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Charlie Higson Authors Live event October 7
 The Scottish Book Trust will be holding an Authors Live event with Young Bond author Charlie Higson on October 7, 2010 at 11:00am. The aim of Authors Live is to broadcast author appearances live into the classroom.
To register your school, library or bookgroup for the event click on the Register Now button at the top of THIS PAGE and follow the on-screen instructions. You will then be able to view the event at: www.bbc.co.uk/authorslive.
To be a part of the live studio audience, please email heather.collins@scottishbooktrust.com, stating your interest, the number and age group of your pupils. All pupils must have a signed media authorization form which includes permission for footage of them to appear on YouTube. Deadline for applying: 10th September 2010.
Complete details can be found at the Scottish Book Trust Authors Live website.
| FOUND! Young Bond??s first appearance in 1960
 Can you name the first appearance of the young James Bond? Maybe you think it was in Charlie Higson??s first Young Bond novel SilverFin? Or maybe you??d say it was in James Bond The Authorized Biography of 007 by John Person? Still some might argue that The Adventures of James Bond Jr 003 1/2 would constitute the first young ??Bond? adventure. But all these answers are wrong.
The very first appearance of a young James Bond was in a forgotten short story called ??Some Are Born Great? first published in 1959 and possibly written by Dr. No and From Russia With Love screenwriter Johanna Harwood.
This amazing discovery was first revealed by author Charles Helfenstein in his major new book, The Making of On Her Majesty??s Secret Service (Amazon, Amazon.co.uk). In the chapter about the OHMSS novel, Helfenstein mentions that a Young Bond parody was printed in the house magazine of Bond publisher Jonathan Cape in the spring of 1960.
Intrigued, I contacted Charles and asked if he could provide more details for the Young Bond Dossier. Here is his reply:
??As part of my research on the novel, I wanted to see how Jonathan Cape promoted the book, and besides posters, catalogs, and contests, Cape had a house magazine called ??Now and Then?, which was sent to booksellers and interested subscribers. The magazine had ceased publication by the time OHMSS was published, but I went through the archives anyway, to see what gems might be in other issues. Issue 105, Spring 1960, caught my attention because it featured a story about a young James Bond:
I thought it was hilarious that the story had first appeared in Nursery World in 1959, and that Cape thought the story was so good that it warranted republishing in their magazine ??with apologies to Ian Fleming.? The archives don??t detail what Fleming thought of the story, but I would think that Cape would have obtained Fleming??s permission before putting it in the magazine.
One other piece of this puzzle that I have yet to verify: the author of the story, ??J.M. Harwood? is most likely Johanna Harwood, the screenwriter who worked on Dr No and From Russia With Love.
And finally, I had the pleasure of presenting a copy of ??Some are Born Great? to Young Bond author Charlie Higson when he visited Washington D.C. this summer. 51 years later, we are still fascinated by James Bond??s formative years.?
Charles has now graciously given us a copy of this long lost Bond story. Just CLICK HERE -- or on the story image above -- to read Young Bond??s very first adventure, ??Some Are Born Great? by J.M. Harwood.
Charlie Higson and Charles Helfenstein with copy of Some Are Born Great (photo courtesy of Dr Shatterhand??s Botanical Garden)
UPDATE: Charles Helfenstein has just revealed on the CBn forums that he??s confirmed Johanna Harwood??s middle initial is indeed ??M?, lending more credence to the theory that she is the author of ??Some Are Born Great.? Says Charles:
??According to "London charivari", Volume 237, page 475, published in 1959, in an article about skiing she signs herself Johanna M. Harwood. The article's title is ... For Women ?? Long Skis in Kitzbuhel. More info soon.?
Kitzbuhel -- yes, that??s yet another Young Bond connection.
| Tomorrow...
 A long lost nugget of James Bond literary history will be revealed here tomorrow at The Young Bond Dossier.
Watch this space!
| Charlie Higson at Camp Bestival next weekend
 Charlie Higson will be making two appearances next weekend at Camp Bestival in Lulworth Castle, Dorset.
Charlie will appear first on Saturday 31st July at 2:00pm at House of Fairy Tales where he will read a passage from his favorite horror story.
Charlie returns on Sunday 1st August at 12:45pm in the East Lulworth Literary Institute tent where he will talk about his new horror novel The Enemy and its upcoming sequel, The Dead.
To purchase tickets call the booking hotline on 0844 888 441 on visit the Ticketline website. For more information on Camp Bestival visit the official website.
| Young Bond at Comic Con
 Young Bond is on show at the 41st Annual Comic-Con International running now through Sunday, July 25, in San Diego, California.
Fans attending the con should swing by the Disney Publishing booth (#1316) where you can pick up a free booklet featuring postcards of Disney??s 2010 graphic novels, including a card from SilverFin The Graphic Novel by Charlie Higson and Kev Walker. You can also buy the hardcover or paperback editions of the book at the booth.
The official Comic-Con souvenir magazine (free with admission) also includes a full page advert for SilverFin The Graphic Novel.
We visited the con yesterday and were very pleased to meet Disney??s Christian Trimmer who has been so helpful in providing us with Young Bond news and exclusives over the years. Thanks again, Christian!
So stop by booth 1316 and tell them you saw it on The Young Bond Dossier!
| X update: Top Secret event today in London
 Ian Fleming Publications and Hodder & Stoughton invited ??a very small handful of people? to a Top Secret meeting with new James Bond author Jeffery Deaver today in London.
In true Bond style, the one-on-one meetings took place in the crypt of St Andrews church in Holborn. The location was only revealed to attendees after they RSVP??d, and it was not revealed in advance that the meeting would be with Deaver (who recently arrived in the UK to start his latest book tour).
Commanderbond.net??s own ??Admiral? was one of the lucky few to be invited. CLICK HERE to read his account on the CBn Forums. Also visit our Facebook page The Book Bond for all the latest breaking Project X news.
The UK edition of Project X is available to pre-order from Amazon.co.uk
| Activision announces James Bond: Blood Stone
 It may be the dog days of summer for us Young Bond fans, but Bond gamers have reason to celebrate today with the announcement of a new original James Bond videogame from Activision, James Bond 007: Blood Stone.
Written by veteran Bond screenwriter Bruce Fierstein, Blood Stone puts players into an explosive third-person action adventure where they will unravel an international terrorist plot by the villainous Greco across Athens, Istanbul, Monaco, and Bangkok.
Singer Joss Stone is set to debut as the newest Bond Girl, socialite Nicole Hunter (??I??m the first Bond girl with a nose ring,? she says). The award winning artist has also penned an original song for the game titled ??I??ll Take It All? with Eurythmics star Dave Stewart.
Blood Stone features the likeness and voice talent of Daniel Craig and Judi Dench. The game will be released for the XBox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PC. Activison did not give a release date, but The Telegraph reports the game will be in stores for Christmas.
View the game trailer at CommanderBond.net and visit the official website bloodstonegame.com.
| Hurricane Gold for the iPhone
 The unabridged audiobook reading of Charlie Higson??s fourth Young Bond adventure, Hurricane Gold, has been released as an iPhone app by Blackstone Audio.
Read by Gerard Doyle, this app was built especially for the iPhone and iPod Touch and includes extra functions and features not found on other players. Includes multi-speed fast forward/reverse, jump ahead/back, chapter skip, one-touch chapter-bookmark browser, sleep timer, auto-bookmarking, chapter timings, and a ??scrub? bar that finds any point inside the chapter with just a tap.
The Hurricane Gold app is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. It requires iOS 3.1.3 or later.
CLICK HERE to listen to a sample at the Blackstone website, or purchase for $9.99 from the iTunes App Store.
| Was the future of Young Bond decided today?
 Is Charlie Higson going to return and pen a Young Bond series 2? That decision could very well have been made today, according to a tweet from Charlie Higson himself @monstroso.
??Various meetings today to discuss the future of Young Bond, the Enemy, Monstroso & 1 with an academic to discuss the past -Randall & Hopkirk?
Unfortunately, this tweet was logged 9 hours ago, so we were unable to redirect our YBD spy satellite on London and listen in. Guess we??ll just have to wait for some official word about the future of Young Bond, but here??s hoping the meeting went well!
| Norway takes Command in September
 Charlie Higson??s fifth Young Bond novel By Royal Command will be released in Norway as På kongelig befaling in September.
As with the other books in the Young Bond series, På kongelig befaling will be released by publisher Aschehoug with a translation by Heidi Grinde.
Norway joins the UK, U.S. France, Germany, and The Netherlands as the sixth country to publish the entire Young Bond series.
Pre-order from Adlibris.com
| By Royal Command Playaway audiobook released
 Blackstone has released Charlie Higson??s fifth Young Bond adventure By Royal Command as an unabridged Playaway audiobook read by Gerard Doyle.
By Royal Command retails for $59.99 and can be purchased at Amazon.com and Blackstone Audio.
Blackstone released a Playaway edition of Hurricane Gold in May.
| Charlie Higson at Camp Bestival July 31 & Aug 1
 Charlie Higson will be making two appearances at this years Camp Bestival in Lulworth Castle, Dorset.
Charlie will appear first on Saturday 31st July at 2:00pm at House of Fairy Tales where he will read a passage from his favorite horror story.
Charlie returns on Sunday 1st August at 12:45pm in the East Lulworth Literary Institute tent where he will talk about his new horror novel The Enemy and its upcoming sequel, The Dead.
To purchase tickets call the booking hotline on 0844 888 441 on visit the Ticketline website. For more information on Camp Bestival visit the official website.
| X update: Deaver??s 007 will be a younger Bond
 During his recent US book tour (promoting The Burning Wire), newly minted James Bond continuation author Jeffery Deaver revealed some choice new information about his upcoming Bond novel codenamed Project X.
First off, Deaver??s 007 will be a young Bond. Deaver confirmed that Project X will be a contemporary ??reboot? and will feature a James Bond somewhere around 28-30 years of age. ??We haven??t exactly settled on an age yet,? he says. Born in the 1980s, Bond will be a veteran of the Afghan War (Operation Herrick) and part of an elite new double-oh section which specialized in assassination and whose agents are disavowed if ever compromised. Fans on the CBn forums have tagged this new Bond, XBond.
But Deaver took pains to point out that while this is a new, younger James Bond, he will still be very much the complex and somewhat dark character created by Ian Fleming.
Deaver revealed the story will span 4 or 5 days and will retain classic elements including M (who will be male again), Miss Moneypenny, and Mary Goodnight. Bond will still have a housekeeper, although it will not be the Scottish May (Deaver hinted at a Pakistani or Indian nationality). Also, prompted by my question, Deaver assures that the book will be spiced up with some nice Flemingesque sex.
Currently there is no title, but Deaver says he??s come up with a list of some 45 titles to choose from. He hinted that the title would refer specifically to the object of Bond??s investigation, so it doesn??t sound like we??ll get a generic Bond title like Devil May Care (although with 45 selections there must certainly a few generics in there, so it??s a little early to say for sure).
While the official Project X countdown clock shows a May 28, 2011 release date (Ian Fleming??s birthday), Deaver noted that this is a Saturday, so it??s not certain whether the book will be released on that exact day.
Deaver said he and IFP have some nice web-based promotions planned (currently there is a teaser on the Project X website promising a ??one-of-a-kind event?), so to keep up with all the latest breaking Project X news, watch our Facebook page The Book Bond.
The UK edition of Project X is available to pre-order from Amazon.co.uk
| Caution slow news ahead
 With the release of the paperback Danger Society: The Young Bond Dossier in the UK and By Royal Command in the U.S., we appear to have reached the conclusion of the initial adventures of Young James Bond.
So this is just a caution that our site may update less frequently. But never fear! I??m still here trolling the net for any news of international editions, special editions, more graphic novels, or, best of all, Young Bond Series 2.
In the meantime, you can find news on Charlie Higson??s excellent non-Bond horror series at the official Enemy website, and news of Jeffery Deaver??s new adult James Bond novel at the Project X website. I also have a Facebook page, The Book Bond, that tracks all literary James Bond news, young and old.
With that I leave you with an optimistic...
Young Bond Will Return.
| Charlie Higson signing at Jarrolds Norwich June 26
 Charlie Higson will be appearing at Jarrolds department store in Norwich for a book signing next Saturday June 26 at 12 noon. Charlie notes on Twitter that this appearance will be ??a nostalgic trip for me.?
Jarrold is located at 25-27 Exchange Street, Norwich, NR2 1DP. Phone is 01603 697252. The event will be held in the book department.
According to the official website, Charlie will only sign copies of his books purchased at the event or accompanied by a Jarrold receipt.
| Hurricane Gold is latest CBn Book Club selection
 Leading Bond fansite CommanderBond.net has selected Charlie Higson??s fourth Young Bond novel, Hurricane Gold, as its latest ??Blades Library Book Club? selection.
Every two months the CBn team chooses a James Bond 007 novel for the club members to read. A thread is posted in the CommanderBond.net Forums listing locations where you can find the novel, discuses the novel, and post your review and rating.
To participate, all you need to do to sign up is register on the CBn Forums (it??s free and only takes a minute) and then post your name in the sign up thread.
The next book club selection will be By Royal Command (just released in the U.S.) so join in and get involved now!
| The Dead release pulled forward to Sept 16
 Puffin has pulled forward the release date for Charlie Higson??s second book in his non-Bond horror trilogy, The Dead, to September 16. The release date had been October 7.
Amazon has also posted a plot description with a few new details:
??A terrible disease is striking everyone over the age of fourteen. Death walks the streets. Nowhere is safe. Maxie, Blue and the rest of the Holloway crew aren??t the only kids trying to escape the ferocious adults who prey on them. Jack and Ed are best friends, but their battle to stay alive tests their friendship to the limit as they go on the run with a mismatched group of other kids ?? nerds, fighters, misfits. And one adult. Greg, a butcher, who claims he??s immune to the disease. They must work together if they want to make it in this terrifying new world. But as a fresh disaster threatens to overwhelm London, they realize they won??t all survive.?
Charlie Higson has tweeted that he will start writing his ??new book? today. Presumably this is Enemy 3. This is an early start for Charlie who only wrote The Dead this year.
Could it be he??s freeing up 2011 for some other project...?
| Charlie has a brush with Dr. Shatterhand
 Stuart Basinger, who runs the fine James Bond website Dr. Shatterhand??s Botanical Garden, attended Charlie Higson??s signing at the Politics & Prose bookstore in Washington D.C. and has posted this terrific Charlie Higson video interview and overview. Check it out by clicking the link below.
And in case you??re wondering, Charlie??s joking reference to a Dances With Wolves-like Young Bond adventure has to do with a spurious entry on Wikipedia that said he was working on a novel about Native Americans (now removed).
While you??re there, be sure and check out Shatterhand??s video interview with new Bond novelist Jeffery Deaver who reveals fresh information about Project X.
Click here to go to the Garden
| Danger Society: The Young Bond Dossier released in paperback
 A paperback edition of Danger Society: The Young Bond Dossier is released today in the UK by Puffin Books.
Danger Society: The Young Bond Dossier is the complete and definitive guide to the world and adventures of Young Bond. Packed with information, illustrations, and a brand-new Young Bond adventure by Charlie Higson, ??A Hard Man To Kill??, this book is both a must-have for Young Bond fans and a perfect introduction to the megaselling series.
Today also sees the release in paperback of Charlie Higson??s first non-Bond horror novel, The Enemy.
Purchase Danger Society: The Young Bond Dossier on Amazon.co.uk
| Charlie Higson at the Hay Festival Saturday
 Charlie Higson will be appearing at the Guardian Hay Festival this Saturday, 5 June at 2:30pm. Charlie??s appearance this year will be a conversation with Mark Kermode.
Tickets are £5.00 and can be booked online at the Festival website.
The Guardian Hay Festival runs Thursday 27 May through Sunday 6 June. The events profile contemporary writers and publications in a relaxed variety format.
More information at the official festival website.
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