Recently, Bow Ties are (Sometimes) Cool, the podcast I co-host, sat down to chat with the, frankly splendid Kim Sherwood, the acclaimed author behind the Double 0 series – the first official literary expansion of the James Bond universe.
To say I was excited is an understatement. Kim is an author who rightly drew praise long before her involvement with Bond, with her 2018 debut, Testament, nominated for a host of awards and winning both the Bath Novel Award and Harper’s Bazaar Big Book Award. Her ability to invoke intense emotional reactions in her readers, within the framework of intricately plotted and impeccably researched stories, makes coming to her books a genuine treat.
Born in Camden in 1989, Kim’s connection to fiction, creative writing and James Bond in particular has been life-long; the richness of her storytelling having been greatly influenced by her life and her family relationships, notably, as she explains to me, with her grandparents. To this day, Kim still writes at the same desk she used as a girl, when visiting her grandfather’s house; perhaps a small feature of a long writing journey, but one which I found especially beautiful and indicative of the personal connections and feelings that inhabit Kim’s stories.
Looking back now on the reception to Testament, it seems hard to imagine that we almost didn’t get to read it at all, but Kim assures me that this was the case. After the emotional journey of creating and writing the story, and the initial buzz of excitement sending it out to publishers and agents, Kim was met with the all too familiar authorial experience of radio silence. It can be a painful aspect of writing life when the work one pours one’s soul into is not met with quite the same enthusiasm by those to whom one sends it in the hopes of a publishing deal.
The temptation to allow that dent in confidence to deepen and to let self-doubt to take hold is difficult to resist, and Kim was no stranger to these feelings. When the time came for submissions to the Bath Novel Award to be made, Kim was almost certain she would not enter her manuscript, and it was encouragement from her partner that convinced her to do so only at almost the last possible moment. It was soon after that fateful click, however, that everything began to change, as Kim not only won the award, but could enjoy the satisfaction of seeing her words touch the hearts of a multitude of readers and reviewers, who responded with well-deserved praise.
Testament itself is perhaps not a ‘typical’ novel, if that descriptor is appropriate. In today’s publishing world, the temptation is often for identikit stories following a particular mould, with the emphasis on signing up what’s hot and what sells rather than, perhaps, what is fresh and new. Kim though, explains that she was able to write her first book with the freedom of the unsigned first-time novelist, who writes because they have to. The result was a story full of emotional resonance and a skilled depiction of loss, survival and inter-generational legacy, inspired by the closeness of her personal relationship with her grandmother, who survived the holocaust. It is an exceptional read.
I ask her about the closeness of that relationship and just how personal an experience writing the story was for her. This is not, a verbatim account of her grandmother’s life, for, as Kim explains, “that isn’t my story to tell.” Neither was the finished article necessarily what was in Kim’s mind when she first began to write it. Authors will keenly understand that while we might create and grow the story, the relationship between the words and the writer is symbiotic, and often, the story will tell us where it wants to be taken and how it wants us to take it there.
Kim’s experience in writing Testament reflected that evolution, and the duality of being at once, both traumatic and cathartic. “Writing is not therapy,” Kim points out. “It isn’t a substitute for seeking professional help. That said, we write because we have to, and it does allow us to work through the personal emotions and struggles we are going through when we do it.”
Sometimes, Kim expands, just as we may not know what conclusions we will reach as we write through those struggles, we don’t always know how the story will end.
Kim recounts an unsettling dream she experienced during the writing process, involving the metaphysical birthing of brutal historical truths, and while I understand why an editor might have tactfully suggested it not be included in the finished story (Kim insists that she, “really wanted to find a way to fit it into the book but my editor said no.”) it remains the perfect metaphor for the writing experience, particularly with such emotive subject matter as found in Testament. Writers sometimes flippantly refer to stories as our children, but writing a story, seeing it through to publication, holding the finished article in one’s hand, and once more going through the duality of pain and joy which the process encapsulates, makes the analogy apt, as Kim’s journey with her first book demonstrates.
Growth and evolution are a running theme of our chat, and this is no better demonstrated that when we talk about Kim’s 2023 release, A Wild & True Relation, a feminist historical fiction tale of pirates, smuggling and revenge. I’m intrigued that this story, was fourteen years in the writing, and am fascinated by Kim’s reflections on its journey.
Originally intended as her first novel, Kim began the book while a first-year creative writing student at university, born from the frustrations of sex and gender stereotypes in historical fiction, creating a character, Molly, with whom they could be challenged. For one reason and another, writing the book stalled and as priorities, pressures and life would have it, it wasn’t until the release of Testament that Kim felt moved to reopen the file. “Molly and the other character were still there, waiting for me,” Kim explains. No matter the intervening years, they demanded their story be told. Since she had last met them though, a whole slice of Kim’s life had been and gone, and she returned to the story with a new level of expertise, wisdom and the reputation of a best-selling author.
I ask whether, having lived with her so long, Molly’s story now sits on the shelf in her mind, or whether it continues to be a real and present inspiration. Kim is unsure, as although having a natural aversion to re-reading or reviewing her finished projects – an aversion I wholeheartedly share – this is a story and a character that have grown through life with her, and it’s possible that this is one she will never fully say goodbye to.
The finished book reflects the growth Kim herself had experienced since first sitting down to write it, and just as Testament had been, it was met on publication with widespread acclaim, not least from a writer Kim cites as one of the two most significant influences on her writing career.
When speaking of Hilary Mantel, it is obvious how much she, as a writer and a person, meant to Kim. From their first meeting at a writing workshop, the Booker Prize winning author of Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies was speaking at, the two had connected, Mantel crediting Kim with lighting up the room with her approach to the day’s session. Having kept in touch since that day, Hilary’s assessment of A Wild & True Relation as ‘Remarkable’ is a source of great and lasting pride for Kim. “We were email pen pals,” Kim gratefully reflects. Mantel sadly passed away in 2022 following complications from a stroke but she left an indelible imprint on the world of literature and on Kim personally, which, it is clear, will continue to influence her writing.
Our chat turns to her other literary inspirations, of which there are several, but before getting into the author of a certain secret agent, I ask whether Kim can acknowledge that she herself is now very much an inspiration, not just to those who read her books but to the students she encourages in her role as creative writing lecturer at the University of Edinburgh. As with so much of our chat, there is a duality in her answer, as Kim is both touched by the experience of people showing their appreciation of her words and her support, and also profoundly aware of the responsibility that goes with helping steer the next generation of creatives in an era where the arts are under sustained attack. I predict that many a future writing star will be looking back in gratitude at the support Kim so regularly provides.
I should mention at this point, just how approachable and easy to talk to Kim is. I am not a natural conversationalist. I am socially awkward to the point of hermitry and find meeting new people, particularly ones as in demand as Kim is today, horrendously nerve-wracking. Instantly though, Kim has me at ease with a warm smile and engaging answers, kindly referencing my own writing and sharing laughs throughout. “I’m a geek and proud,” Kim gleefully explains at one point – a lover of Bond, Doctor Who, Star Trek and the MCU and I quickly come to realise that she is, for want of a better phrase, one of us. Though rightly celebrated by the great and the good and in the midst of a publicity campaign ahead of the launch of a new Double 0 book, she has found time to chat with a small podcast with a limited reach because of a shared love for the genre and a commitment to mutual support. Kim is good people.
Inevitably, we turn to James Bond, via an indirect stop-off to talk about Kim’s adored grandfather, the late actor George Baker. As fans will know, George gave much loved performances in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and The Spy Who Love Me. The warmth of George’s memory lights up Kim’s face as she tells me about the first annual Sir Hilary Brey Day, which took place a few days earlier on the 1st April – her grandfather’s birthday. Organised by the Bond podcast and website Licence to Queer, the day was a fun occasion for fans to don tweed and raise money for the charity, Papyrus – Prevention of Young Suicide. It is a deserved and lasting tribute to a fine actor, a fine man and a much-loved grandfather.
Securely in Bondish territory now, we talk about how Double or Nothing, the first instalment of Kim’s Double 0 series came about, and I ask how the brief – a Bond book without Bond – was first pitched to her, and the memory brings a smile. The Fleming Estate, it transpired, justifiably impressed with Kim’s writing, and toying with the idea of an expansion to the Bond universe, made contact and invited her to develop some ideas as to what that might look like. For a life-long fan of 007 and Fleming’s books in particular, it was an opportunity not to be missed, and after convincing the Estate of her Bond fan credentials, via a parentally preserved school project, it became, Kim says, a literal dream come true. “Anyone can say they’re a Bond fan,” Kim elaborates, but a photocopy of a 14 year-old Kim’s essay extolling the virtues of the character were proof enough for the estate.
The dream though, did not come without challenges. Taking the first steps into an expanded universe, a concept oft mooted since the days of Wai Lin and Jinx but until now, never fleshed out, created another dualistic dilemma. As Kim explains, the joys of creating a new cast of Double 0 agents, who reflected the reality of post 9/11 espionage and the realities of modern Britain, would immediately be countered by the attention-drawing stature of Agent 007. The Bond character, Kim proposes, is like a star with his own gravitational field; no matter what bodies may be in its orbit, the attention will always be drawn to the shining centre. And Kim’s solution was as exciting as it was bold: remove the star.
Double or Nothing contains many of the staples, fans of the books and films have come to expect; action, romance, a contemporaneous plot and a spectacularly named villain all play their part. This is very much a story that takes place in Bond’s world, but in Bond’s place are Kim’s new trio of 00s: Johanna Harwood, Joseph Dryden and Sid Bashir (you have got to love the DS9 reference). Each character’s background is meticulously defined. Their personal challenges and motivations, along with their interactions and relationships with the missing Commander are believable and real. Timothy Dalton, when playing Bond, would reflect on Fleming’s intent that 007 be an ordinary man to whom extraordinary things happened, and the new 00s feel cut from the same cloth. We at once buy these characters as capable operatives in Bond’s world.
Kim tells me her favourite Fleming story is From Russia with Love, notable for being sans-Bond for its opening third, with the story told from the point of view of SMERSH. This, and notoriously Bonde-lite The Spy Who Loved Me were stories Kim channelled when plotting her tale, and, for me, it is one of the great triumphs of the story that we are not expecting, or even wanting, Bond to turn up in the final act to save the day. The search for him is a constant theme, but he is never the King over the Water. By getting him out of the way, Kim expertly succeeds in dragging our attention away from the star and onto her new characters and truly taking advantage of the possibilities an expanded universe affords.
We return to the intriguing opening of From Russia with Love, and Kim highlights Fleming’s ability to scrutinise and find fault with his own class and view of the world, as he opens that story with a critique of how the Western powers were viewed by the Soviets. Even as far back as Casino Royale, Kim muses, Fleming noted, almost fatalistically, that men like him with his world view would soon fade away. These are notions Kim skilfully explores with her Double 0s, who wrestle with the concept of being granted licence to kill, and whether ‘my country right or wrong’ remains a defendable principle, particularly in the case of one of the trio, whom, we soon learn, is a wounded veteran of the Afghanistan conflict. Her trio, she light-heartedly suggests, is an inverse of the Bondian view of the world. “They’re like a socialist cooperative,” she grins, as opposed to the post-colonial capitalist Fleming wrote of.
Expanding on her point, Kim reflects that while removing Bond from the narrative perhaps made her modernising touches to the world of MI6 more natural, the character and the world he represents has always shifted and evolved to mirror the changes around him. If Fleming was a man aware of his own flaws and limitations, Bond is too, but he -and those steering his franchise – possess the skill of adaptation. Just as a writer grows and evolves, so too has Bond, and this is no better demonstrated than with the creation of the expanded universe Kim now helms. All manner of media franchises, from comic book characters to Time Lords, now exist in multiple, overlapping media, replete with intertwining threads and easter eggs catering for their appreciative and seemingly insatiable fan bases. Kim points to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as perhaps the finest example of mulitversial fiction. “It’s been so good and so consistent over such a long period,” she enthuses, adding that it shows no signs of stopping. With the benchmark set, she is as excited as any fan to see which directions the expansion of Bond might go.
A Spy Like Me, the follow up to Double or Nothing, released on April 25th with readers on tenterhooks to find out what happens next to the new Double 0’s. I don’t seek previews of the plot but I’m curious how Kim found the process of writing a sequel, especially to something as well received as her first Bond venture. The difference was emphatic, Kim explains, likening the writing of Double or Nothing to her journey with Testament. Just as then, she wrote with a debutante’s fearlessness, her first Double 0 was written largely in the solitude of the Covid lockdown, leaving her, unannounced and un-pestered to write from the heart. The fanfare that greeted her announcement as the new Bond author has put paid to any such freedoms now, Kim recounting how her phone and social media, “just kept pinging,” as soon as the news dropped. In the media deluge that followed, Kim grew conscious to avoid too many interactions with those who insist a particular thread be followed, and those who object to the notion of a woman writing Bond.
I ask her about some of those reactions from the more unpleasant corners of the internet and the Righter leaning press. Kim won’t allow herself to become too concerned with them and happily points out that the love she has experienced from the fan community is more than enough to counter any vociferous malcontents. She had always loved Bond, Kim explains, but until now, hadn’t felt as though she belonged to any particular fandom community, and being so now is the icing on the cake. At its best, Kim believes, the community is a safe and welcoming place where fans, “can come together and do great things.”
I have to ask, as we start to wrap up, the geeky question that has been lurking at the back of my head since the start of our chat: who does she see in her mind when writing Bond? A wry smile suggests I won’t get a definitive answer, but Kim’s response does make perfect sense – the answer is, all of them. Depending on the reference, the scenario or the dialogue, a different Bond will answer the call. “Roger’s smile, Sean’s panther-like walk, Timothy’s intensity, Daniel’s brutality,” muses Kim, and yes, “even George’s frills,” will all play their part in the creative process. More often though, it’s the illustrated Bond of yesteryear, “a comma of black hair across his forehead,” who sticks in Kim’s mind.
With the arc for Kim’s Double 0s set to conclude with her third instalment, I ask if Bond is something she would like to return to throughout her career, given what I can only expect is its all-consuming nature. An exhausted laugh follows from Kim, who, having just finished writing that third book is not exactly desperate to begin another immediately. Nobody can say right now what might happen in the future but Kim’s admiration and enjoyment of her role in the Bond legend is obvious to all and written into every page of her books. Whether there will be one more, five more or twenty more Bond books from her pen, wherever the expanded universe she has ushered in may go in years to come, and however many boundaries it might push, it will have Kim Sherwood’s stories to thank.
I’m left, as we say cheerio, to reflect on how perfect a writer Kim is to steer the growing universe of Fleming’s creation. The depth of her characters and the intricacies of her plot are, of course, an enormous attraction, but Kim also, quite simply ‘gets’ both Bond and the people who want to read about his world. To borrow Kim’s own analogy, she is a shining authorial star and, reader, when you open her books, your attention will be, inescapably, commanded.
Bow Ties are (sometimes) Cool – Kim Sherwood
