As I learn more and more the craft or writing, I try and pay attention to what everyone seems to be saying about what readers want or need. Its easy to see the diversity of methods, or how finding what works for you is the only way to go, but that’s all method.

Message however, is far less forgiving or fungible.

A good story is a good story is a good story. It transcends genre, somehow explores the human condition and takes you somewhere new along with the characters it features. These are universal characteristics which must be present or no one will give a rat’s behind about what you’ve written.

But there’s also that marvelous little ingredient that gives everything else flavor — conflict.

Yup, no conflict, no story. Period, Amen, nothing else to see here.

When designing Mother Russia, I knew some of the conflicts that would occur. It takes place during the August Coup of 1991 in the midst of enormous societal upheaval, so just the air would be full of such things. From there, I needed to make it imminent for the main characters, but situational conflicts alone are transitory and fleeting. Yes, in a thriller they’re essential, so in Mother Russia they come one after another at a breakneck pace.

But the BEST conflicts are those between people. Characters who hopefully become real in our eyes as the story progresses. So yes, we need some personal conflict.

The romantic relationship between the two dual-protagonists is its own thing, and it grows and deepens as the story progresses, with each one realizing just how big a mistake they made twenty years ago by going back to their own worlds: the United States and the Soviet Union respectively. But the bigger source needed to be something more internal to each . . . in this case their romantic backstories.

The real main character, KGB Major General Anastasia Zolotova known as Tasia, has a backstory where she was once the mistress of KGB Chairman Vladimir Kryuchkov, a real person and one of the main architects of the August Coup. She and Kryuchkov share an illegitimate son who we learn through the course of the novel adores his father and (unbeknownst to her) detests Tasia, for reasons that are explored in the book. This makes the personal/familial conflict paramount while embedding them within the political and social upheavals taking place all around them.

To be honest, though, the better of the personal conflicts comes from Tasia’s American co-protagonist, CIA assassin Jonathan Cole. Jon’s personal conflict comes from the presence of his girlfriend Jessica ‘Jessi’ Milton and WOW! do things get complicated.

Like Jon, Jessi works for Eagle Group, the American assassination arm of the CIA and is Jon’s ‘handler’ on his assignments. During the course of their working together, they became secret lovers to the point they more-or-less live together with Jessi constantly urging Jon to get out of the business so they can begin a ‘normal’ life together. Jessi is with Jon during the first third of the novel, and while he truly cares for her, he has never been able to tell her that he loves her.

Things get moving when Tasia sends a message to the CIA, and Jon personally, asking for his help to extract her from Moscow. Jessi is present when Tasia’s son Yuri hands Jon the note Tasia wrote . . .

Yuri reached into his pants pocket, pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Jon.

Edmund. It really is me. Please meet me at the Savoy for breakfast. You are the only person I can trust. Remember our promises in Marseille. I certainly do. Love always, Mercedes.

Jon read the note several times before speaking. “I presume you have read it?” he asked.

“Of course. Although the names make no sense to me.”

“Then you are not as well read as you should be,” Jon said. “If your mother did not explain, neither will I. Please give her this message from me. Word for word.”

“Very well,” Yuri said.

“Tell her I’m coming,” Jon said. “And that I love her too.”

Jessi made a noise like a cat being kicked across the room. Yuri’s constant smile left him for the briefest instant, replaced by something Jon could not identify. Something dark.

Jessi herself turned into a major character with her own heroic arc when she discovers something sinister going on here at home which will endanger everyone . . . (Pick up the book and find out!)