4 replies to this topic

[Mr Twilight]

John Gardner R.I.P.
Just re-reading the Gardner books (Role of Honour for the moment) and I started wondering. I don't know how Gardner worked, how he did with his ideas, if he kept a notebook as Fleming did. If so I'm very curious about whats hidden from us. Any Bond material maybe? He stated in some interview that he hadn't any unpublished (Bond) material but why would he tell. I know he had to re-write some book (don't remember which one) and what happened to the original plot? Maybe he kept it in case of re-using. Could it be left in his drawer, and does it hide more than that?

[Single-O-Seven]

I seem to recall reading that he had to re-write much of Role of Honour, especially the gaming scenes. Originally the game was to be played on a computer, but NSNA displayed a similar computerised war game when it was released, and Gardner was told to go back and change what he'd written.

[doublenoughtspy]

I'm not sure how he kept notes, but his Licence Renewed draft was typewritten, and then at some point he switched to computers in the early 80s (the Armchair Detective interview shows him with an Apple ][).

I'd love to have his original disks.

There are rejected Gardner outlines in the IFP archives. Scorpious in particular had numerous proposals before he came up with one they liked.

[Qwerty]

There are rejected Gardner outlines in the IFP archives. Scorpious in particular had numerous proposals before he came up with one they liked.

Hadn't heard of that before. Would love to get a look at these!

[Double-Oh Agent]

There are rejected Gardner outlines in the IFP archives. Scorpious in particular had numerous proposals before he came up with one they liked.

Hadn't heard of that before. Would love to get a look at these!

Yeah, it would be interesting to read. Still I like what Gardner wound up using. It's a very timely scenario for nowadays.