During the middle of the night was the best time for me to settle down and really, really write. During the daytime the house is rather chaotic, with six little bodies needing attention, homeschool assignments, diapers, and band-aids. Murphy's Law for Writers states that if I find a few moments during the day to write, something else will immediately begin clamoring to be done. But somehow, the ideas kept coming, whether it was in the middle of a son's basketball game or while waiting at a stoplight with an unjustly shackled toddler screaming "Out! Up!" in my ear.

Completing the mammoth amount of necessary research is the same story: Five minutes waiting for a little ballerina can be enough time to discover that General de Gaulle and Winston Churchill had a "falling out" halfway through the war. An hour at the dentist can teach me more about the secret French code used by the Résistance and de Gaulle's French agents during the Occupation.

2. Traitor is your first foray into the publishing world. What made you decide to write a historical novel?

I had a unique experience in eleventh grade: I attended Rio Grande HS in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Dr. Hollis Elkins taught my Honors English class. For some reason an intelligent woman holding a doctorate degree wanted to teach at the worst high school in the city. For some inexplicable reason Ms. Elkins saw greatness in a group of "rabble-rousers" from the wrong side of the tracks. (Hey, someone should make a movie about this! Move over, Freedom Writers!) For some reason she decided to have us undertake a writing assignment unlike any that high school had ever seen: She had us each write a historical fiction novella. Mine was about an unfortunate soldier in General Custer's army at the time of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. (Yes, he miraculously survived.) I believe Ms. Elkins' attention to a group of minority students made an immense difference in several kids' futures, including my own. I've been grateful to her ever since for her ability to pass her love of literature on to her students. Because of her I've always been interested in writing historical fiction.

3. You have a sequel coming out soon. When can we expect the sequel, and what is the title?

Tribunal should be in bookstores by no later than January 2009. Hooray!

4. Can you share any memorable experiences you had while writing Traitor?

We had our sixth child while I was writing Traitor. (No, I didn't have my laptop open on my midsection while pushing.) I read the manuscript to my family while my husband drove us east to visit American and Church history sites. My children loved to read over my shoulder as scenes developed. My husband gave me time off from family duties to write Traitor. I lost a lot of sleep over Traitor.

5. What was the most difficult scene for you to write in this book? Why? Do you have a favorite scene in Traitor? Why is it your favorite?

There were several scenes that I did not want to write. I knew what had to happen in them and the idea of writing those things unnerved me. For example, I stewed over the Izieu scene for weeks; I did not want to write about children being carted away and massacred. Even though in the scene I only allude to the ultimate catastrophe, the idea was sickening, and in a way I think I did what many holocaust survivors, war veterans, and trauma victims have done with difficult memories and experiences: I tried to block it out. I wrote everything else-everything else-before I mustered the courage to write that scene. I cried my way through it, too.

Basically, every scene with Gestapo Captain Dresdner was a harrowing writing experience. I actually used to have nightmares about Dresdner! (In fact, this was a catalyst for the Marie nightmare scene!)

My favorite scene, hands down, encompasses the Christmas Eve series of scenes-Rolf and Marie's first kiss, ice skating, "O Holy Night," and Rolf's conversion story. But I'm partial to many others, also.

2. Major Rolf Schulmann joined the LDS Church at the onslaught of World War II and became one of multitudes of members of the Church on all sides of the conflict who were required to fight for their country-in spite of religious beliefs. How would you have handled a situation where you were expected by an acknowledged civic leader to do something you knew was not right? Are we ever justified in serving a corrupt leader?

3. Our Church teaches that we should be "subject to kings, presidents, rulers . . ." and obey, honor, and sustain the law. Was Rolf Schulmann acting contrary to that instruction when he undermined his superiors' orders?

4. Philippe Pétain was considered a national hero in France before the war, and there were many who thought he could save France from this new German threat. However, as leader of the Vichy government in Occupied France, Pétain upheld the Germans' cruelty of the Jews and even helped implement the rafle system-the arrest and deportation of Jews-in France. In his trial after the war he argued (somewhat successfully) that even though massive numbers of Jews were deported and exterminated because of his collaboration, his cooperation with the Germans saved the lives of thousands more Frenchmen. At what point does collaboration for peace become an act of cowardice and turn a hero into a traitor to humanity?

5. During the war, many parents sent their children away, their prime motivation being the safety of the children. This is what happened to a large percentage of the children who lived in the Izieu Children's Home. Marie sent little Alma to Switzerland without knowing if she would ever see him again or if he would be safe. Under what circumstances would you be willing to make such a sacrifice? How would you deal with the fear, worry, and uncertainty that these parents and guardians had to face?

6. We have many real-life examples of courageous individuals who sacrificed their freedom to do what was right during the horrific war years:

Even though our life experiences are different than the experiences faced by these people and most of us will not be required to sacrifice our freedom or resist a government's tyranny, how can we be heroes today?

2. Which American spy organization was the forerunner to the CIA?

3. What was a captured agent's "way out" if he was tortured?

4. In 1938 President M. Douglas Wood of the European Mission ran an evacuation "drill" with his missionaries: When each companionship received a telegram from the president they were required to board a train to a prearranged rendezvous point in Holland. In 1939, the missionaries were told to evacuate Germany using this same plan. However, Holland had changed its policies, now requiring war refugees to have proof of passage through Holland into another country. This caused significant hardships for the escaping missionaries, but through incredible miracles, many missionaries eventually ended up in which country?

5. What was the reason for the Nacht und Nebel decree (Night and Fog decree) originally proposed by General Wilhelm Keitel, Hitler's Chief of Staff?

6. What paramilitary organization in France was nicknamed the "French Gestapo," because of the crimes its members committed against France's own citizens during the war?

7. Which Résistance leader was betrayed by his countryman and executed by Klaus Barbie in 1943? He was seen by many in the Résistance as a martyr for France.

8. What was the nickname for the "gizmos and gadgets" facility run by England's Strategic Operations Executive (SOE)?

2. The Office of Strategic Services, OSS

3. Cyanide capsule-a tiny glass vial containing cyanide hidden in his mouth. The Germans became expert at finding and extracting the capsules from an agent's mouth before torture began. Possession of a cyanide capsule was entirely voluntary

4. Denmark

5. Rapid convictions of Hitler's enemies, and swift, secret reprisals. These were usually carried out, as suggested by the name, under cover of darkness-or, "Here one day, gone the next"

6. Milice

7. Jean Moulin

8. The Thatched Barn

Enjoy!

Sandra Grey's Anytime Apple Cider Wassail

1 gallon apple cider

20 whole cloves

Five cinnamon sticks (more or less to taste)

One quart each pineapple juice and orange juice (substitute 1 can orange juice concentrate)

Combine all ingredients in a large pot and simmer for ten minutes. Do not boil. Apple Cider Wassail is best served warm. Great as a Family Home Evening treat, for a holiday party, or as a family holiday tradition.