The news that Valerie Plame is penning a series of female-centered suspense/spy novels with Sarah Lovett for Penguin USA is, on the one hand, something of a surprise, but also not at all. Not really. Having interviewed Plame on two separate occasions, I can report that she obviously has a deep and abiding interest in nuclear nonproliferation issues (the arena in which she worked before being outed by Scooter Libby and Vice President Cheney's office), but also a grander appreciation and care for the huge things that can be accomplished with diplomacy, and how those carrots must be mixed with sticks. Her work should be smart, plugged-in, of the real and recognizable world, with all its complexities.