THE BOOK BOND IS BACK(ish)

Earlier this year, I announced that I was putting this blog on hold as it seemed IFP was going all in on spin-offs rather than traditional James Bond adventures. How things have changed! Not only did we get a fantastic new James Bond novel from Charlie Higson, KING ZERO, but IFP has announced a new novella for December, All In by Dan Jones. There's also news of a new Bond graphic novel, Sunbreaker (nice title) by Grant Morrison for IDW. So the classic James Bond is definitely back!

So I'm back as well...kinda. In all honesty, my feelings toward Bond have changed as I've gotten older. While I still enjoy a great Bond adventure, I have a much lower tolerance for violence, and even the sex scenes play differently for me. No Time to Die killed my enjoyment of the modern cinematic Bond (which, IMO, is exactly what Barbara Broccoli and Daniel Craig intended; don't get me started). However, I'm happy the franchise is no longer in EON's hands (what a painful thing to say), and I have high hopes Amazon will help rekindle the joy of a Bond movie. But, for me, my love of the cinematic Bond is mostly nostalgia for what was. Roger Moore will forever be my favorite Bond, and Moonraker will forever live in my Top Five. What comes next belongs to a new generation of fans like Calvin Dyson, and I greatly enjoy seeing their passion and hearing their insights. Go forth and multiply!

There have also been changes at IFP. I don't really have the relationship with the new team that I had with the old guard led by Corinne Turner, who always treated me like family. But they still send me press releases and occasionally invite me to launch events, so I'm happy to share news of their new Bond publications, especially when it's the quality of KING ZERO. I honestly don't know if anyone looks at blogs like this anymore, but it's easy enough to throw up a post, and these days I think of this blog more as a scrapbook that captures the times, like the old fanzines. Why not keep the scrapbook going a while longer?

Despite how all this sounds, I am not going into the sunset or settling into an armchair. I've never been more focused than I am right now. I have embarked on a massive three-volume commitment chronicling the life and career of Harry Houdini, a passion that predates Bond. I'm not only writing these books; I'm also designing and selling them myself through Wild About Harry Press. The first book, Handcuff King: The Conquests of Harry Houdini, 1900–1909, is with the printer and will be available before the end of the year. I'm insanely proud of it, and I can't wait to start working on Volume 2. Like it or not, I'll occasionally promote these books here, even though they have nothing to do with Bond. (I did slip in one reference, and I couldn't help but write "007" as the number in one of my Premium Editions. Fun fact: John Gardner was a Houdini buff.)

Anyway, this is just a long-winded way of saying I will be doing the occasional post and will keep track of the new adventures of the book Bond. 

Where OO7 never dies!