RARA-AVIS: Re: James Bond

Ted White (tedwhite@compusnet.com)
Sat, 30 Jan 1999 15:53:30 -0500 I've been so busy that I let the last twenty-odd Digests pile up
unread, and I just finished reading them in one swell foop. Lots of
great stuff -- on Iceberg Slim, Chandler, et al -- but the current
discussion of Bond vs. Helm prompts me to note something that has yet
to be brought up: Fleming tried to kill the Bond series with FROM
RUSSIA WITH LOVE. Indeed, James Bond *dies* on the last page of that
book. He is brought back to life (unconvincingly, I think) for
DOCTOR NO -- the first of the outrageous, over-the-top Bond books.
believe they were written purely for money and most likely with some
contempt for the presumed readership.

Someone was asking about Frank McAuliffe. I believe I explicated on
his work here only a few months ago -- has Rara Avis archives to be
referred to so that we needn't endlessly repeat information here?

My career as a mystery writer lasted approximately six months. In
that time I wrote a novel, the beginning of a second, and five shorts,
all but one still seeking homes, and two agents (one a putative
friend) have refused to represent me. Now I'm again gainfully
employed, writing 3,000 to 4,000 words a day for an internet site, and
I'm not sure when I'll get back to Writing again. I miss it
already. But a steady paycheck is appealing. (If anyone is
interested in reading the novel, contact me off-list. I'm told it's
"fast-moving" but "old-fashioned.") What a shame that now that I
could write for it, the old Gold Medal line is gone....

--Ted White

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