Maureen Smith , Ma / 79

Writing under the name Taylor Smith, this graduate of international affairs at Carleton draws on her education and 12 years working as a diplomat and Privy Council Officer when crafting her novels of intrigue.

As a foreign service officer, Smith was a delegate to the United Nations, specializing in human rights issues. During a three-year posting to East Africa, she learned to speak Swahili, and scuba-dived with one of the resident CIA operatives. Her next headquarters assignment was the Eastern European desk, where she covered Soviet satellite nations and dodged surveillance during fact-finding trips to the area. Leaving the diplomatic service, Smith became a Privy Council advisor to the Prime Minister and Cabinet, where part of her duties included foreign intelligence liaison with the CIA and Britain’s MI6.

She took up fiction writing in 1991 during a leave of absence from the Privy Council. After a move to southern California, she signed up for fiction writing and forensics classes. At the 1995 publication of her first novel, Smith resigned from the Privy Council to pursue full-time fiction writing. She now has six published novels, including Liar’s Market, Random Acts and The Best of Enemies.