As previously announced, today Charlie Higson met up with Martin Amis, the son of acclaimed British novelist and former Bond author Kingsley Amis to talk about his father’s love for Bond. Topics ranged from everything that involved Amis or may not have involved Amis including Colonel Sun, The James Bond Dossier, The Book of Bond, or Every Man His Own 007, and The Man with the Golden Gun. Guest speaker Zachery Leader, author of The Life of Kingsley Amis, also speaks about Amis.

To hear BBC 4’s broadcast, check out their website here.

The Entertainment Weekly blog, Popwatch, got to sit down and talk to Sebastian Faulks about the upcoming book, Fleming, other continuation novels (all of which he apparently has never read) and the films. He also responds to the question of whether Devil May Care may end up as an film someday. Faulks says it’s possible, but I think the likelihood is slim. For various reasons both Harry Saltzman and Cubby Broccoli were against adapting continuation Bond novels, the latter because as John Gardner says it’s cheaper to just hire his own guys and come up with an original story. No doubt the Broccoli family will want to continue with that. It doesn’t make a whole lot of business sense if you ask me. When Casino Royale came out, I don’t think it was as popular as it was because of Ian Fleming or the fact that it was a serious adaptation of his first book. It was because Bond was played by a new guy and the film actually got great reviews. James Bond is the star. But hey.. there’s always that chance that the book sells astronomically well and EON takes notice, but I still wouldn’t bet on it becoming a film. Just my 2cents.

Popwatch Interview

In other Faulks news, The Young Bond Dossier takes a look at a James Bond parody penned by Faulks in 2006 as part of a collection of short parodies called Pastiche. Check out the book on Amazon or Amazon.co.uk

CBn reports that Pinewood Studios: 70 Years of Fabulous Film Making by Morris Bright is now available on Pinewood’s website in the UK. The book was previously released on June 1 of this year, but the copy at Pinewood’s website is a limited edition with an embossed Pinewood logo. The book includes over 500 photographs and never before seen images from the Pinewood studios archive as well as commentary spanning Pinewood’s 70 years of filmmaking. The book comes with a foreword written by Dame Judi Dench and an introduction by Tim Burton.

You can also get the book on Amazon.co.uk for the same price sans the embossed Pinewood logo.

The second book in The Moneypenny Diaries trilogy, Secret Servant: The Moneypenny Diaries was released today in paperback form in the UK. Written by Samantha Weinberg, the second book deals with her travels to Russia, which includes the back story to what happened to Bond during his time there between You Only Live Twice and The Man with the Golden Gun.

The final novel in the series, Final Fling, is currently being written with an expected release in July 2008. None of the books have thus far been published in the United States.

Check out Secret Servant on Amazon.co.uk.

As previously announced Jason Bourne is coming to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 sometime in 2008 in his first game, The Bourne Conspiracy which will be based on the book and film The Bourne Identity. Currently in development by High Moon Studios (formerly Sammy Studios), the game was first announced at the end of June. With E3 in high gear High Moon Studios showed off their first trailer. Looks kind of cool. We’ll have to see. Very EA Everything or Nothing and From Russia with Love like if you ask me – only with prettier graphics. Check out the trailer here or if you want HD then see here. They also set up a flash website at bournethegame.com.

The Young Bond Dossier reports that Devil May Care will begin in Paris, France. According to Stephen Rubin, President & Publisher of Doubleday,

“Three pages into Devil May Care and you are immediately thrown back into the world of James Bond and all those wonderful characters we have come to love. Devil May Care is pure Fleming channeled by Faulks—a madcap adventure, a romantic romp and a book you can devour in one sitting. It all starts in Paris, and no one alive writes better about Paris than Sebastian Faulks.”

Devil May Care will be published simultaneously in the US and UK by Doubleday and Penguin Books respectfully on May 28, 2008. It is at the center of a literary James Bond celebration in 2008 marking the one hundreth birthday of 007’s creator, Ian Fleming. According to theBookseller, Penguin aims to launch a 007-specific imprint called Penguin 007 from which they will publish Devil May Care and perhaps other James Bond-related books for the year such as the SilverFin graphic novel and Young Bond Book 5, although the latter’s release date has not been discussed at all. There is a chance that may come in 2009. Nevertheless Penguin currently publishes all 14 of Ian Fleming’s Bond novels as well as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and all of Higson’s Young Bond series.

This isn’t the first time Penguin has created this imprint from what I recall. They did this back in 2002 when they reprinted the most recent Ian Fleming paperback editions which have since been reprinted again with introductions by various well-known authors. Perhaps Penguin plans to do this again. Perhaps we may finally see reprints of Colonel Sun, the John Gardner Bond novels and Raymond Benson’s series. Lets not forget that later this year John Pearson’s acclaimed Authorised Biography of James Bond is being reprinted, though not by Penguin. So who knows. More as I get it. In the meantime keep your eyes open for Penguin007.com

Thanks to CBn for the tip.

The Young Bond Dossier confirms that Sebastian Faulks is the upcoming Centenary author. Faulks is a highly acclaimed English novelist best known for period pieces such as The Girl at the Lion d’Or, Birdsong, and Charlotte Gray. The 2008 Centenary novel will be titled Devil May Care and will be set during the Cold War following Fleming’s novels with the action played out across two continents, exotic locations and several of the world’s most thrilling cities.

Faulks claims the book is about 80% Fleming down to chapter structure and sentence construction, but was careful not to allow it to become a pastiche.

“Then I took that pattern and added characters and a story of my own with as much speed and as many twists as I thought the reader could bear. I developed a prose that is about 80% Fleming. I didn’t go the final distance for fear of straying into pastiche, but I strictly observed his rules of chapter and sentence construction.” – Faulks

Read more at The Young Bond Dossier.

UPDATE: About Sebastian Faulks, Charlie Higson said,

“I think Sebastian probably doesn’t know what he has let himself in for. He will find himself completely immersed in the world of Bond and for ever after will be pursued as a Bond author. He will now find himself getting requests to do photo shoots wearing the odd tuxedo, and I imagine he’ll say no, but after a while you sort of give in. That’s the thing about James Bond. It just turns everyone into kids.”

• Author Martin Amis, the son of former Bond author Kingsley Amis, is getting together with current Bond author Charlie Higson on July 17 on BBC 4 at 11.30am to Noon in a segment called “Amis, Amis And Bond”. The press release says Higson will talk to Martin about his father’s Bond obsession (authored one continuation novel as well as two non-fiction books), and Fleming’s role in his life and work.
• Unlike all the other Young Bond novels, Hurricane Gold will not have a proof edition according to the Young Bond Dossier. Also, YBD reports that Double or Die has been nominated for the 2007 Southern Schools Book Award which is selected by librarians, teachers and students in the UK. A winner will be announced sometime later in the year.
• Silhouette Man over at CBn has written up another good article this time focusing on the Circus and its connection throughout Fleming’s novels from Red Grant to Pussy Galore, to Francisco Scaramanga as well its minor role in Higson’s first novel, SilverFin. Check it out here.
• 07/07/07 marked the 30th anniversary of The Spy Who Loved Me in the theaters. Both CBn and MI6 covered the event.
• Cinematical scored an exclusive look at a new poster for The Invasion starring Daniel Craig. Interesting movie right here considering Craig shot this movie prior to doing Casino Royale. It used to be a remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but after tons of delays including being renamed three times, being partially rewritten by The Wachowski’s (The Matrix trilogy), and partially reshot by James McTeigue (V For Vendetta), who the hell knows what it is now. Finally getting released though on August 17. I wonder if we’ll ever be able to see the original version by director Oliver Hirschbiegel on DVD at some point.

The first printing of Sweetie’s Diamonds in paperback sold out in its first week of release. The book penned by former Bond author Raymond Benson (1996 – 2002) was released on May 29 in paperback in the United States. Thus far Sweetie’s Diamonds has gotten glowing reviews from critics, won the “Lovey” (the Readers’ Choice Award) for the Best Thriller of 2006 at the Love is Murder Conference for Authors and Readers of Mystery, Thriller, Horror, and Romance Fiction, and has gotten good plugs from other authors such as Max Allan Collins (author of Road to Perdition) and Robert W. Walker. You can pick up a copy of Sweetie’s Diamonds on Amazon.com. Personally, I’ve yet to read it, but it is on my to-read list, which at this moment is huge. A month ago today I reported on an article written by Mr. Benson for Dorchester Publishing about Sweetie’s Diamonds. If you missed it, check it out here.

In other related Benson and Bond news, Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York named Mr. Benson as the 2007 Joseph G. Astman Distinguished Conference Scholar for their upcoming conference “Bond, James Bond–the World of 007” which will be held on November 7 and 8 of this year.