Article by Matthew Bellamy On May 25th, 1951, Guy Burgess arrived at the house of Donald Maclean. The two Foreign Office diplomats packed a few bags and boarded the Falaise, a pleasure boat headed to Saint-Malo. Though Burgess shouted “Back on Monday!” to one of the dockworkers as he boarded the boat, neither man would…
Article by James Abbott “No, no, no, a thousand times, no.” – Noel Coward, on being asked to play Dr. No in the film version of Ian Fleming’s novel. Author Ian Fleming (1908-1964) was often very upfront about his inspirations when writing the James Bond thrillers. Such names as John Buchan (1875-1940), Sapper (1888-1937), and…
Article by Larry Loftis Nothing is what it seems. Whether the subject is screenwriting, novel plotting, or espionage, the goal is the same—deception. As Hollywood scribe Robert McKee explains in his legendary book, STORY, “If the scene is about what the scene is about, you’re in deep sh*t.” On February 14-17, I will be giving…
Article by Revelator 2016 marks the 60th anniversary of Ian Fleming’s novel Diamonds Are Forever. During what’s left of the year Artistic Licence Renewed wishes to pay tribute to its heroine, Tiffany Case, arguably Fleming’s best female character. Diamonds Are Forever suffers from weak plotting and its main villains–the Spang twins–appear too briefly to join…
Article by David Craggs. As a sexagenarian espionage aficionado who had first-hand experience of the 1960s, this particular ‘Field Agent’ has long been as obsessed with the literary phenomena brought about by ‘Bond Mania’. As with most things ‘60s, you had to have been there to appreciate it. The absolute tsunami of literary spies that…
Review by Revelator This is a wonderful book, a long overdue one. For anyone who cares about Ian Fleming’s work, The Man With the Golden Typewriter will be a must-have reference, deserving to rest on the same shelf as Fleming’s biographies, Kingsley Amis’s Bond Dossier, Matthew Parker’s Goldeneye, and Henry Chancellor’s James Bond: The Man…
On January 1 2015, something odd happened and the works of Ian Fleming entered the public domain in Canada. You can read about how that came about here. As to be expected, many people jumped upon this news including Canadian authors Madeline Ashby and David Nickle, who brought together an anthology of collected stories based on…
Recently we celebrated Ian Fleming’s birthday outside his old writing office in Mitre Court in London. Here, Fleming would return from his yearly two month sojourns to Jamaica to polish off the manuscript for his latest Bond adventure. In this elegantly decorated office with Regency-striped wallpaper, was a solid antique desk with a green leather…
On this Bastille Day, we are delighted to welcome our French cousins commander007.net at Station F, to contribute their thoughts on James Bond in France. Profitez! In 11 novels and 9 short stories, Bond travels five times through 1950’s France. While Bond is now famous for being a great globe-trotting spy, it is surprising that Fleming, an author…
The 3rd annual Whitstable Literary Festival in Kent this year, took on a spy theme and in particular Ian Fleming and his many Kent connections. Fans of the genre were delighted to witness some of the best names in the literary espionage trade, including many who we have interviewed in the past such as Matthew Parker,…
Join us to celebrate the birthday of Ian Fleming on May 28, 2016! This special evening, in collaboration between literary007.com and Maxus Movie Walks, will begin with a special walking tour of Ian’s City life at 5pm from Bank station. This exclusive version of the Maxus Walks Ian Fleming Tour will include the actor Michael Chance, who played Ian in the one-man show, The…
No, this is not an April Fool’s joke for literary Bond fans! The third Whitstable Literary festival (WhitLit) returns from May 11-15 and this year the programme will take on a ‘super spy’ theme, celebrating James Bond creator Ian Fleming and his Kent connections. There will be a very special Ian Fleming evening on Friday…
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of Ian Fleming’s 1956 novel Diamonds Are Forever on March 26, 1956, we asked American artist and Bond fan Gerry Wadsworth, to take us on a tour of some of the Americana found in the novel. *** Ian Fleming was a master of description with an ability to convince the…
To tie in with our interview with Sean Egan, we are running a competition to win a signed copy of his excellent new book James Bond: The Secret History published by John Blake Publishing in hardback and retail priced at £16.99. All you need to do is answer this simple question below with you contact details. The winner…
We are thrilled to bring intelligence expert and award-winning author Michael Smith, in from the cold. Michael worked in intelligence for 10 years and gave us a unique insight into Ian Fleming’s involvement in World War 2. Ian Fleming was described as ‘oiling the wheels’ between The Admiralty and SOE but what sort of role…
This month The Folio Society, in conjunction with Ian Fleming publications, release a lavish edition of Ian Fleming’s classic début novel ‘Casino Royale‘. The beautiful artwork was commissioned for acclaimed illustrator Fay Dalton with an introduction by Booker-Prize winning author John Banville. Another must-have item for devoted literary James Bond collectors! We spoke with Sheri Gee, the…
***THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED*** In conjunction with our interview with Jeremy Duns, we are giving you the chance to win 4 prizes signed by the author! Just simply submit your answer to a simple question in the form below. A signed copy of Duns on Bond Duns On Bond is an omnibus edition of…
In the last few months, the James Bond universe has given us some new ‘Bond Women’ to the canon from Trigger Mortis to Spectre. On the fifth anniversary of his ground breaking book about feminism and the representations of women in the 007 novels and films, we checked in with Robert Caplen to get his opinions. What are your reactions to…
Article by Patrick Vagg The campaign of a James Bond novel is often an important way to kick-start sales while also announcing to the world that the arrival of a new adventure of the super spy is imminent. The size and momentum of a campaign is often an indication of the expectation of the novel’s…
With the kind of work rate that Anthony Horowitz would be proud of, we are proud to publish an exclusive look at Gerry Wadsworth latest James Bond inspired piece – Trigger Mortis! First, let me state unequivocably, that I loved Trigger Mortis. In fact, I couldn’t put it down and read it in one go. Not…
Artistic Licence Renewed 