Stacy Lynn Miller
The Rio Affair
When a disgraced singer is snared in the undercurrents of WWII espionage, she must learn to become a shadow in the limelight.
The Writer’s Dossier 5/27/2025 – The Stacy Lynn Miller interview
DOSSIER: You enjoy golf and wine … sometimes at the same time. We here at The Dossier are intrigued! As a visually-impaired stroke survivor, how does the combination of those three things make for a fun experience when it comes to filling out your score card? Or driving the cart?!
MILLER: My eye disease (MacTel 2) makes the bad shots disappear right off the clubface, so my rule on the course is: What I can’t see doesn’t count. Thank goodness I have a playing partner with good eyes who keeps me honest and usually does the driving. The wine typically comes after the turn…emphasis on typically…making the balls harder to find. At the end of the day, scorekeeping is a best estimate.
What haunts her
DOSSIER: You started writing thriller / romantic suspense books after twenty years in the US Air Force, retiring as an IG investigator. What was it about the experience of being an officer investigating cases for the Office of the Inspector General that threw you into a writing career? That time must have given you a lot of story inspiration.
MILLER: Before I was an IG investigator, I was an Air Force Security Police officer and a section commander. In each position, I often encountered personnel on their worst days after doing bad things. Some cases still haunt me, as there were horrible acts to this day I cannot unsee. My stories contain antagonists who reflect those worst elements I experienced, balanced by flawed protagonists righting that evil to fix what’s wrong inside themselves. I guess I’m still trying to find justice for those cases that didn’t end well.
A hermit in her room
DOSSIER: Where and when do you like to write? Is there a vineyard out your window there in Northern California?
MILLER: With a full house of adults, I write all day in my bedroom suite for peace and quiet and keep the area stocked with not-so-healthy snacks and drinks. There are stretches…meaning weeks…when I emerge only for meals. The view from my window is the rolling foothills of the Sierra Mountains, which, right now, are lush green from the winter rains. But the most essential amenity at the house is the backyard putting green. It gets me outside occasionally during those hermit writing weeks. A vineyard outside my window would be the dream. I wouldn’t have to go far for my end-of-chapter celebratory glass of wine.
Hattie James
DOSSIER: Your World War II novels from Severn River Publishing feature the enchanting Hattie James who sings in clubs like the Copacabana. The covers are captivating, and as an award-winning author, you’ve received some high praise for The Songbird and your follow-up The Rio Affair. What drew you to creating a WWII-era South American setting for this romantic/espionage-laden series?
MILLER: When starting this series, I decided on a setting in an exotic location outside the European theater to set it apart from most WWII books available today. My research uncovered Operation Bolivar, the code name for German espionage in Latin America during the war. The Nazis sent many agents there to gather intelligence and conduct sabotage to control the shipping lanes during the Battle of the Atlantic. The aspect of the FBI operating in South America is based on the history of the Special Intelligence Service, a covert counterintelligence branch of the FBI during the war assigned to monitor those Nazi activities. Once I identified the region, I wanted the story to unfold in a large, modern, English-speaking city. One stood out: Rio de Janeiro. For my main character, inspiration for Hattie came from Josephine Baker, the famous American entertainer who became a WWII spy for the French Resistance by using her celebrity status to attend high-society parties and gather crucial intelligence on Nazi operations. Josephine risked her life to pass on information that helped the Allies while continuing her performances to maintain her cover. While Josephine became a willing spy for all the right reasons, blackmail forces Hattie into a dangerous web of espionage to protect the people she loves.
The Last Word
DOSSIER: Is there anything else you’d like to reveal in your Dossier today? (We like headline-making breaking news and it gives our graphics department something to do other than play video games all day.)
MILLER: Nothing as sexy as a film deal in the works, but books three and four in the Hattie James Series, The Secret War and The Nightshade, are complete, awaiting release dates. Those stories will take readers up to the beginning of 1942, right after the United States finally entered the war, leaving me lots of room to extend the series.
Now that I’m between projects with Severn River Publishing, I’ve started working on an idea for a new thriller series that will span decades and generations. It centers on the ultra-classified exploits of a fictional, covert government unit that serves the nation’s unseen shield, safeguarding the United States’ nuclear enterprise. Think James Rollins’ Sigma Forces Series meets Taylor Sheridan’s Lioness.
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