Dear Reader,
The world has come to Edinburgh. As I write to you, the Fringe is in full swing outside my office window. This week, I appeared at the Edinburgh International Book Festival for the fourth time since my debut Testament was published in 2018. Just as for comedians or actors, Edinburgh is the place to be for authors in August, and a festival I always aspired to. So to be welcomed into this family of books is really something special. To live in the Scottish capital is something special, too, as the streets come alive with drummers, brass bands, clowns, stand ups, and wafts of sugary or sizzling smoke from food trucks. Everywhere you look there’s a poster or a flyer being thrust into your hands – many of them with stickers reading CENSORED over key words or body parts. And everywhere you go, there’s the sound of laughter. Joy is in the air, and I’m taking deep gulps.
I was interviewed by Jenny Brown, the first ever director of the festival forty years ago, about A Wild & True Relation.
It was a wide-ranging conversation, a chance to talk deeply into character and make connections across to my Bond writing – my interest in heroes, narrative structure, my love of writing place. I’m so grateful to everyone who came – to pack out a theatre by myself, and in my home city, made me feel on top of the world.
I want to give a big shout out to all the staff who work at the festival and make authors feel so welcome. Talking about writing as the sun goes down outside the Author’s Yurt with old friends and new is the kind of life I imagined as a geeky teenager, frustrated with school and imagining a brighter future. So thank you, hugely.
It’s been a while since you’ve heard from me because I’ve been out for the count with a summer cold. In that time, the paperback of Double or Nothing has come out here in the UK with this gorgeous cover. I was a guest on Woman’s Hour to mark the paperback publication, and other than the fact that I really needed to sneeze it was good fun! You can listen to me here in the last ten minutes. It feels especially momentous to reach this milestone as the first Bond novel I bought was the Pan paperback edition of From Russia With Love.
It’s been amazing seeing Double or Nothing in so many bookshops, railway stations and airports – thanks so much to everyone who’s sent pics! If you see it out in the wild, send me a photo. If you want to grab yourself a signed copy, order from Toppings, Edinburgh, or stop by the Festival shop.
And founding members, look out for personalised, signed paperbacks dropping through your letter boxes! With a bonus Testament memento featuring original art by Rosie Sherwood. If you’d like to sign up as founder member for £150, you’ll receive signed proofs of A Spy Like Me, plus signed first editions, merch and more!
For paying subscribers, read on for a house update and my thoughts on the Women’s World Cup Semi Final between England and Australia. Spoiler alert: I’m still grinning six hours later!
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