Do you ever find yourself eaves dropping on conversations while out in public? Or making up entire scenarios for people you see at a mall or restaurant? Writer’s do this a great deal,and I think it’s the secret spy in all of us. Writer’s can’t help but create characters for almost everyone we meet, and listening to other people’s conversations, well, that’s just part of the job.

I make up stories all the time for people. Sometimes I turn them into covert agents and other times what they say is enough to send my mind whirling. Last fall I was traveling through Oklahoma and stopped at gas station to grab snacks and fill up the tank. I was coming out of the store when I heard a woman say, “I can’t do nothin’ on Wednesday, I got to go to court every Wednesday.” It took everything bit of restraint I had not to stop and ask her what she did that she had to go to court. Two hours later as I made my way into Oklahoma City, I had an entire scenario for her in my head. Actually I had several ideas, including one where I was a spy and I infiltrated to truck stop to find out who was carrying illegal cargo. Snort. I kid you not.

But I digress… I’m rather fond of those covert operatives. That’s one of the reasons I have so many in my books. The Stonegate series for Blaze is filled with spies. They are mysterious and clever, and I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of them. I like books, television and movies about spies. The Bourne films are some of my favorites. And hello, Tom Cruise in those Mission Impossible films, well that’s just fun.

Spies are also trending in the entertainment world. We have the adorable Ashton Kutcher starring with Katherine Heigl in “Killers.” Then Mr. Cruise is back in a new spy film “Knight and Day” with Cameron Diaz. (He’s also doing Mission Impossible IV for 2011.)

In television we have a couple of new spy series coming up. One of my favorites so far is “Nikita” coming up on the CW this fall. I was a big fan of the original French film “Nikita” with Anne Parillaud, the American film “Point of No Return” and the first TV series “Le Femme Nikita.” The new version stars Maggie Q as Nikita, but there’s a big twist in this one that I won’t ruin for you. I like that Nikita has a heart, but she’s also one lethal assassin.

Another interesting spy TV show coming up is “Undercovers” on NBC. This one is about a couple played by Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw who come out of retirement to rejoin the CIA as spies. It was created by J. J. Abrams, who did one of my all-time favorite spy series “Alias.”

There are some other series like, CBS’ “The Event,” which also has spies, but they aren’t the focus of the show.

So obviously I’m not the only one who is obsessed with spies. Have you ever dreamed of being a spy? Do you have a favorite spy TV show or film? Tell me I want to know.