144 replies to this topic

[Robert Watts]

I never said I didn't read your work, or Fenna's, or Barbara's work- nor did I say I didn't enjoy them.

What I meant by the comment was that James Bond is a thriller character, and that many writers (usually of the female persuasion) have a slight habit of moving him into a more romantic situation (and yes you have thriller parts of your story too). I was trying to illustrate a point that often Bond is moved into situations where he seems slightly out of place.

I didn't mean to cause offense and I apologise if I did so.

I admit the Bond in my fan fiction is distant in his own waay from Fleming, probably in more dramatic ways then being a romanticised character. My Bond brushes his teeth, listens to Frank Sinatra and contemplates suicide over a whirlwind affair- by no means is he Fleming's Bond. So why my statement may have been misinterpreted (or more then likely poorly worded) it was more an observation.

I think we all- to some degree change Bond to fit our own narrative needs. And to be perfectly honest I don't think it is a bad thing.

Edited by Robert Watts, 19 April 2006 - 03:22 AM.

[TortillaFactory]

Sorry, didn't mean to imply you don't read work by females as you obviously have. I just think what you said rather trivialised the stories I work so hard on.

[Robert Watts]

No problem, my post was trivial and maybe even hypocritical to a degree.

As I said in my edit, I think we all change Bond to some degree- maybe to idealise him, maybe to make him even worse then Fleming wrote him. And for the most part I don't think it is a bad thing, I disagree with it when Bond goes around rambo and killing hundreds of people (see 'The Queen of SPECTRE Trilogy' on MI6 for an example of this) and having sex with every woman. But for the most part I think it is really good, and just demonstrates my opinion that the better end of the James Bond fan fiction circles (and almost everyone in this fan fiction section would fit in there at various points along the better end) are some of the most creative fan fiction authors- and would be best at developing their own characters.

[TortillaFactory]

Thank you for the explanation, Robert. I apologise if I have overreacted, but this is the first time I have felt blatantly trivialised because I'm a girl. I have always tried to be extremely aware of how men think when I am writing male characters, and the idea that it's all to no avail is a disconcerting one to say the least.

[TortillaFactory]

Between Brackets
Theme: (in parenthesis)
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Sometimes, it's what you don't say.

I trust no-one will be able to call this overly sentimental.

[Bryce (003)]

Now that's great!

It's almost a Haiku styled riddle.

*tips hat*

Nice.

[Robert Watts]

[Joyce Carrington]

Excellent!

(and I'm glad that title was put to good use )

[Lazenby880]

I liked that one TF. Very original. Could work, I think, as a sort of prelude to a Bond novel with a little tweaking.

Regarding thrillers, there is *nothing* that renders women incapable of writing them. Take Dorothy B. Hughes (great review of one of her books that I thoroughly recommend here), who wrote in the hard-boiled pulp scene that was generally dominated by men. Incidentally, it is Hughes who wrote the novel IN A LONELY PLACE that was adapted into the Humphrey Bogart picture.

Unfortunately, and I would agree with Mr Watts that it does *tend* to be women who do this, some transfer Bond into a genre where he just does not fit. This is probably due to the iconic nature of the character, as well as the fact that it is possible to (wrongly, in my view) extrapolate from certain Fleming passages or phrases characteristics that suit their agenda. Bond is not a romantic hero, and he therefore does not sit comfortably in the accompanying genre or attempts to write him as such.

I could bang on about this until the cows come home. Bond belongs in the thriller, and only in the thriller.

Edited by Lazenby880, 19 April 2006 - 07:10 PM.

[TortillaFactory]

That's fine, Laz. Personally I'd prefer to read Bond in almost anything but a thriller setting - infintitely more interesting, in my opinion, to watch a character outside of his element. This is where we disagree. I do resent the implication that I'm doing it because I'm a silly girl; BMB is certainly not your average love story anyway. You've made it pretty clear that you realise this, so I'm satisfied.

[Robert Watts]

Glad that debate is finally over.

[TortillaFactory]

A little GE thing - short one tonight, as I'm going mad with homework.

Janus
Theme: Strangers in the dark
Rating: PG
Blurb: I do it just to see the shiver of fear in his eyes.

[Joyce Carrington]

Oooh... so very true.

[TortillaFactory]

Solange
Theme: Into every young man's bedroom you gave it up
Rating: PG-13
Blurb: Of the hundreds, thousands, maybe tens of thousands of men and boys, he's the only one I really remember.

Based on a throwaway line in "From a View to a Kill."

[Robert Watts]

Nice- I actually had a similar idea that I've gradually working on. Coincidentally I was going to name her Solange as well- and have the Madam (and/or the brothel with 's on the end) being called Donatienne. Of course mine is set as it happens, Bond is 16- she is young- it is her first time working as a prostitute- which she had to do or starve etc etc. You know I 'dramatised' it (and it goes agaisnt what Pearson said but it is Pearson- thus we have the option to ignore it )

[Qwerty]

Terrific, as always, TF.

Amazing what a single line of Fleming's can inspire.

[TortillaFactory]

God, I can't STAND what Pearson did with that whole thing. Marthe de Brandt gives me the creeps.

I'd be interested to read your take on it. The name "Solange" appears only a few pages later in FAVTAK, I think, so it makes sense that you'd choose it.

ETA: Thanks, Qwert!

[TortillaFactory]

Cold Water
Theme: The rain my drink
Rating: PG
Blurb: Feel the rain on your skin, so much colder than blood.

Blah, blah...the emotional side of Crunch. I suppose I'm just a girl after all.

[Robert Watts]

God, I can't STAND what Pearson did with that whole thing. Marthe de Brandt gives me the creeps.

I'd be interested to read your take on it. The name "Solange" appears only a few pages later in FAVTAK, I think, so it makes sense that you'd choose it.

As does Donatienne- in fact if memory serves the line was something like 'I'd pay you to call you Donatienne or perhaps Solange, just for tonight'- (Or at least that is the idea it was saying)

I actually haven't worked on said story for some time now actually- much like my QOS styled story.

[Joyce Carrington]

That's girly?

*bursts out laughing*

Well done, TF.

[Robert Watts]

Cold Water
Theme: The rain my drink
Rating: PG
Blurb: Feel the rain on your skin, so much colder than blood.

Blah, blah...the emotional side of Crunch. I suppose I'm just a girl after all.

That is 'emotional' in an Amazon sort of way.

[TortillaFactory]

Queen and Country
Theme: Of cabbages and kings
Rating: PG-13
Blurb: "I'm a professional stranger," he said, smiling. He took a pull from his cigarette. "How can you be homesick if you don't have a home?"

Loosest interpretation of a theme EVAR.

[Joyce Carrington]

Pwetty.

[TortillaFactory]

I enjoyed Solange, so here's a followup.

Compliments of the House
Theme: Better be unpredictable
Rating: PG-15
Blurb:
"Twenty-one years, Felix." Bond squinted, somewhat blearily, at the sign. "I haven't been here in -"

[TortillaFactory]

Danse Macabre
Theme: Shall we dance?
Rating: PG-13
Blurb: It can take quite a while to die.

Blah, blah...stuff and things. Bond is a meanie after all. But for a good reason. Written mostly in the last 20 minutes before the deadline.

[Blofeld's Cat]

Anything X-rated, my Dear?

[TortillaFactory]

Anything X-rated, my Dear?

As they're all clearly marked, I'll assume the unspoken "Will there be":

No; I don't trust myself to do it right. If this was supposed to be a joke - ha ha, funny. Still no.

Even Bond needs his privacy.

[Joyce Carrington]

Nice work, TF, especially since you only did it in so little time.

[Blofeld's Cat]

Anything X-rated, my Dear?

As they're all clearly marked, I'll assume the unspoken "Will there be":

No; I don't trust myself to do it right. If this was supposed to be a joke - ha ha, funny. Still no.

Even Bond needs his privacy.

No, no joke as I'm an alley cat at heart.

[TortillaFactory]

An alley cat, eh?

I actually had considered something of the like last September; I did have a brief stint at writing smut for some Joaquin Phoenix fans a few years ago - not something of which I'm especially proud - and it was pretty well-recieved. (Bearing in mind, of course, that the competition was the worst purple prose I have ever read in my life. She actually used the word "purple." A lot.) I believe I could do it, but I'm not sure I'd really want to read it. There is an inevitable, pervasive vulnerability that is revealed when one portrays characters in flagrante, and I do have a certain respect for Bond.

Really; I do.

(Not to mention - one has reservations when it comes [hur] to a virgin writing about sex, but I do that anyway, just without being terribly explicit. To [mis?]quote Shadowlands, "you may ask - when was I ever in Madrid? The answer is never." "Personal experience isn't everything." Haven't killed anyone, either, but I do relish writing about that as well.)