Okay, I admit it. I’m a
James Bond geek. As a teen I read most of Ian Fleming’s books and then saw the
movies. I adored the danger, the thrill of a complicated plot, the
international action, and even the over-the-top chase scenes. Once in college,
I decided to join the CIA, majoring in Political Science and Russian
Language and going all the way through four years of the interview process, including taking a tour of the site, meeting my prospective boss in the
Psychological Profiling Unit, and taking a lengthy lie detector test. (By the
way, did you know that the CIA cafeteria at Langley has two sides to it: one
side for the ordinary agents and one side for the covert agents? I kid you
not!!) At the very last moment, however, I changed my mind, opting instead for
a less restrictive career in international journalism. But my love for all
things spy and Bond remained.
So when I began to write a
new series several years ago, I decided to do it by turning the James Bond
concept on its head. I would, therefore, create an action/adventure character (Lexi Carmichael) who would be an antithesis to 007. She would be plain, lacking in social skills, and a complete fashion disaster. Instead of using her debonair
charm and good looks to save the day, she’d use her brain. A super-charged
geek brain. To help her out I’d pair her with a set of esoteric genius geek twins
to get her through the crisis (as opposed to Q). Her best friend would be the Bond-girl-type and would help Lexi navigate the tricky waters of dating,
socializing, and finding a decent bathing suit. Yet I’d still give Lexi a geeky obsession
with all things Bond, leading to many humorous moments in the series.
The newest release in the Lexi
Carmichael series, NO
MONEY DOWN, came out on Monday. Here’s the back cover blurb:
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Me and the legendary Zimmerman twins--it's a friendship made in geek heaven. And it all started back when I worked for the NSA...
My best friend Basia dragged me to the beach for her idea of a vacation. All those annoying people, sand in embarrassing places--not exactly R & R for a girl who doesn't like the sun, the ocean or bathing suits. I couldn't wait to get back to work.
But things started looking up when I ran into Elvis and Xavier Zimmerman. We discovered we had a lot in common: gaming, anchovies, hacking. After that, the vacation was perfect--until I accidentally broke some poor guy's fingers. Then Broken-Fingered Guy disappeared, and things got really dicey. With the Secret Service and a bunch of thugs suddenly after me, all I wanted was to solve the mystery and enjoy what was left of my vacation--preferably alive.
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I’m often asked whether I have a favorite Bond actor and which of the books are my favorite. I do, but I’m going to wait and see what's the consensus here. So, who is it for you? Connery, Moore, Craig, Dalton, Lazenby, or Brosnan? Anyone have a favorite Bond book, too?
