Today’s guest on the blog is Erika Robuck, national bestselling author of Hemingway's Girl, Call Me Zelda, Fallen Beauty, The House of Hawthorne, and Receive Me Falling. Erika joined me today to talk about her newest release, The Invisible Woman.

Writing about women in the past can often be challenging, because women and their activities did not have the spotlight that men did. When dealing with a character such as Virginia Hall, do you find that there is not enough information about her... or too much to sift through?

Since women are often in history's shadows, it's a challenge to write about women from the past. Virginia Hall made it more difficult because she didn't want to be found. From clandestine service in WWII to a full career with the CIA, she didn't leave a paper trail. Fortunately, in addition to cross referencing about twenty works of nonfiction that included sections on her, accessing her declassified files at The National Archives, and visiting the CIA Museum, I was able to put much of the puzzle together. The missing pieces came from my treasured meetings with Virginia's niece, Lorna, who still lives in Baltimore.

Did Virginia's gender contribute to her success as a spy? In other words, were women less likely to be considered cunning enough to perform well in such a high-stress situation?

Hall's gender did contribute to her success. Until late in the war, the Nazis generally didn't regard women as brave or as intelligent as men and overlooked women as potential dangers. The fact that Virginia returned for her second mission disguised as an old peasant woman rendered her further "invisible" to Nazis.

 Also of consideration is the fact that Virginia had a prosthetic leg. Did that help or hinder her in her efforts?

From logistics of transport, to physical pain, to making her stand out, the prosthetic leg hindered Hall's efforts. She was able to incorporate it into her old woman disguise, but the Nazis christened her "La Dame Qui Boite"—The Lady Who Limps—which was infuriating, humiliating, and made life especially dangerous for her.

Your book doesn't only consider Virginia, but also the larger picture of the people who aided and abetted her efforts. Again, the lives of the common people often pass through history unremarked and unnoticed. How do you go about building their stories?

It was important for me to highlight the men and women who will never have statues or biographies written because they were integral to Hall's success and that of the Allied cause. Again, cross referencing about twenty sources gave me just enough about the people in her networks to make well-rounded and sympathetic characters.

Lastly, Virginia is a fairly well-known figure. Did you learn anything during your research that was new to you, or surprised you?

I didn't know anything about Virginia Hall when I stumbled across an article about her years ago, so all of it was news to me. What continues to surprise me, however, are the well-known figures who joined WWII spy and resistance organizations. From Ernest Hemingway, to Julia Child, to Marlene Dietrich, to John Wayne, to Josephine Baker, I'd love to see more books about real-life clandestine agents. Their stories are always stranger than fiction.