing sidenote, I read a news story once, years ago, that the young son of actor Roger Moore, was praising the most recent James Bond movie, and Roger Moore said: "That's me; I'm James Bond." And his kid responded, "No. I mean the real James Bond - Sean Connery."

Dominions Son 🚫
Updated:

@PotomacBob

Therefore, it follows, the author of the James Bond series made a technical mistake when he named one of the early books The SPY who loved me" (or something like that).

IIRC, The Spy Who Loved Me is about Bond falling in love with a Russian agent. Even if Bond is technically not a spy, if the Russian agent was a spy, the title remains accurate.

After all, Bond is the title character. So it would be odd if the spy who loved "me" was supposed to be Bond rather than the Russian agent.

duckunge 🚫

Hi all anyone know @tangoran is planning on updating soon obviously I have read his blog and know he was having hard drive trouble just wondering if anyone had inside info.

Lugh 🚫

Real versions of this theme are one reason that certain documents have been exempted from declassification, or have declassification set for 75 years. I know there were some cases, Czech and otherwise, where Western spies groomed children.

LupusDei 🚫
Updated:

Realistically?

Let's say, foreign agencie recruits (Fiona) bbf of (Nancy) the nanny of (Keith) a kid of (Paul) a person in position of access of highly classified information.

Agent, posing as boyfriend, coaches Fiona how to plant questions then forwarded trough Nancy to Keith to be asked to the daddy. Since Paul merely works with said information and not have any highly involved interests in keeping it secret other than his work description, he may slip bits and pieces talking to his child. Who then tells nanny, who then fills her bbf, who then informs the Agent.

Everyone except Agent may remain clueless about the operation. Fiona may operate knowingly, but under false pretenses, convinced by Agent about some made up goals. Nancy may have no idea what's going on, or be effectively recruited by Fiona, with or without knowledge about the Agent, and may operate on yet another set of made up goals.

Keith, being bright, may eventually catch that something strange is going on.

LupusDei 🚫
Updated:

For the story as wanted,

Let's say, one or both parents of the protagonist are either deep underground infiltration agents or recruited by some such agency. The kid is being trained, then transferred to a different school with direct mission to befriend certain kinds in order to eventually get access to their parents.

Mek Tha God 🚫

LupusDei there is a Japanese manga that follows your premise of that. It's called SPY x FAMILY.
To summarise the theme of this comic, a successful spy from a foreign nation is tasked to infiltrate a private school which has wealthy donors. The spy has to build a family and integrate with the donors. He adopts a child and seemingly happens to meet a woman who in turn needs a husband to upstage her co-workers. He does not know that she is a highly skilled assassin and the journey starts from there.

There are about 16 Chapters into the comic. It might be a good reference material to look into. I'm just saying.

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Forum: Story Ideas

Anyone interested in writing about growing up a spy?

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