54 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2025 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Horie: I enjoyed writing about the surprising experiences I had in Africa and how they completely overturned my previous assumptions. Wessel: Please describe your journey from the idea stage to publication. How has being part of the Foreign Service community helped during your publishing journey? Algeo: In some ways it was an ideal situation. Whenever we were in Washington, D.C., I could do most of the research. A lot of what I needed was in the Library of Congress. Then, when we went back out for a tour, I could do the writing. Of course, when the book was published, I would have to fly back from Mongolia or Mozambique to promote it in the States, but that’s the way life goes in the Foreign Service. And I could always count on our FS friends to show up for my events! Becker: I did the classic querying into every agent’s slush pile, hoping for that one break. What ended up happening was things working in the opposite direction. While waiting for agent responses, I saw that my publisher at the time had opened a thriller imprint and was willing to accept submissions directly from authors. They liked my manuscript and offered me a three-book deal. In the meantime, I was able to get an agent, who has been wonderful ever since. As with so many writing stories, it all moved very slowly until all of a sudden, it was a runaway train. We just completed that contract, and now my agent and I are discussing what we want to do next. The Foreign Service community is an extraordinarily supportive group. We’re all doing this thing together and having experiences that are difficult to fully get across to anyone outside “I did the classic querying into every agent’s slush pile, hoping for that one break.” —Matthew Becker
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