Tampa Book Buzz

possible film and TV show based on local author t.j. waters’ book

St. Pete author T. J. Waters’ new book Class 11:Inside the CIA’s First Post-9/11 Spy Class is about the group of American citizens who volunteered for the CIA after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Here’s the description Waters gave me:

From 170,000 applicants, the CIA selected just over 100 Americans to make up the first class of spy trainees to volunteer after the attacks.  We came from every possible profession and social strata:  an NFL alumni and a police negotiator, a commercial airline pilot and private chef, a single mom and the fiancee of a 9/11 victim. There were investment bankers from New York, lawyers from Georgia, military officers from Texas, and software programmers from Silicon Valley.  The only common denominator among the group was the desire to serve our country in its time of need. 

These officers are now deployed worldwide.  Yes, many of them are in Iraq and Afghanistan, but others are engaged in projects not commonly associated with the CIA.  Class 11 officers witnessed and reported the genocide in Darfur, the tidal wave in Indonesia, child trafficking in Asia, and the recent political upheaval in South America.  It was a remarkable assembly of people who took a radical detour from their otherwise comfortable, midcareer lives after 9/11.  It is my pleasure to introduce them to you, even at arm’s length to protect their undercover status.

Waters has been interviewed on Fox News Live and on multiple radio programs and networks.  20th Century Fox and Roundtable Entertainment have optioned the film rights and are developing a pilot for ABC’s fall 2007 television schedule (congratulations, Waters!).

Visit www.tjwaters.com to purchase or to read an excerpt of Class 11, to see some spy tools, or to learn more about this Bay area author.