Higson says Faulks doesn’t know what he’s in for

Young Bond author Charlie Higson has commented on the news that Sebastian Faulks is the new Centenary Bond novelist.

Charlie told The Guardian, “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.”

Charlie added: “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.”

Faulks’ Bond novel, Devil May Care, will be released next year by Penguin Books in the UK and Doubleday in the U.S.

Secret Servant paperback released

The paperback edition of Secret Servant by Samantha Weinberg (aka Kate Westbrook) is officially released today in the UK.

Secret Servant is the thrilling second book in Samantha’s Moneypenny Diaries Trilogy. In it, Miss Jane Moneypenny travels to Russia where she’s swept up in Cold War intrigue and uncovers dark secrets about her own past.

The book also reveals details of exactly what happened to Commander Bond during his infamous “visit” to Russia between You Only Live Twice and The Man With The Golden Gun.

Samantha Weinberg is currently at work on the concluding chapter of the series, Final Fling, which takes place during the same time period as the recently announced Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks. Both books will be released in 2008.

Thus far, the Moneypenny novels have only been published in the UK.

Faulks first thrilling city revealed: Paris

Doubleday has released U.S. publishing details for the hardcover and paperback editions of Devil May Care, and have leaked one of the book’s “thrilling city” locales; Paris.

President & Publisher of Doubleday, Stephen Rubin, says of the book, “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.”

The last time 007 traveled to Paris was in Raymond Benson’s 2001 Bond novel, Never Dream of Dying.

Doubleday also confirmed that Devil May Care will be released simultaneously with the UK edition (by Penguin) on May 28, 2008, the centenary of Ian Fleming’s birth. The book will be released as an Anchor paperback in 2009.

Devil May Care 80% Fleming, says Faulks

Centenary Bond novelist Sebastian Faulks has offered up more details about Devil May Care, the new (adult) 007 novel due out May 28, 2008.

Faulks says his new book is “about 80% Fleming” and admitted being surprised that he was the estate's choice.

“I was surprised but flattered to be asked by the Fleming Estate last summer if I would write a one-off Bond book for the Ian Fleming Centenary,” says Faulks. “I told them that I hadn't read the books since the age of 13, but if, when I re-read them, I still enjoyed them and could see how I might be able to do something in the same vein, then I would be happy to consider it. On re-reading, I was surprised by how well the books stood up.”

He added: “I put this down to three things: the sense of jeopardy Fleming creates about his solitary hero; a certain playfulness in the narrative details; and a crisp, journalistic style that hasn't dated.”

Faulks said he attempted to “isolate the most essential and the most enjoyable aspects of the books.”

He said: “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.”

Devil May Care is set in 1967, when, Faulks says, “Bond is damaged, ageing and in a sense it is the return of the gunfighter for one last heroic mission. He has been widowed and been through a lot of bad things ... He is slightly more vulnerable than any previous Bond but at the same time he is both gallant and highly sexed, if you can be both. Although he is a great seducer, he really does appreciate the girls he seduces and he doesn't actually use them badly.”

As to locations, Faulks says the action plays out across two continents, exotic locations, and “several of the world's most thrilling cities.”

Devil May Care will be released by Penguin Books in the UK and Doubleday in the U.S.

Centenary novel author, title announced!

New York (AP) — James Bond will soon be back, in bookstores.

DEVIL MAY CARE, a novel written by British author Sebastian Faulks and authorized by the estate of the late Ian Fleming, is due to come out in 2008, the centennial of Fleming’s birth. According to the Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group, Devil May Care is set during the Cold War and, like so many Bond adventures, moves about a variety of scenic locales.

“My novel is meant to stand in the line of Fleming’s own books, where the story is everything,” Faulks, whose books include Birdsong, Charlotte Gray and the upcoming Engleby, said in a statement issued Tuesday by Doubleday.

“In his house in Jamaica, Ian Fleming used to write a thousand words in the morning, then go snorkeling, have a cocktail, lunch on the terrace, more diving, another thousand words in the late afternoon, then more martinis and glamorous women. In my house in London, I followed this routine exactly, apart from the cocktails, the lunch and the snorkeling.” Fleming, who died in 1964, wrote such favorites as Goldfinger, Dr. No and From Russia With Love. Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan and Roger Moore are among those who have played the debonair secret agent on screen.

The Bond series has continued over the past 40 years, with Kingsley Amis and John Gardner among those writing stories. Corinne Turner, managing director of Ian Fleming Publications Limited, said Faulks was ideal for the job.

“We had him in mind for our centenary novel for quite some time. He has an ability to write convincingly in whichever period or genre he chooses, and his novel On Green Dolphin Street in particular made me think he might enjoy exploring the world of Ian Fleming and James Bond,” Turner said in a statement.

“We gave a sneak preview of the manuscript to Barbara Broccoli (daughter of Bond film producer Albert Broccoli), who said if I had told her the family had found an old manuscript of Ian’s in the basement she would have believed me. Sebastian couldn’t have written a better book to celebrate Ian’s 100th birthday.”

Film rights have not yet been sold, Doubleday said.

By HILLEL ITALIE
AP National Writer

UK UPDATE: According to the UK press release, Devil May Care will be published by Penguin Books in the UK on May 28, 2008.