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Kim Sherwood's A Spy Like Me had its official launch on Saturday 27th April at Dukes Hotel in London.

The event was a collaboration between 007GB - The British James Bond Fan Club, Ian Fleming Publications Limited and Harper Collins. It was my pleasure to be not only an organiser but also the emcee for the evening. The centrepiece of the event was a conversation between Kim and me with a follow-up Q&A. This is a recording of that. I hope you enjoy it.

More about the book

A Spy Like Me is the second novel in the Double O trilogy, the follow-up to the critically acclaimed Double or Nothing. A Spy Like Me is even more tense than its predecessor. It’s both an addictively readable thriller and a work of great Literature.

How Kim achieved such a magnificent feat was explored at the launch, with David Lowbridge-Ellis MBE hosting the evening, conversing with Kim and taking questions from the audience.

Check out David's review of the book here: https://www.licencetoqueer.com/blog/book-review-a-spy-like-me

Watch David and Kim discussing other aspects of the novel in this series of Classified Chats:

https://www.licencetoqueer.com/blog/classified-chats-with-kim-sherwood

More about the launch event

The launch was a collaboration between 007GB - The British James Bond Fan Club, Ian Fleming Publications Limited and Harper Collins – the first time anything like this has happened.

We chose to have it at Dukes Hotel for reasons obvious to any Fleming fan; it’s practically a site of pilgrimage for us (Bond’s creator loved to drink at the sensational bar) and it has long associations with the character of 007.

Compared with a regular book launch, there was a more intimate, familial atmosphere. This was something we had planned for as soon as we were asked by Ian Fleming Publications and Harper Collins to collaborate with them. It’s unusual to have a book launch on a weekend, but having it on a Saturday meant it could be a more relaxed and convivial affair. It also meant more members from across the country could make it to London for the event. Some of our overseas members were also able to attend and it was lovely to have them there.

The evening began with a sumptuous wine reception and continued long after the official finish time. Representatives from the Fleming family, Ian Fleming Publications and Harper Collins mingled with club members, Kim’s family and invited guests. Fellow Bond author Charlie Higson was also in attendance; he asked a deliciously tongue in cheek question about the third book, which will be released in 2025. You can hear this - and all of the other questions - in this podcast.

On their most recent trip to Tokyo, David and Antony really didn’t expect to find themselves in a lesbian bar themed around James Bond. Nor could they quite believe it when the owner herself was up for being interviewed about her Bond fandom and how ‘women only’ carries a different meaning in Japanese culture.

This interview was originally included in a podcast covering our whole trip to Japan, which you can find here:

https://www.licencetoqueer.com/blog/welcome-to-japan

Well, they can't all be winners, eh?

Antony and David dive into the second Warren Ellis/Jason Masters' "caper" Eidolon, which deals with dirty money and even dirtier duties as James and Tanner, er, torture a suspect by removing his skin (?!) to prevent the rise of a neo-SPECTRE.

Listen to what the couple thought, along with thoughts from LTQ listener, on 2016's Eidolon from Dynamite Entertainment.

This episode is also available as a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T0oz1O9yjU

Award-winning Bond author Kim Sherwood and Licence to Queer's David Lowbridge-Ellis sit down to watch together the Bond film appearances of Kim's grandfather, George Baker - the man who Fleming wanted to play Bond.

More than a decade after his passing, George remains a household name in the UK, immediately familiar to generations of film and TV viewers - especially Bond fans. Although his screen time in the Bond series is relatively svelte, he leaves a lasting impression in two very different roles: the no-nonsense Captain Benson in The Spy Who Loved Me and the comically fusty brass-rubbing genealogist Sir Hilary Bray in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Which of these roles was closest to the real George? Kim shares her unique insights.

In On Her Majesty's Secret Service, George Baker also revoiced George Lazenby for around a third of the film. Baker himself said he found dubbing Lazenby "extraordinary", not least of all because he would have played James Bond himself if Ian Fleming had got his own way. Kim and David explore in detail how George almost became Bond and also the lesser known parts of his legacy: how he was not just an actor but a poet and award-winning playwright; how he was a British icon who was actually born in Bulgaria (and he could still speak the language until his final days); how he might have been a spy using his acting roles as cover!; how he earned a reputation as a ladies' man while being someone who was very vocal towards any institution which discriminated against women (this film contains some strong language!). And of course, Kim shares how much of an influence George had - and continues to have - on her own life and work.

As usual with Kim and David, the chat ranges far and wide. Expect discussion of:

- The merits of DVD menus

- The complexities of keeping the British end up

- Tweed (See: #SirHilaryBrayDay)

- Accents! Accents! Accents! (And more accents!)



And: an accidental recreation of Lethal Weapon.

Utilising the Licence to Queer queer view system (Bond, Allies, Girls, Villains, Camp), Antony and David tackle the first in Dynamite Entertainment's long line of James Bond comic books:

Vargr by Warren Ellis and Jason Masters from late 2015.

We're launching a new mini-series on the Licence to Queer podcast feed and one which is going to be led by Antony Lowbridge-Ellis, David's (better) half.

In this introductory episode, Antony, a life-long fan of the medium of comic books (see his X-Men podcast X-Nation) gives a bit of background on this new Licence to Queer project where Antony and David will review each arc, in order, of the James Bond comic books being published by Dynamite Entertainment.

Before we get to Episode 001 (Warren Ellis' and Jason Masters' 2015/16 reboot "Vargr"), Antony explains in Episode 000 the history of James Bond on the comic book page, detailing how the "funny book" version pre-dates the cinematic Bond by almost four years.