CommanderBond.net

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Charlie Higson To Appear At Edinburgh Book Festival

[sub]Festival set for 12-28 August 2006[/sub]

'Blood Fever' With Charlie Higson

[sub]Higson at Edinburgh Book Festival[/sub]

As reported elsewhere on the site (http://commanderbond.net/article/3346), Charlie Higson is coming to Edinburgh in August.

I've bought my ticket for £3.50 and wondered if anyone else is planning a visit on the day?

Sunday 13 August, 1.30pm, Charlotte Square.

A commanderbond.net meetup seems a good idea if so...

Tickets can be purchased from the book festival website

Cheers,

Jon

In case anyone is planning a visit to this, I've added a thread over here.

Be good to meet a few of you for commanderbond.net meetup.

Cheers,

Jon

I've merged your topic into this one, King and Country.

Cool! Have fun King and Country, and be sure and give us a full report.

Cheers Qwerty - but just wondering how I can tell folks over in the 'Meetup' thread about the event?

J

Not quite sure as to what other thread you are referring to - I merged your one here in an effort to keep discussion on this Young Bond event collected together.

Please let me know if I'm totally missing something.

That's cool, I just thought some people over on the meetup thread might not see this one so wondered if I should have a message on there too?

But you're right about having too many threads the same

K&C

'Blood Fever' With Charlie Higson

[sub]Higson at Edinburgh Book Festival[/sub]

Still going to this, King and Country?

Many apologies to everyone for taking such an age to get back to you about the Higson event. Edinburgh at this time of year is like a madhouse - literally. I've been busy seeing shows and star-spotting - I was lucky enough to meet Brian Cox last night and get my photo taken with him!

You can't leave your home without seeing someone in facepaint or odd clothes (though my neighbours are like that most of the year, so I hardly notice the difference) and getting from one place to the next is made more difficult by hordes of tourists getting in the way. Don't get me wrong, it's a great place to be, just a bit...hectic.

So it was great to find a little bit of calm in Charlotte Square Gardens, home to the Edinburgh Book Festival. I arrived to find a lengthy queue for Mr Higson, with hundreds of kids lined up with their parents. Being a single chap myself, unencumbered by any King and Country Jnr's, I did feel a bit out-of-place...

But we were soon ushered into the huge tent in preparation for Charlie's arrival. After a gushing introduction from one of the staff, stating that his books were classics for both children and adults, Charlie was on the stage. Usually at these events there are two people on stage, one there to interview the guest. But Charlie was on his own, facing the crowd of expectant fans.

He started by giving a potted history of Bond, touching on the movies, the original novels and going right back to radio's Bob Holness and the TV Casino Royale's Barry Nelson. The first 15 minutes were spent on giving the background to his series, and he showed a real enthusiasm and in-depth knowledge for all things Bond. Great for the new fans who maybe only know the movies and Young Bond.

He asked for a show of hands from the crowd on who their favourite Bond was. Roger got about 4 hands, Pierce a good quarter and Sean the vast majority. Perhaps only fair in his home town.

Next he read an excerpt from Young Bond 3. This was very reminiscent of the safe-cracking scene from OHMSS. James has received a letter from the kidnapped schoolteacher, which has just been confiscated by the headmaster. Along with his schoolmates, he must infiltrate the teachers office, find the key for the desk and take a copy of the letter. All this takes place in a 10-minute period while a diversion is created outside the school.

It was good to hear Charlie read from his work, and the audience lapped it up. He mentioned that he still doesn't have a title for the book, and invited fans to suggest one via the website. Titles seem to be the biggest headache for his publishers. He mentioned that book 4 is currently being written, and takes place abroad. I think he mentioned Sardinia, certainly a hot location. He still plans to only write the 5 books, but there is now pressure to write more due to their success.

There was a comment about romantic scenes in the books, and he mentioned he tries to avoid these, as the young male readership don't respond well to them. A fan had mentioned they were OK as long as there was an explosion that distracted the characters before anything too soppy happened!

And a series of movies have been discussed. The plan is to get the kids reading the Young Bond's first, rather than going straight to the Big Screen - they think this would stop them from reading the novels. They want to encourage children reading as much as possible. He also knows he's going to be associated with the books for a long time to come, and is happy enough as long as he still enjoys them and the money keeps coming in!

I don't think there were any major news stories to come from the event, as he is very aware that any comment can be on the internet the next day.

Overall this was a superb hour in the company of a witty, enthusiastic man, who has obvious love for everything Bond. We're lucky to have such an ambassador for the character, as it would have been easy for the publishers to get in a well-respected hack for the job.

if you get a chance to hear Charlie talk, I'd urge you to go along - borrow the neighbours kids if you need to!

Next up is Sean Connery this Friday afternoon. I'll try to get something on the forum a bit faster this time...

K&C

Charlie read from Book 3!!!!

Coooool.

Sounds like a great time. One thing, I doubt he said Book 4 was set in Sardinia as that is where Blood Fever is set. Last we head Book 4 was set in Mexico and the Caribbean.

Thanks for the report King and Country. If you don't mind, I'm going to reprint it in it's entirety on my website.

Sounds like quite the event, King and Country! I would have loved to have been there for the Young Bond 3 reading.