22 replies to this topic

[Captain Tightpants]

After being disappointed by CARTE BLANCHE, I started wondering: what would I do if Ian Fleming Publications approached me to write the next Bond novel? Since IFP probably won't be asking me to do so any time soon, I figured it's high time to get back into the writing game with my latest offering:

DEAD R I N G E R

When an assignment goes awry and James Bond is left fighting for his life, M has no choice but to place him on the inactive duty roster. Frustrated by his lack of progress in rehabilitation, Bond is given a chance to return to the field when an MI6 agent is found murdered in Hong Kong. Unconvinced that Bond is ready for active duty, M instead authorises him to work as a case officer. Forced to adjust to his new circumstances, Bond begins a chase that will lead him from the perilous slopes of the Himalayas to the mean streets of cartel-controlled Mexico in pursuit of a dangerous villain with the power to destroy the lives of millions.

Starring


Daniel Craig as James Bond
British secret agent with a licence to kill.


Chow Yun-Fat as Pheng "James" Yizhou
Chinese expatriate and one of the most powerful men in Hong Kong.


Penelope Cruz as Nieves St. Esprit
Mexican-born tequila baroness; wife of Joel St. Esprit.


Ralph Fiennes as Joel St. Esprit
American chemist and entrepeneur; husband of Nieves St. Esprit.


Javier Bardem as Beningo Saavedra y Urueña
Notorious Ecuadorian enforcer for the Colombian and Mexican drug cartels.


Anthony Stewart Head as Jason Ingrassia
Head of Station HK ("Spinifex"), the MI6 outpost in Hong Kong.


Christina Hendricks as Dr. Alice Hull
Psychiatrist assigned to Bond's case after his near-death experience.


with Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter
Bond's long-time friend and ally in the CIA.


and Judi Dench as M
Head of MI6 and director of the Double-Oh Section.

Okay, I'm a little stuck on who I'd have playing the role of James Pheng. I'm after a Chinese actor over the age of forty; closer to forty-five is better. Any suggestions?

[coco1997]

How about Mark Dacascos?



He's not 100% Chinese, but he definitely has an interesting look about him.

[Captain Tightpants]

A lot of Pheng's character hinges on his being Chinese, and of a certain age. It's not critically important that I have an actor in mind to play him; I know what he looks like in my mind's eye. It's just nice to have a face people can associate with the name.

I've also changed the name of Christina Hendricks' character. My fourth-grade teacher was a redhead named Veronica, and I hated her. I see no reason to inadvertently immortanlise her like that. So now she's Dr. Alice Hull instead of Dr. Veronica Hull.

[coco1997]

Not familiar with many Chinese actors. I know Dacascos is mostly Chinese, though, and he's the exact age you want the character to be.

[SamuelKevlar]

There's the always dependable Chow-Yun Fat. And Jet Li is getting up there in years.

Based on your title, though, I'm expecting Jeremy Irons twins as the villain. Or a Tony Blair impersonator.

[Captain Tightpants]

Chow Yun-Fat it is.

[Captain Tightpants]

I'll post the first chapter soon. I just need to finish off an assignment or two.



Also added Anthony Stewart Head to the cast when I realised I needed an extra character. Not as a Tony Blair impersonator ... but I think this picture shows he could pull it off if he had to.

[Captain Tightpants]

Chapter I, Dear One has been uploaded. Chapter II, A Stale Hell, will be coming soon.

[Captain Tightpants]

Chapter II uploaded ans pending approval.

[coco1997]

Good work so far, Captain.

[Captain Tightpants]

I'm going for a whole "Bond vs. zombies" scenario (though there are no zombies on the boat - you'll never guess what it is). It's not as atmospheric as I would like it to be, but given my track record of not finishing fan fictions, I decided to change tactics. Rather than get too hung up on the details - which inevitably leads to stories having no resemblance to what I had originally intended - I'm going to go by events and make sure I get them all in. Yes, you know where this one is going.

In writing under this new approach, I've already identified two weaknesses to my storytelling: first of all, I only ever seem to have conversations between two people at a time. I've never really tried having three or more. Secondly, I tend to write a description of everything and then all my dialogue and then another description; I don't really incorporate the two. Still, it's something to be mindful of as I keep going.

[Captain Tightpants]

Chapter III, Once Bitten has been submitted and is pending approval.

[Bryce (003)]

Fine stuff you've got going here. Quite enjoying it. Well done.

[Captain Tightpants]

Thanks, Bryce.

I'm really aiming for something that it feels like it goes somewhere, so you can get to the end, look back on everything that has happened and feel like you've been on an actual journey (of sorts). And I'm not just talking about the locations; I might have Africa, the Himalayas, Macau, Guanajuato and Aspen all planned, but it's easy to throw locations around. I want my audience to get to the end and feel like something, somewhere has changed.

And I bet nobody guessed the zombies would actually be cows. Hopefully that's the first of many twists.

[Jim]

Good fun, keep going. A Moo to a Kill. Most entertaining.

[Captain Tightpants]

Chapter IV, Twice Shy, has been submitted.

And uploaded, before I even posted this message.

[Captain Tightpants]

Part V, The Point of No Return has been submitted.

Yes, it's a little rushed. It is, after all, 1:30am here. But all the majot points are included.

[Captain Tightpants]

Hey guys,

Unfortunately, I've been taken ill. The kind of ill that lands you in hospital for a few days. I've had a bit of a respite, and the doctors think that a day or two of rest in my own home will do me some good. I'm going back in tomorrow for some more tests, and hipefully they'll be able to tell exactly which strain of my virus I have. Don't worry, it's nothing serious - it's just enough to pretty much sideline me from everything for some time. But unfortunately, DEAR RINGER has to go on hiatus. And since I'll be spending the foreseeable future in hospital, it probably won't be coming back. So I've decided that instead of simply letting this story die, I'll round it off. It won't be as detailed as it would have been, but this is a blow-by-blow account of the plot points I had planned out:

Spoiler

After the job off the coast of Africa, Bond is sent into rehabilitation as a part of standard operating procedure. He eventually convinces Alice Hull that he is fit for active duty and M assigns him to the case of David Murray Thackery, an inactive MI6 agent who is found dead in Hong Kong. Thackery's death bears all the hallmarks of a violent Mexican cartel enforcer, Beningo Saavedra, who kills with a power drill to the base of the skull.

Thackery was active in 1996, when the Chiense government flagged one Pheng Yizhou as a "security risk" for the handover of Hong Kong. In reality, Pheng was just a highly-successful businessman with connections to Falun Gong. Thackery was assigned to him to appease the Chinese, but never found anything on him. Nevertheless, Beijing claimed Pheng was a sexual deviant (he is actually impotent) and muscled him out of the proceedings. Pheng has found a loophole in Chinese law that enables him to keep trading under their noses, but he is limited to Hong Kong. All the Chinese can do is flag each of his transactions as suspicious. It is through one of these that Bond discovers Pheng paid off Saavedra.

M authorises Bond to take on the role of case handler. Because Thackery was so close to Pheng and Pheng was able to identify him as a spy (albeit an inactive one), Bond is only allowed to make contact with him once, and use the opportunity to find someone to turn as a field agent, because M is concenred Pheng will identify Bond. Bond poses as a rare book dealer and travels to Macau, where he makes contact with Pheng. Knowing about Pheng's business interests in the Himalayas, Bond concocts a story that attracts Pheng's attention, and he is invited on an expedition. Bond travels with Pheng into Bhutan on a hunting expedition. Pheng, a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicide, believes that his impotence can be cured by ingesting the powdered sexual organs of a mythical tiger, the blue tiger (so named for a grey coat that makes it look blue), which is believed to be extinct. While on the hunting trip, Bond meets Joel St. Esprit and his wife Nieves. Joel is an American businessman, scientific researcher and Pheng's partner; Nieves is the heir to a fortune in a Mexican tequila empire. Bond realises he can turn Nieves to spy on Pheng.

The hunting trip is unsuccessful; Pheng shoots at the blue tiger, but misses. The party splits up and Bond moves to Aspen, where he intends to make contact with Nieves again. Unfortunately, Nieves is killed in an unrelated event. The titular "dead ringer" is Luz, Nieves' twin sister who has been missing for eleven years and declared dead for the past three. She was meeting Nieves at the time her sister was killed. Bond manipulates Luz into taking Nieves' position while he investigates her sister's murder with the help of Felix Leiter, unaware that Luz is unstable.

Pheng's plot revolves around his exile from China. He is attempting to buy his way back into Beijing's good graces with the next generation of chemical weapon. Joel St. Esprit has a connection to a lake in Siberia is that effectively a primordial breeding ground; tectonic activity has left the bottom of the lake in the same condition as it was during the Jurassic age, with hot volcanic springs allowing microbial life to thrive. Searching for a way to reduce waste in their tequila operations, St. Esprit added the microbes to the rough offcuts from agave cactii (which are used in the production of tequila), and accidentally created an enzyme with bizarre properties when refined into a polymer: it causes water to thicken, not unlike jelly. Pheng intends to sell this weapon to Beijing, enabling him to return to his homeland. St. Esprit, however, has other ideas. He orders Saaverda to kill Pheng (drowning him in the thickened water), and plans to release the polymer in major Chinese cities as his time with Pheng has led him to believe China is a diseased organ and needs to be destroyed.

So yeah, that's the story.

[Dustin]

Get well soon, Tightpants!

[007jamesbond]

any chance you going to write a brand new story? or not at the moment?

[Captain Tightpants]

Not at the moment. But I'm happy to report that the tests came back as we expected them to be, which means I can now start getting better. The story, however, will have to wait.

[coco1997]

Glad to hear you're doing better, CT.

[volante]

Just wanted to complement you on Dead Ringer.

I loved the way the converstaion was handled between Bond and Tanner.
The story iscoming across, quick, and slick.
Thanks for brightening up an otherwise gloomy morning!