On This Day In History Ian Fleming, Creator Of James Bond, Died

As History.com notes, on this day in 1964 the great thriller writer Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond, died.

On this day in 1964, the British author and journalist Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond, the world’s most famous fictional spy, dies of a heart attack at age 56 in Kent, England. Fleming’s series of novels about the debonair Agent 007, based in part on their dashing author’s real-life experiences, spawned one of the most lucrative film franchises in history.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/james-bond-creator-ian-fleming-dies 

You can also read two of my Crime Beat columns on Ian Fleming via the below links:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2013/11/my-crime-beat-column-happy-anniversary.html 

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2010/06/casino-royale-revisited-film-that.html 

Ian Fleming: The Man With The Golden Typewriter

Nicholas Lezard reviewed Fergus Fleming's The Man With the Golden Typewriter: Ian Fleming's Bond Letters for the British newspaper the Guardian.

Yes, he had a gold-plated typewriter, which he bought to celebrate the completion of Casino Royale, the first James Bond novel. “His literary acquaintances considered it the height of vulgarity,” writes Fergus Fleming, his nephew.

Now, I like to think I know a little bit more about Bond and Ian Fleming than the average reader, because I was once honoured to be asked to write the introduction to the Penguin Modern Classics edition of what they called the Blofeld Trilogy – the trio of novels that feature the fearsome head of Spectre. But I wish this book had been around before I’d started: it gives a more rounded – and sympathetic – portrait of Fleming than I gave.

For one thing, he was nicer than I had been led to believe. Even those who rejected Paul Johnson’s famous line about the Bond books being “snobbery with violence” allowed it to seep into their judgments about Fleming’s character to some degree. The line wouldn’t have stuck if there hadn’t been at least a grain of truth in it. One of an author’s guarantees of good character is the way he or she writes back to members of the public who have troubled to write to him or her. Even though the 1950s and early 60s may have been a more gentle time, he still took pains, on the evidence assembled here, to reply with courtesy and warmth, even when being chided for being one of the chief symptoms of the moral decay gnawing at the heart of the country.

You can read the rest of the review via the below link:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/may/31/the-man-with-the-golden-typewriter-ian-flemings-james-bond-letters-fergus-fleming-review

My Haven, Frederick Forsyth: The Bestselling Novelist, 77, In The Study At His Home In Buckinghamshire

Brian Claridge at the British newspaper the Daily Mail offers an inside look at the study of Frederick Forsyth, the author of the classic thriller The Day of the Jackal and The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue.

My wife Sandy and I have lived here for five years now and my study is the most peaceful place to work. It overlooks the garden and all the wildlife and I’m surrounded by family photos and mementoes. 

Like this silver flying helmet, called a ‘bone dome’ by RAF pilots in the 50s, when we flew the single-seat Vampire jet. In those days the RAF was less stuffy and I got in when I was 17 by lying about my age. I flew a Vampire on my own at 18, which I think was a first, and got my wings at 19. 

You can read the rest of the piece and view the photos of Frederick Forsyth's study via the below link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3465458/My-haven-Frederick-Forsyth-bestselling-novelist-77-study-home-Buckinghamshire.html

War Reporter Turned Thriller Writer Gerald Seymour: 'Of Course I'm Still A Hack. You Can't Get It Out Of Your Veins'

Stephen Moss at the British newspaper the Guardian offers a piece on thriller writer Gerald Seymour.

Gerald Seymour’s publishers held a dinner for him last month to mark the 40th anniversary of his ground-breaking thriller Harry’s Game. He told the guests that from time to time he thought about retiring – he is now 74 and about to publish his 32nd book – and imagined a future for himself pushing a trolley round Lidl looking for the special offers. When he sketched out this scenario to his wife, he said, she bought him a present: a package of 500 sheets of blank printing paper.

The story, told against himself, is typical of Seymour, who is as ego-free as any writer you are likely to meet. He would be very comfortably off if he ever did retire, but there is no immediate prospect of that. His new book, No Mortal Thing, is out in January; the next is being written and the research has been done for several others. Lidl will have to wait.

... No Mortal Thing deals with the ’Ndrangheta, the little written about but immensely powerful mafia-like organisation based in Calabria which controls much of Europe’s cocaine trade. Seymour traces the way its tentacles stretch out from a small village at the foot of Italy, across Germany, the UK and the rest of Europe. He wants us to understand its power, viciousness and the immense damage it inflicts, and he criticises those who are not prepared to engage with the subject. “I dislike people who live in a comfortable, complacent world where they are simply not interested in what’s round the corner,” he says.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link: 

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/dec/26/gerald-seymour-interview-thriller-writer

Book Review: Frederick Forsyth's 'The Outsider" My Life In Intrique'

Veteran journalist and author Joseph C. Goulden offers a good review of Frederick Forsyth's The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue for the Washington Times. 

Let us hope that certain passages in this memoir by British thriller writer Frederick Forsyth do not cause trouble — perhaps fatal trouble — for authors who follow his example and use their profession as a cover for work for intelligence agencies.

For those of you unfamiliar with the thriller genre, Mr. Forsyth is at the top of the pack. He has succeeded because his 15 novels, most of them best-sellers, have a definite ring of authenticity. Mr. Forsyth spent his early years as a journalist, beginning with a provincial British newspaper, then with the Reuters news agency and BBC, with assignments throughout Europe and Africa.

A shrewd reporter, Mr. Forsyth eschewed the egotism endemic among too many journalists. He developed what he termed his “Bertie Wooster mode, an adopted persona based on P.G. Wodehouse’s witless hero: helpless, well-meaning, affable, but as dim as a five-watt bulb.” The contrived bumbler pose enabled Mr. Forsyth to mingle with African war lords, mercenary soldiers, and drug dealers who took him as “the harmless fool with a British passport.” Despite his innocent guise, Mr. Forsyth never lacked bravery — at age 19, he had been the youngest pilot in the Royal Air Force, and his girlfriends included the mistress of the East German defense minister.

Drinking late-night beers in the 9th Arrondissment of Paris, a red-light district, the young reporter was an unnoticed presence who “stared vacantly at the wall” and listened to military dissidents rant about their idea of killing former President Charles de Gaulle, who had decided to end France’s domination of Algeria. Once he left the BBC, Mr. Forsyth holed up in a friend’s apartment and, in 35 days, wrote a novel on a plot to kill de Gaulle, “The Day of the Jackal.” A string of subsequent best-sellers brought him international fame.

Mr. Forsyth also had developed a reputation as a hard-nosed reporter with both a conscience and a zest for the truth. He recognized early-on the mass starvations in strife-torn Biafra, a human tragedy which the British foreign office chose to ignore.

But the government included a strong dissenting voice — the Secret Intelligence Service — he called it “the Firm” — which preferred to deal in hard facts rather than political opinion. Mr. Forsyth’s reporting from Biafra attracted the attention of an SIS officer who shared his disdain for what he called the “cowardice” of the government. The officer needed a trusted “source on the ground” whose eyes-on evidence could rebut charge of media exaggeration. Mr. Forsyth willingly became the SIS’s source, continuing his journalistic work all the while.

You can read the rest of the review via the below link:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/nov/1/book-review-the-outsider-my-life-in-intrigue/  

Frederick Forsyth, Thrilling In Real Life

NPR.org offers an interview with British thriller writer Frederick Forsyth, author of the classic thriller, The Day of the Jackal and The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue.

Gotta grab a reader with the first sentence? Here's one from Fredrick Forsyth: "We all make mistakes, but starting the Third World War would have been a rather large one."

Forsyth has written masterful thrillers for more than 40 years, from The Day of the Jackal to The Dogs of War to The Odessa File and The Kill List. He's said he won't write an autobiography. But he doesn't mind sharing a few stories about the life and times that have shaped him, and his work.

"It was a very simple little mistake, I suppose," Forsyth tells NPR about almost starting a war. "I was in East Berlin, middle of the night, 2 a.m., motoring back through the city, towards the wall, and suddenly I was just assaulted by division after division of Soviet troops, rolling through the city towards the wall. And I was the Reuters correspondent, and I thought, what do I do, I can't not file, so I just filed what I'd seen — well, apparently, I woke up the whole of the Western world. What they found out, around dawn, by ringing up Moscow and saying, 'what the hell are you doing,' was that it was the rehearsal for the May Day parade!"

You can read the rest of the piece and listen to the interview via the below link:

http://www.npr.org/2015/10/17/449158992/frederick-forsyth-thrilling-in-real-life

You can also read my Crime Beat column on Frederick Forsyth via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2010/09/on-crime-thrillers-frederick-forsyth.html

Happy 107th Birthday To Ian Fleming, Creator Of James Bond

Happy 107th birthday to the late, great thriller writer Ian Fleming, creator of the iconic character James Bond. Fleming was born on this date in 1908.

You can read my Counterterrorism magazine piece on the history of Ian Fleming's World War II intelligence commando group, the 30 Assault Unit, via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2011/11/look-back-at-30-assault-unit-british.html

You can also read my Crime Beat column on the Ian Fleming and James Bond phenomenon via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2010/06/casino-royale-revisited-film-that.html

The King Kong Of The Thriller: The Phenomenal Output Of Edgar Wallace, Once The World’s Most Popular Author

Michael Moorcock at The Spectator offers a piece on a new book about the late thriller writer Edgar Wallace.

At the time of his death in 1932 Edgar Wallace had published some 200 books, 25 plays, 45 collections of short stories, several volumes of verse, countless newspaper and magazine articles, movie scripts, radio plays and more. His work was dictated, transcribed and sent directly to the publisher. In one year alone (1929) he wrote a dozen books. People joked about getting ‘the weekly Wallace’.

Despite their speed of creation, Wallace’s stories were, said The Spectator, written in plain, clear English and ‘read by everyone, from bishops to barmen’. His influence on the thriller genre was extensive, profound and continuous. He inspired a thousand imitators with The Four Just Men, Mr J.G. Reeder, Sanders of the River and Educated Evans. He wrote humour and thrillers, SF and reportage. With instincts for a good publicity stunt, he created a brand image: long cigarette holder, stetson, jodhpurs, riding boots.

A quarter of the English public read his books. One of his many publishers alone sold 30 million copies. He led an extravagant life, gambled heavily, bought race-horses and stood for Parliament. His generosity was famous. At his death he owed millions. His enormous debts were settled in a couple of years.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.spectator.co.uk/books/9424761/the-king-kong-of-the-thriller-the-phenomenal-output-of-edgar-wallace-once-the-worlds-most-popular-author/

How To Write Sex Scenes, By A Thriller Writer

Jon Stock, the author of the spy thriller Dead Spy Running, offers an amusing and interesting piece on how to write sex scenes for the British newspaper the Telegraph.

I’m still not sure how I came to write my one successful sex scene. Sexual encounters are a nightmare to write and rarely work. If you don’t believe me, take a brief look at the ten entries shortlisted for this year’s Bad Sex Awards. “Vertical cleft”, by any stretch of the filthy imagination, is not a great choice of words if you are trying to build up a head of erotic steam, but it didn’t stop Wilbur Smith, the bookies’ favourite. “The tips of her inner lips protruded shyly from the vertical cleft. The sweet dew of feminine arousal glistened upon them…”

As a fellow thriller writer, I’m not going to dwell on Smith’s literary shortcomings as some snobs have done. Highbrow writers are equally bad at sex scenes (Richard Flanagan, this year’s Booker prize winner, is on the list, too, writing about knicker elastic trenches…)
 

What concerns us here is the nitty gritty of writing these things. Do you have to get in the mood? Write them with your partner while on the job?
 

Sadly not. Like any other scene, they have to be worked on in the cold light of day, as you stare at an empty laptop screen and try to hit your daily word count. I did try once to pen a scene late at night, where the only criteria was whether it was turning me on, but the results were disastrous. It’s a bit like trying to write under the “creative” influence of alcohol. You race along, the words seemingly flowing like honey (steady), and then you read it back in the morning, cringe and delete all.    

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/11261177/How-to-write-sex-scenes-by-a-thriller-writer.html

You can also read the Telegraph's piece on the Bad Sex Prize via the below link:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookprizes/11225846/Booker-winner-Richard-Flanagan-nominated-for-2014-Bad-Sex-Prize.html 

A Look Back At Ian Fleming's Newspaper Obituaries From 50 Years Ago

As yesterday was the 50th anniversary of Ian Fleming's death, the James Bond web site MI6 offers a look back at two of his obituaries in the world's leading newspapers.

You can read the obits via the below link:

http://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/articles/chronicles_19640812_ian_fleming_dies?t=&s=&id=03728

Graham Greene's Final Days In Switzerland: Author Of Thrillers Found No Cuckoo Clocks

 

Roy Probert at swissinfo.ch offers a piece on Graham Greene's final days in Switzerland.

British writer Graham Greene came to Switzerland to live out his old age. His final resting place near Vevey is a far cry from the dangerous and exotic locations of his greatest works.

 

Greene died on April 3, 1991, in the village of Corseaux, just outside Vevey, after spending his last few months with companion Yvonne Cloetta in a modest flat overlooking Lake Geneva and the French Alps.

Today, his grave in the tiny cemetery in Corseaux is overlooked by those same mountains and the vineyards for which this region is famous.

The headstone, designed by the man responsible for Greene's Penguin book covers, is plain compared with the other graves in the cemetery. It simply says: Graham Greene 1904 – 1991.

"He would not have wanted anything ostentatious," says Greene's daughter, Caroline Bourget, who lives in Vevey.

It's a peaceful last resting place for a man who became renowned for travelling to and writing about some of the more exotic and dangerous places in the world – the Congo, Sierra Leone, Mexico and Cuba.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/culture/Author_of_thrillers_found_no_Swiss_cuckoo_clocks.html?cid=12832

Note: As a teenager I read all of Graham Greene's thrillers, which he called his "entertainments," and I later read his "serious" novels as well.

Although I don't subscribe to his worldview, I've enjoyed his books and I've reread many of them over the years.

While I was stationed on a Navy harbor tugboat at the U.S. nuclear submarine base at Holy Loch, Scotland in the mid-1970s, I faithfully watched a British TV series that adapted Greene's short stories.

The TV program was called Shades of Greene and the series led me to read Greene's wonderful short stories, such as The Invisible Japanese Gentlemen.

I still have many of Greene's Orange Penguin paperbacks that I bought in Scotland on a bookcase in my basement office/library.

Tonight On BBC America, "Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond

Tonight On BBC America is the first part of a four-part series on the creator of James Bond, Ian Fleming.

There’s no questioning the iconic status of the man they call 007, but before his thrilling adventures hit the page or screen, they were experienced first-hand by author-to-be, Ian Fleming. Stylish and explosive – Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond tells the fascinating story of the man whose own life and escapades were the inspiration for one of the most iconic figures in modern literature – James Bond.

The new original four-part drama stars Dominic Cooper (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) as Fleming, a charming and sophisticated maverick, whose pleasure-seeking life was turned around by WWII and led to the creation of the greatest spy the world has ever known. Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond premieres Wednesday, January 29, 10:00pm ET/PT as part of BBC AMERICA’s Dramaville.

You can read the rest of the piece and learn more about the series via the below link:

http://www.bbcamerica.com/fleming/about-the-show/

You can also read my Crime Beat column on Ian Fleming via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2010/06/casino-royale-revisited-film-that.html

And you can read my Counterterrorism magazine piece on Fleming's war-time experience as a naval intelligence officer via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2011/11/look-back-at-30-assault-unit-british.html

Note: As a Fleming aficionado since I was a teenager, I'm thankful that the BBC is offering a mini-series on the life of Ian Fleming. Fleming, a journalist, naval intelligence officer, world-traveler and thriller writer, led a fascinating life.

But, from I've read, the TV program spends a bit more time on Fleming's odd sexual practices than I'd care to see, and they fictionalize bits, such as his having fist fights with Nazis.

Also, Dominic Cooper looks nothing like Ian Fleming (Fleming's WWII photo appears above).

Back in the 1980s, Charles Dance, who does resemble Fleming, portrayed the author in a good film bio called Goldeneye. 

Thriller Writer Frederick Forsyth Honored At British Crime Writer's Association With Diamond Dagger Award

 

Thebookseller.com reports that the British Crime Writer's Association (CWA) announced at thriller writer Frederick Forysth will be honored at the group's annual awards ceremony.

Frederick Forsyth has been awarded the Crime Writers Association's Diamond Dagger award at the CWA's annual awards ceremony, which also saw the longlists for the Gold Dagger and Ian Fleming Steel Dagger revealed.

Forsyth was selected by his peers for the award, which recognises a significant and sustained contribution to crime fiction, with Peter James, chair of the CWA, declaring: “Frederick Forsyth is a hugely deserving recipient and The Day of the Jackal remains of the greatest thrillers of our times.”

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.thebookseller.com/news/forsyth-honoured-cwa-awards.html

You can also read my On Crime & Thrillers column on Frederick Forsyth via the below link:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2010/09/on-crime-thrillers-frederick-forsyth.html

Frederick Forsyth Wins The 2012 Diamond Dagger Award

The Crime Writers' Association released the below announcement today:

The CWA has today announced the 2012 winner of its prestigious Diamond Dagger award, with the honor going to thriller writer Frederick Forsyth.

Chair of the CWA Peter James said, “Frederick Forsyth is a hugely deserving recipient and The Day of the Jackal remains one of the greatest thrillers of our times. He has set a new standard of research-based authenticity with his writing, which has had a major influence both on my work and on many of my contemporaries in the crime and thriller field. We are very thrilled that he has accepted this award.”

Frederick Forsyth, former RAF pilot and investigative journalist, defined the modern thriller when he wrote The Day of The Jackal, with its lightning-paced storytelling, effortlessly cool reality and unique insider information. Since then he has written ten further bestselling novels, most recently, The Afghan. He lives in Hertfordshire, England.

The Diamond Dagger recipient is chosen each year by the CWA committee, from a shortlist nominated by the membership. Shortlisted authors must meet two essential criteria: first, their careers must be marked by sustained excellence, and second, they must have made a significant contribution to crime fiction published in the English language, whether originally or in translation. The award is made purely on merit without reference to age, gender or nationality. The Diamond Dagger will be presented to Frederick Forsyth at an award ceremony later this year.

Note: You can read my online On Crime & Thrillers column on Frederick Forsyth via the below link:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2010/09/on-crime-thrillers-frederick-forsyth.html