Dear Reader,
It was a busy week here in book land. It started with another appearance on radio, this time BBC Scotland, where once again I was played in by the James Bond theme, which will settle the nerves if anything will. Then a virtual event for Staffordshire Libraries, with an incredible 650-strong audience that included – as the interviewer put it – “the builders of Ukraine and the loggers of Quebec.” Amazing. Then it was down to London for Capital Crime in Battersea Park. This was an event I’ve been particularly looking forward to, gathering together for the first time on stage Anthony Horowitz, Charlie Higson, Samantha Weinberg and myself – four Bond authors for the price of one. There must be a collective noun for that. Crows already bagged ‘murder’ and monkeys have ‘barrel’. A cocktail of Bond authors?
Huge thanks to Alpine for making the day even more special. Here’s me pretending Johanna Harwood 003’s Alpine A110 S is my car, and that I can actually drive… Luckily, Charlie arrived, who can really drive – in the event of a quick getaway, Charlie will be the wheelman. This car is so beautiful, every time I stand beside it I get closer to signing away all of my earthly possessions…
(Me and Charlie doing our best Connery pose. All photos by Rosie Sherwood.)
My sense of glamour was soon punctured, however, as my very nice shoes with absolute no grip failed me on the steep ramp that accessed the stage and Charlie and Anthony both had to take me under the elbow in full gallant mode. Oi vey. Many thanks, gentlemen. I had tremendous fun talking 007 with all three, and the questions from the audience were great too. A few especially interesting points came up, and I’m curious about your answers – comment below if you have thoughts! How much do you want Bond – as a genre, more than a character – to change, and how much do you want it to remain the same? And, if you could have dinner with one character from the James Bond universe other than Bond, who would you choose? (Anthony elected M, I picked Felix Leiter, and Charlie voted for Pussy Galore). And speaking of universes, we’ve billed the Double O series as expanding the James Bond universe, but Sam described it as expanding the Bondsphere, which I also rather liked. What do you prefer, universe or sphere?
The next day, I donned more sensible boots and pounded the pavements with Virago to deliver proofs of A Wild & True Relation to bookshops around London. A proof is an early reading copy, and sometimes as an author you’ll put the proof personally in the hands of booksellers in order to introduce yourself and the story.
(Photos by Virago.)
This can be a nerve-wracking exercise, but we sweetened the deal with Devon-made fudge for each bookseller, which produced smiles all around. Then the task is to find a few words that describe the book, and a few sentence that captures the plot.
Here’s, roughly, what I came up with:
“A Wild & True Relation is a literary historical feminist smuggling adventure. The story opens with the Great Storm of 1703 as smuggling Captain Tom West arrives onshore in a rage, believing his lover has betrayed him to the Revenue. At the end of the confrontation, she is left dead, and he takes her daughter Molly to raise as a boy on his ship. All that happens in the first chapter, and the rest of the story is what happens next, interleaved with true historical figures like Dr Johnson and Hester Thrale and Charles Dickens and George Eliot, who pass the story down through the centuries, trying to solve the mystery of Molly’s life.”
This seemed to go down pretty well, and at the very least is a marked improvement from how I used to describe the book, as a story about literary and maritime history… It was really exciting to see the enthusiasm on the faces of booksellers and to think of the book being in shops so soon. Not long now…
The week was made all the more joyous by having my brilliant sister Rosie to stay in Edinburgh. One of my favourite things to do with Rosie – who is an artist, and writes the fantastic newsletter A Nomadic Rose – is visit galleries and see the work through her eyes. We said hello to James Boswell, Dr Johnson’s scribe, at the National Portrait Gallery, and Vanessa Bell and the Bloomsbury set at the National Galleries. You may remember that Rosie baked me a book cake when Testament was published.
However, due to a raft of fun new allergies, a cake wasn’t possible this time around. BUT a little thing like that won’t deter Rosie, so let me introduce you to handmade shimmering gold fruit leathers that match the glitter of Double or Nothing. MAGIC.
Finally – and slightly burying the lead – today is my birthday! And tomorrow is mine and Nick’s wedding anniversary. We’ll be catching the night train to Paris, where on Sunday I’ll be appearing at the James Bond France Fan Club’s 60 years of Cinematic Bond celebrations, the final stop on the book tour. And, of course, ordering a Vesper at Harry’s Bar. Cheers.
From Kim, With Love x
I would not want the literary Bond to change. Continue to bring forward the tyrants of the world for Bond to meticulously plan three downfall. For me, that is what draws me into the story.
Regarding dinner, it would be Q. It would probably be the most intellectually stimulating conversation that I would ever have.