Nice. When did that happen?
Hell would have to freeze over before I’d buy that one. Which has nothing to say about the quality I’d expect from this (actually, I’d expect it to be brilliant) – it’s purely personal.
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It was this past weekend - a 70th anniversary celebration of literary Bond at Pinewood
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Did he hit you? Do you have bruises? I’m sorry, if he actually hurt you, personally. If he’s mean, I can remove him.
Some more:
Michael Arndt: he has written two of the better sequels in the last 15 years. He’s one of Pixar’s regular ideas-people. If you trust someone to write a continuing story, I would trust him, novel or film.
Brad Bird: The Incredibles was a giant love letter to Bond in the 60s, to the point of him originally hiring John Barry. He is a strong story writer, while pushing human emotion forward, in more ways than one.
In the picture @Arbogast777 can you name as many people, left to right? Also, it doesn’t seem right that Jeffery Deaver, William Boyd and some of the Dynamite Comics writers weren’t there as well. Writing James Bond is a true privilege, and more people should be thankful for the writers. Myself included. Because if they didn’t write the continuation novels, and stories, we would be complaining where they were. Lastly, if you follow Charlotte Philby on social media, she has openly stated that she would like to write a Bond adventure.
I can, as they are each holding their books 
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The continuation business continues to endure persistently ever more ongoing…
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Even on the literary market: it’s only about IP, IP, IP.
Come with an original story and publishers will shriek: oh, no, it’s unproven content!
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The mining of le Carré has been some time in the making: Silverview already uncharacteristically brief and ‘completed’ by his son, the Sisman biography coming out with a previously unauthorised Part II: The Juicy Chapters; the memoir of a former affair; the letters. I’d say it even reaches back to Agent Running in the Field - somewhat shallow and with a pale version of Slough House - and A Legacy of Spies, which was unbridgeable with any realistic timeline and depicted entirely different versions of characters who had escaped retconning for the best part of 50 years.
Most of this is still enormously readable, interesting and stands out from the fray of the literary output of the genre. But le Carré is a brand that’s far too valuable to be left alone. So here we go, a Smiley - The Missing Years and a Leamas Begins and possibly also a Little Drummer Woman with an older Charlie and a Day Manager with Jonathan Pine hunting down Roper…
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That’s only half of it. One piece of advice I see given to aspiring authors is to build a ‘social media platform.’ That is to say publishers want their authors to have a level of fame, even if it’s internet fame, before their first book comes out.
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Effectively doing the publisher’s work.
An aspiring author should first and foremost care about their writing, develop a strict discipline of work and rework and get that properly into their system. Social media efforts just eat into that, making it harder to meet deadlines and worry about the real work.
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A little off topic, but could someone post something in the Casting The Continuation Novels thread? I’ve got a few more offerings to submit, but at the moment I’ve done three entries in a row and the system won’t let me do any more till someone posts again. Thanks. 
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Some of my recent thoughts on this subject.
I think a book a year would be good. In April, Kim Sherwood’s 2nd Double-0 book A Spy Like Me will be released. Plus, she’s confirmed that she’s writing a third. So, while we may not be getting a full on adult Bond novel, we do have at least two more books to look forward to.
My three realistic picks for a continuation novel author are: Guy Adams, Charles Cumming and in particular, Charlotte Philby. They can write good thrillers, and have experience in the spy genre. IFP should hire them over the next couple of years. I’d trust them with writing. IFP likes to hire fans it seems (only Faulks may be the only non fan since Gardener), they should give them a chance.
Also, I want Bond to stay as modern as possible. I feel that IFP has played it somewhat safe with five of the last seven adult Bond novels taking place in the past. That’s one of the reasons that I hold Jeffery Deaver and Kim Sherwood in high regard. They were like Fleming: setting Bond in a present time. Bond was a modern character for his time. IFP should keep at least part of it that way. I still support more spin-offs for certain characters. Moneypenny, Double-00 and even Dynamite Comics’ versions of M, Moneypenny and in particular Felix Leiter prove that these characters have as much life as Bond does. I’m somewhat surprised that IFP hasn’t tried modern day villain spin-offs. I have a few ideas of my own. Hopefully my hopes and dreams for the future of James Bond (Literary, Film and Video Game) will come true, in one way or another.
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Heather Graham Pozzessere.
Steven Spielberg.
Lawrence Kasdan.
https://twitter.com/TheIanFleming/status/1751560759631585791
I don’t want to be a downer, but it could be IFP starting up promotion on A Spy Like Me.
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Hah! That continuation business…
Efforts to spin out fresh entertainment from an established piece of work have become crucial to profitably managing a literary property. Earlier this month, the Roald Dahl Estate announced new books about his most popular characters, each penned by different authors, including Greg James, Konnie Huq and Adam Kay.
“One of our aims is to get the world to know more about other Conan Doyle characters. And not just Moriarty, but those in other Holmes mysteries, like Colonel Sebastian Moran, or in other adventure series, like the Professor Challenger stories,”
Also significant in the Holmes mythology, of course, are Sherlock’s reclusive brother Mycroft and the villainous Irene Adler, the only opponent to get the better of Holmes and one subsequently always referred to as “the woman”. “We’re already talking to people who want to take Irene on to develop a television series.
Strikes me as odd how they don’t mention that Moriarty was not just Horowitz’ second ‘official’ continuation but also already featured prominently in the entire Holmesiana/Sherlockiana universe, from the days of Meyers’ The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (a Freudian figment of Holmes) to Gaiman’s Study in Emerald (a mirror image in another dimension) and a thousand others.
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Translation: IP is the only thing that counts these days because creating original material will not bring in enough money (we lazy people who only are after money think). Also, the PR people don’t know anymore how to promote original stuff, so…
Expect a spin-off to every last side character.
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If this happens with Bond, I could go either way. It seems that one of my favorite characters (Batman) has been getting a lot of spinoffs in the last 10 years. Namely Commissioner Gordon with Gotham and Alfred with Pennyworth. A number of his villains have been getting long lasting comicbook series runs: Joker, Penguin, Riddler Catwoman, Poison Ivy and in particular Harley Quinn. As I said, it could be a mixed bag for Bond. Certain characters it could work for, but as long as IFP is in charge, it can hold promise.
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Apologies in advance for the length (one of my weaknesses as writer).
Two sweeping statements I think.
- On IP, I would agree that there is a greater tendency to rely on existing films (either series or rebooted ones), video games, and TV series. But IMHO you are placing too much emphasis on this and there is still new stuff coming out. Right now my local cinema has 5 current films showing: Two appear to be entirely original (Civil War and Monkey Man). Abigail is based on a 1936 film (I don’t think I would place too much emphasis on IP really). Spy-X Family Code is based on a 2019 Japanese series (don’t really see that as IP since it’s pretty new - though next thing you know they will be adapting German TV shows for an English speaking audience ). Irena’s Vow is based on a 2009 play (is that really IP?). Yes there is a ton of stuff coming based on IP (and I don’t think we needed the Fall Guy (now a million dollar budgeted TV movie would have been cool)).
Would it be better if there were more original stuff? Yes. Do I think we should be adapting video games? No. I love Fallout and Halo videos games but have no need to see either TV adaptions (the lore is cool… just not that cool). The only thing causing me pause on the former is that it stars Kyle MacLachlan.
Adaptions based on books, plays and old films have been going on for a long time. In fact, there is one guy that probably really annoys you. Most of the time, they don’t change a single line in his material. His name is Bill Shakespeare.
Again, not saying you don’t have a point but saying IP is the only thing that counts is going to far IMHO. The irony (which you have previously admitted) is that you are doing this on a Bond forum. IP indeed.
- On the abilities of those in PR. I don’t think I would ever make such a sweeping statement about any profession. In a previous life, I got to know a lot of people in the PR world. They struck me as fairly talented and I am always amazed how quickly they can write. If there is a problem, I think it is likely with producers that want what they think is a sure bet (though that is speculation by me). I also think there is a large part of the audience that really likes to go back to characters they have seen before (I am probably guilty of that). BTW, when is the new Bond being cast?
While we sometimes disagree, I always enjoy your posts and your perspective.
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I agree with your well laid out arguments… per se.
But to clear up my position: this was no snark from me but what I hear every day for the last two years now, directly from producers.
They tell me: we won’t risk original material, and the PR people just don’t know how to successfully promote original stuff. Sometimes because audiences only go for what they know (the Big Mac phenomenon), sometimes because the PR people really don’t see an angle to promote what hasn’t been a franchise, a novel, a video game or a podcast before.
As for those projects which slip through, it will always depend on genre („Abigail“ is hardly original, a mix of vampire and hostage thriller, and „Civil War“ is a very palpable concept done by a renowned genre writer/director).
But it is what it is.
My preference just is not to elevate side characters for their own stories or do prequels, sidequels or whatever because the best story just starts and leaves out what isn’t necessary.
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Beautifully put.
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You can go with the spinoffs for comic book characters but not for James Bond. We’re here for 007 and the thrilling rides he takes us on. I fear that any spinoffs from his series just wouldn’t be the same and could potentially dilute the Bond series and, worse, could make the intervals between 007’s films even longer. So that’s a hard no for me.