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Tag: Steve Cole

Interview: Young Bond Author, Steve Cole

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Meet Young Bond author Steve Cole, as he shares his experience writing the series and being part of the 007 universe.

How did you choose the title for your last novel, Red Nemesis?

Lurking somewhere between inspiration and desperation is the titling department of my mind! For the synopsis it was named On Moscow’s Orders as a counterpoint to Charlie Higson’s final Young Bond, By Royal Command. Then for the first draft it was called Dance With Death, which ultimately felt a bit too generic. Fleming’s Bond titles have a wonderful, tantalising quality to them, you want to know what they’re about. I made a list of possible titles and Red Nemesis really seemed to sum it up, the idea of how importantly and dangerously the Soviet Union will figure in Bond’s life. It also syllabically matches book three, Strike Lightning, just as Heads You Die matches Shoot to Kill. So that appealed to the nerd in me.

Book cover for Red Nemesis, a Young Bond book by Steve Cole.

Red Nemesis has a grimly dramatic Russian edge, was this a homage to From Russia with Love or were there other points of inspiration for this direction?

From Russia With Love is my second favourite 007 novel (after On Her Majesty’s Secret Service), and I thought it would be fun to get Bond to Russia, himself. Also, of course, it’s the last book of my arc and I wanted an iconic and suitably dangerous location. You don’t have Moscow as a setting second or third in the cycle; it’s the big one and I always planned it as a location for the conclusion. Stalin’s Russia looms in the modern imagination as a truly horrifying place, so to throw young James into its jaws ups the stakes.

Why did you decide to delve into some of the sadder parts of Bond’s past – particularly the death of his mother and father when he was eleven years old?

When you have a character as magnetic as James Bond I think you want to know what’s shaped him in life. The death of his parents obviously affected Bond deeply, and my first thought when plotting was to have someone exploit that incident to their own advantage. As Red Nemesis is the last of my Young Bonds I wanted to push James a little further towards the adult world of espionage and spy-play that lays before him. What better way to pull him into that world than the adults now missing from his life? 

This book provides Bond with the chance to deal with his father’s unfinished business. Anya, his ally in Moscow, finds herself in a similar position; so, the influences of fathers and fatherlands are key themes and add a bit of personal weight to the story.

Mimic is a wonderfully creepy villain and one of our favourites in all of the Young Bond books – what was your inspiration?

I actually conceived a Mimic-like character when planning Heads You Die, though ultimately he didn’t quite fit into the villains’ set up: there wasn’t enough for him to do. I didn’t forget him though. He was nearly a bodyguard in Strike Lightning too! It just seemed very creepy to have someone who could impersonate anyone, particularly when communication was so much more primitive – that voice on the crackling telephone line or the wireless broadcast, is it really who you think it is? That person crying for help, are you sure it’s them? So for my final book, I made his talents – both verbal and physical – more integral.

Book cover for Strike Lightning, a Young Bond book by Steve Cole.

It feels like you had great fun coming up with the clues for James to follow – how did you think of them and was it as enjoyable as it comes across?

It can be tricky, when setting a cryptic puzzle for your hero, to know just how devious to be! It’s not really any fun unless you can allow your reader enough clues to try to work it out themselves. You don’t want to make things too easy but the puzzle can’t be too contrived either. The challenge was to make the clues personal to James, so that in the end he is the only one who can really work things out. But no one wants the hero to solve things too early, so I tried to set things up so that even when James has figured out one cryptic clue, it leads to another mystery.

How do you feel about your time with Young Bond?

The time seems to have zipped past in a patter of nervous heartbeats. I’ve so enjoyed my time with Bond: I’ve worked with so many lovely people, heard from so many nice 007 fans and visited so many cool places over the course of these four novels. It’s been a challenge like no other. I’ve cared passionately about it, I’ve given it my best and I shall miss it. But it’s part of a writer’s brief to reinvent their job as the years push onward.

Who has been your favourite Young Bond character to write about?

Discounting Bond himself, I suppose I enjoyed writing about James’s friend, Hugo, in Shoot to Kill and particularly Heads You Die. He brings a different perspective to the storytelling and reveals a different side of James – I enjoyed teaming them up. Kitty Drift from Strike Lightning is a favourite. Wonderfully straightforward, she wears her heart a little self-consciously on her sleeve. She’s resourceful and witty and passionate about what she does.

Kitty Drift is a character from Strike Lightning, part of the Young Bond book series. Kitty is shown here as a trainspotting young girl at the rail station, with binoculars and red bobbed hair and glasses.

Which of your Young Bond adventures have you enjoy writing the most?

I can’t really single one out as I enjoyed each in different ways. But I really had fun going full throttle with Red Nemesis, where the stakes are perhaps their highest and James is given frightening glimpses of both his father’s past and his own future. Being able to write scenes that touch at the heart of a character like Bond is a great privilege.

What other projects are you pursuing and what would you like to achieve next?

I think like most writers, parts of my head are always pursuing other projects without permission! I’ll see what they come up with. I am currently thinking of some standalone projects but love series fiction too; you’re not just writing a book, you’re making a continuing world that readers can revisit, time and again. I always used to be known as the Astrosaurs guy, and I guess now I’m known as the new Young Bond guy, so I’m happy to wait and see what the next book label will be.

Find out more about Steve Cole here.

Interview: Artist, Kevin Walker

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In 2005, Kevin Walker was commissioned to draw the character of a 13-year-old James Bond for Charlie Higson’s first Young Bond adventure, SilverFin. He went on to illustrate a graphic novel of SilverFin in 2008 and cover art for the Young Bond books in the USA. We catch up with the British comic book artist to talk about his process and experiences in the Young Bond world.

Have you always been a James Bond fan? 

Absolutely, Bond is one of those iconic characters, you can’t miss. I came to the novels quite late, but I certainly watched all the movies from a young age. Young Bond was my chance to become a fairly prominent part of the whole James Bond universe.

Which is your favourite Young Bond book?

My favourite of the series is Charlie Higson’s Double or Die. I love the whole setting, with the analytical engine and the communist enemy, the whole feel of it being like one long chase in grim weather. It’s the one where James trashes his Aunt Charmian’s Bentley.

Where did you get your inspiration for the James Bond Origin comic covers?

I can’t take all the credit for that. I was asked to come up with Bond pin-ups that were reminiscent of WWII propaganda posters, and I didn’t want to go too close because the image still has to work as a cover. That’s how I came up with the idea of using the same formal layout design on each illustration.

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What’s your process for creating a cover and how does it differ to illustrating comic strips?

It’s actually the same process: rough sketches, finished pencils, inks and colours, with consultation in between each step. The difference is you don’t have to worry about continuity and narrative flow. You’re trying to tell a story in a single image. You can see the evolution of a piece of cover art here.

Three images showing the evolution of a piece of comic book cover art by Kev Walker. The pictures show a young man in WW2 London on rubble.

Which Young Bond action scene did you most enjoy illustrating? 

It’s where James confronts Mimic in the slum apartment, from Steve Cole’s Red Nemesis.

Where do you work?

I have a converted attic where I’ve been working for the last 10 years. A comfy chair and a table pitched at just the right angle, good lighting, a fan in summer and a heater in winter. I used to be able to work with music, but now I can’t. Any repetitive beat and I stop working and start listening to the music instead. I stream a lot of stuff – documentaries, any weird drama that I can listen to in the background while I work.

 Who inspired you to become and artist? 

The ones that made me want to become an artist in the first place were people like Ralph McQuarrie, Chris Foss, just masses of influences from all over the place. When you realise, as a teenager, that there are plenty of people making a living at it, you have to be single-minded, stubborn and a bit selfish to focus on doing it, despite all the naysayers that tell you you’ll never get a job in art… like my art teachers when I was 12 (and I have that in writing).

What advice would you give to anyone wanting to become a full-time artist?

The trick is to keep doing the things that make you happy, always keep looking, and don’t be afraid to try new things.

 Kev is known for his work on 2000AD and Warhammer comics, Marvel and Magic: The Gathering. Find out more here.

 

Interview: Audio Book Narrator, Nathaniel Parker

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Join us as we delve into the world of audiobooks with TV, stage and voice actor, Nathaniel Parker, narrator of all nine Young Bond books.

Do you remember your first experience with James Bond?

It was wonderfully exciting. I think my first experience was at the Kensington Odeon. I thought it was Goldfinger, but I would have only been two years old, so I think it was probably You Only Live Twice. It felt so grand, with the audience standing and singing the national anthem, guided by an organist on the stage in front of the screen, before the curtain up. Such a glamorous introduction. I was hooked.

Illustration of James Bond, from the young Bond book series. James is shown in his Eton school uniform as a young man.

How did you find your voice for Young Bond?

Well, obviously, I look to my own voice for James himself because I have always cherished the thought of playing him! This is the biggest buzz of all you see, pretending to be James Bond. The voices are great fun to find, but I will admit to using some old Bond villains from the films as a basis for some of them – Charles Gray, for instance. Such fun to do. I worked with him years ago and his marvellous gravelly voice with a side helping of evil is wonderfully adaptable.

I do look to include as much variety as possible, but perhaps that’s only in my head. I can usually picture the character and fit a voice to that. Sometimes, like in Strike Lightning, I am told quite clearly by the author. That always helps. Take a listen.

Illustration of James Bond from the Young Bond book series. James is shown here in his striped school blazer as a young man.

How does Bond change on the journey from SilverFin to Strike Lightning?

He definitely changes. He has to grow up fast. One of the most intriguing parts of the process is seeing how he learns various death-defying talents and how they progress into the grown up version we see in the later books. There’s a little less naivety and he accepts the thrill of the moment as a bit of a drug. What is unchanging is his reliance on justice and his ‘fight for right’.

What is your most memorable Young Bond moment?

I think it was in Hurricane Gold, when Bond has to get through an obstacle course and there are alligators and more waiting to snap him if he falls – reminiscent of Live and Let Die. I think I generally enjoy the pace as it all builds up to the denouement. Strangely for me, I make slightly fewer mistakes at pace. I am slightly dyslexic, so it can be a wee bit tortuous for the engineer.

Can you tell us more about the process of recording audiobooks?

One of the joys about audiobooks that has not been afforded to me as an actor on stage or screen, is the opportunity to do my voices. I have always loved imitating others and finding voices and accents, and this is the perfect platform. Some books, like the Artemis Fowl series I used to do, actually have made up creatures, so finding voices for them is terrific fun. As for performance, it is relentless. Nowhere else do you sit in a tiny room for roughly eight hours a day trying to keep up the pace and passion that in turn keeps the audience listening. The studios themselves often get hot and then you put on the air-con and then your voice dries up, so it’s a delicate balance, and you need to get on quickly and trustingly with your producer and engineer through the window.

Which are your favourite characters to bring to life?

Baddies, definitely.

And finally, if you were to feature in a Young Bond novel, would you play a heroic ally, or a scheming villain?

Well, to be honest the heroic allies don’t get much of a look in. They’re there a lot, but you only really want to know what’s happening to James Bond himself, and that is usually down to the villain. So baddie for me.

Find out more about Nathaniel Parker here.