Raymond Benson Chat

Mon Apr 24 18:05:10 2000 icebreaker: hello everyone we are just about ready to begin I`d like to thank everyone for coming out tonight
i`m sure we`ll have a few late people drop in like we always do a transcript of this chat will be posted later for reference I`d also like to thank Raymond for being gracious enough to be our special guest tonight

Mon Apr 24 18:06:35 2000 rbenson {action: } grins evilly.

Mon Apr 24 18:06:52 2000 icebreaker: and we will start off tonights chat by asking him to give us just a brief background on his life and how he got to the point of writing the novels-end

Mon Apr 24 18:07:23 2000 rbenson {public msg} Hi everyone! Thanks for having me here Michael Background on my life? That could take a while… 🙂 Suffice it to say that I`ve always been in the arts studied theatre in school, majored in directing in college, spent over a decade in New York City directing plays off-off and off-Broadway, composing music…then fell into writing around the same time I got into games I wrote The James Bond Bedside Companion in the early 80s and also became a computer game designer. I did that up until 1996, when Glidrose asked me to take over from John Gardner out of the blue (they had liked the Bedside Companion and we had kept in touch) so I`ve been writing Bond novels since! 🙂 (end)

Mon Apr 24 18:09:58 2000 icebreaker {public msg} First, let`s talk about Doubleshot. Who`s in it? What`s it about? If you are a new fan who has not read your prior work, can they pick it up right away and understand what`s going on?

Mon Apr 24 18:10:24 2000 rbenson {public msg} Sure, all the novels are built such that anyone can read one without having read previous ones…… but so are Fleming`s and Gardner`s, to an extent
there are some continuity things, of course it`s always best to start with the beginning, but not necessary

Doubleshot is the informal 2nd part of a trilogy featuring a criminal organization called The Untion
Mon Apr 24 18:11:15 2000 rbenson {public msg} er Union
Mon Apr 24 18:11:23 2000 rbenson {public msg} the Onion? 🙂
Mon Apr 24 18:11:39 2000 rbenson {public msg} In it, Bond goes through some, well, psychological problems in a way, it`s my `From Russia With Love` the bad guys are out to GET Bond… Gardner had his FRWL with `Nobody Lives Forever` the Union creates an elaborate plot to trick and trap Bond and kill him off in a humiliating fashion (end)

Mon Apr 24 18:12:57 2000 icebreaker {public msg} What process goes into creating covers for the books and how do the covers get chosen? For example, the UK and US versions of Doubleshot are startlingly different.
Mon Apr 24 18:13:14 2000 rbenson {public msg} we have no say on the covers… that`s entirely up to the respective publishers they show them to us, and we can nod courteously or say `hmmm, I don`t really like it` but the latter response usually does no good. I really like the UK Doubleshot cover (end)

Mon Apr 24 18:14:09 2000 icebreaker {public msg} yes, so do i

Mon Apr 24 18:14:18 2000 icebreaker {public msg} the next question is from Jason
Mon Apr 24 18:14:33 2000 icebreaker {public msg} i`m sorry the next question is from Bondfan

Mon Apr 24 17:58:58 2000 bondfan {ask} how far advanced are the short story collection plans? And a general comment–I finished Doubleshot, and it is another excellent entry in the Benson Bond canon. Very well written, with a sweep reminiscent of Fleming.

Mon Apr 24 18:15:10 2000 rbenson {public msg} Thanks very much, I appreciate that… the short story collection won`t happen until there are enough short stories to justify doing a collection!
right now, there are only 3 and the `Midsummer Night`s Doom` was such a Playboy-oriented story that it probably wouldn`t be included in the collection

that was a special wink-wink nudge-nudge story just for Playboy
simply to celebrate Bond`s association with the magazine and really isn`t supposed to be taken seriously as a Bond story (end)

Mon Apr 24 18:16:47 2000 icebreaker {public msg} following up on that…does Playboy own the story? Glidrose? Can you do what you want with it? End

Mon Apr 24 18:17:09 2000 rbenson {public msg} Glidrose owns all the stories… they can re-sell them anywhere (end)

Mon Apr 24 18:17:55 2000 icebreaker {public msg} i`m trying to keep all the doubleshot questions together so Bondfan had another one

Mon Apr 24 17:52:27 2000 bondfan {ask} Did you travel to all the locations in Doubleshot? Have you ever met with members of MI6? Now, this is a spoiler, but why did you not include Major Boothroyd in Doubleshot?

Mon Apr 24 18:18:15 2000 rbenson {public msg} that`s 3 questions! 🙂
Mon Apr 24 18:18:21 2000 rbenson {public msg} I did travel to all the locations; big trip!
Mon Apr 24 18:18:32 2000 rbenson {public msg} Spain, Gibraltar, Morocco, England
Mon Apr 24 18:18:48 2000 rbenson {public msg} never met anyone from MI6, and I doubt they would want to meet with me! 🙂
Mon Apr 24 18:19:14 2000 rbenson {public msg} as for Boothroyd, I just decided to leave him out of this one… you know, he only appeared in the Fleming books once!
Mon Apr 24 18:19:35 2000 rbenson {public msg} People ask me that since Desmond died, will I change Boothroyd?
Mon Apr 24 18:19:47 2000 rbenson {public msg} the answer is `no`… the character didn`t die… the actor did
Mon Apr 24 18:19:54 2000 rbenson {public msg} Boothroyd will return in my books.
Mon Apr 24 18:19:56 2000 rbenson {public msg} (end)

Mon Apr 24 18:19:58 2000 willply {public msg} Maybe remind all at this point if they want to ask questions to enter the auditorium… A few new folks have wandered in.

Mon Apr 24 18:20:23 2000 icebreaker {public msg} to the new people who have entered…if you want to submit questions to Raymond, please go into the auditorium to do so. Thanks!

Mon Apr 24 18:20:29 2000 icebreaker {public msg} well raymond
Mon Apr 24 18:20:33 2000 icebreaker {public msg} you stole my next question
Mon Apr 24 18:20:41 2000 rbenson {public msg} I saw it coming! 🙂
Mon Apr 24 18:20:52 2000 icebreaker {public msg} so we will move on to Jason Allentoff`s question about The Bedside Companion

Mon Apr 24 17:58:33 2000 planet007site {ask} Are there plans for an updated version of The Bedside Companion?

Mon Apr 24 18:21:17 2000 rbenson {public msg} The Bedside Companion is now currently on sale again as an electronic book from www.PublishingOnline.com
Mon Apr 24 18:21:21 2000 rbenson {public msg} it is not updated
Mon Apr 24 18:21:30 2000 rbenson {public msg} As I wrote in the new introduction
Mon Apr 24 18:21:43 2000 rbenson {public msg} I shouldn`t update it now, it wouldn`t be `right` now that I`m the Bond author
Mon Apr 24 18:21:55 2000 rbenson {public msg} I wouldn`t feel comfortable critiquing the films or the later Gardner books
Mon Apr 24 18:22:14 2000 rbenson {public msg} so it`s the 1988 version that is available now for downloading (end)

Mon Apr 24 18:22:32 2000 icebreaker {public msg} yes, we will be getting to your deal with POL later on
Mon Apr 24 18:22:38 2000 icebreaker {public msg} i have a smart group here tonight
Mon Apr 24 18:22:53 2000 icebreaker {public msg} Bondfan has a new question…

Mon Apr 24 18:21:33 2000 bondfan {ask} Any plans for a return of Hedy and Heidi from this book? They are your best girls to date, and I`d love to see them again.
Mon Apr 24 18:23:21 2000 rbenson {public msg} Thanks, my British editor thought so too… I have no idea at this point whether or not they will return…
Mon Apr 24 18:23:31 2000 rbenson {public msg} the usual thing is for Bond girls NOT to return, but you never know (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:23:40 2000 rbenson {public msg} btw—
Mon Apr 24 18:23:54 2000 rbenson {public msg} an excerpt from Doubleshot where Heidi & Hedy are introduced will be in the June issue
Mon Apr 24 18:23:58 2000 rbenson {public msg} of Playboy, on sale next week
Mon Apr 24 18:24:29 2000 rbenson {public msg} there is also an article on the history of Bond and Playboy in the same issue
Mon Apr 24 18:24:37 2000 rbenson {public msg} a must-have for collectors! (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:25:00 2000 icebreaker {public msg} See what you learn guys when you attend 007Forever chats –end

Mon Apr 24 18:25:57 2000 icebreaker {public msg} It seems like whenever an article reviews your books, they make mention of the fact that you were a fan who had done the games and the Bedside Companion. Does it help or hurt to have been a fan first and do you know how much of a fan Gardner was before he began writing?
Mon Apr 24 18:26:28 2000 rbenson {public msg} Gardner was a little bit of a fan, I think, from what he told me… after all, The Liquidator series is
Mon Apr 24 18:26:31 2000 rbenson {public msg} a Bond parody of sorts
Mon Apr 24 18:27:03 2000 rbenson {public msg} I`m not sure if it helps or hurts with the games/fan stuff… some of the reviewers who are less kind
Mon Apr 24 18:27:12 2000 rbenson {public msg} think that because I was a game designer I can`t write prose
Mon Apr 24 18:27:17 2000 rbenson {public msg} (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:28:03 2000 icebreaker {public msg} Globetwo had a question that I think I can answer and then you can pick up where I left off i you`d like to Raymond
Mon Apr 24 18:28:26 2000 rbenson {public msg} go ahead
Mon Apr 24 18:28:42 2000 rbenson {public msg} “Evil Hours”?
Mon Apr 24 18:28:48 2000 icebreaker {public msg} I`d like to remind everyone that Evil Hours, Benson`s 14 part serial, will debut at PublishingOnline.com tomorrow morning at 7:00 am est, as well as two of his non-Bond short stories “The Plagarist” and “Thumbs Down”, described as TWILIGHT ZONE style stories dealing with frustrated writers.
Mon Apr 24 18:28:57 2000 icebreaker {public msg} end
Mon Apr 24 18:28:57 2000 rbenson {public msg} It`s supposed to, but I`m not sure if POL will have it ready
Mon Apr 24 18:29:20 2000 rbenson {public msg} There will be an announcement on the newsgroup as soon as it is online
Mon Apr 24 18:29:47 2000 rbenson {public msg} like most website based companies, sometimes they don`t meet their target dates
Mon Apr 24 18:29:48 2000 rbenson {public msg} (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:29:56 2000 icebreaker {public msg} What kind of fan fiction, if any, can a fan get away with?
Mon Apr 24 18:30:25 2000 rbenson {public msg} Hmmm… all I know is that Glidrose does not take kindly to fan fiction. Best to stay away from it.
Mon Apr 24 18:30:26 2000 rbenson {public msg} (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:30:44 2000 icebreaker {public msg} Yankee has a question
Mon Apr 24 18:30:03 2000 yankee {ask} Hi Raymond. With your novelisations of TND and TWINE, I`m sure you`ve crossed paths with Michael Wilson and B. Broccoli. Has there ever been even a passing conversation with them about you writing an original screenplay for them? Or adapting one of your books?
Mon Apr 24 18:31:23 2000 rbenson {public msg} I have a friendly relationship with EON, but so far nothing has been said about me doing either of those things.
Mon Apr 24 18:31:41 2000 rbenson {public msg} I`m keeping my fingers crossed. (end)
Mon Apr 24 17:58:06 2000 planet007site {ask} Are you writing the novel for Bond 20?
Mon Apr 24 18:32:01 2000 rbenson {public msg} I can only surmise that I will. (end)
Mon Apr 24 17:58:54 2000 planet007site {ask} Do you know any details on the plot for Bond 20?
Mon Apr 24 18:32:30 2000 rbenson {public msg} As far as I know, there is no script yet. (end)
Mon Apr 24 17:59:15 2000 planet007site {ask} Are the rumors about Brosnan doing four more films true?
Mon Apr 24 18:32:59 2000 rbenson {public msg} I have no idea what plans Pierce has with EON. (end)

Mon Apr 24 18:30:42 2000 yankee {ask} What are your thoughts on the film TWINE?
Mon Apr 24 18:33:24 2000 rbenson {public msg} It was a fun ride. 🙂 (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:34:01 2000 icebreaker {public msg} Do you have fans bugging you wanting you to use their name as a character, good or bad, in your novels?
Mon Apr 24 18:34:31 2000 rbenson {public msg} Not really. I do it as favors for friends. It`s more of a tradition… Fleming did it, Gardner did it…
Mon Apr 24 18:34:50 2000 rbenson {public msg} It`s fun to do it… nobody has really asked me to do it…
Mon Apr 24 18:34:52 2000 rbenson {public msg} (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:35:09 2000 icebreaker {public msg} if fleming had not done it, would it change the way you feel about doing it?
Mon Apr 24 18:35:17 2000 rbenson {public msg} probably (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:35:23 2000 icebreaker {public msg} Of your friends names that you have used as characters, how do you decide who is bad and who is good?
Mon Apr 24 18:35:53 2000 rbenson {public msg} Totally arbitrary… sometimes I`ve just got a character, good or bad, and I need a name, so I use the first one to pop in my head
Mon Apr 24 18:36:05 2000 rbenson {public msg} I don`t start out thinking, I`m going to use so-and-so in this part
Mon Apr 24 18:36:14 2000 rbenson {public msg} (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:36:33 2000 rbenson {public msg} I do make up some names
Mon Apr 24 18:36:35 2000 rbenson {public msg} (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:32:06 2000 spy {ask} Do you envision a particular actor playing James Bond inside your mind when you write for Bond? Do you hear echoes of Connery or Moore when you write for Bond as protagonist?
Mon Apr 24 18:36:57 2000 rbenson {public msg} No, I don`t. I envision the guy I pictured when I first read the Fleming books, and it wasn`t Connery.
Mon Apr 24 18:37:17 2000 rbenson {public msg} I suppose he`s probably closer to the UK comic strips Bond
Mon Apr 24 18:37:40 2000 rbenson {public msg} However, many people tell me that they hear “Pierce Brosnan saying those lines” or they hear “Sean Connery saying those lines”
Mon Apr 24 18:37:43 2000 rbenson {public msg} Maybe…
Mon Apr 24 18:37:49 2000 rbenson {public msg} I`m sure Pierce influences the novelizations
Mon Apr 24 18:37:53 2000 rbenson {public msg} (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:37:59 2000 icebreaker {public msg} Do you have any idea why the Spanish press insisted on stating you were doing research at Gibraltar for the next Bond movie?
Mon Apr 24 18:38:26 2000 rbenson {public msg} They either got it wrong or they wanted to inflate its importance? I don`t know… it was annoying… 🙂 (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:38:33 2000 icebreaker {public msg} This is a 3 part question. #1 Were you scheduled to testify at Kevin McClory`s trial and if so, did you? #2 If you did, are you free to summarize what your testimony was, and if you did not testify, can you tell us what your tesitimony might have been? #3 And do you think we have finally seen the last of him?
Mon Apr 24 18:39:06 2000 rbenson {public msg} Well, I hope we`ve seen the last of him… I think all I can say is that I was an expert witness on the MGM side, but I was never called to testify.
Mon Apr 24 18:39:07 2000 rbenson {public msg} (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:39:29 2000 icebreaker {public msg} I think we all hope we`ve heard the last of him
Mon Apr 24 18:39:39 2000 icebreaker {public msg} Where does SPECTRE fit in all of this?
Mon Apr 24 18:39:50 2000 icebreaker {public msg} Can you use the organization?
Mon Apr 24 18:39:52 2000 icebreaker {public msg} end
Mon Apr 24 18:40:02 2000 rbenson {public msg} SPECTRE could still be used in the books… but I prefer not to.
It is caused by cute-n-tiny.com cialis canada cheap an imbalance of normal bacteria in the gut, yeast, and bacterial overgrowth can occur. This device sucks air from the penis duct and therefore you could try these out viagra pfizer 25mg enabling blood to flow smoothly in the penis. It simply means that there is erection but for a short time. Then when the abuse stirring in their relationship is sufficiently felt by both of them, a new therapist becomes the cheap sildenafil target of hope once again. Mon Apr 24 18:40:22 2000 rbenson {public msg} I have the Union now, which in a way is my version of SPECTRE.
Mon Apr 24 18:40:23 2000 rbenson {public msg} (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:40:30 2000 icebreaker {public msg} I think that is the best course
Mon Apr 24 18:40:39 2000 icebreaker {public msg} SPECTRE was good, but they`ve had their day in the sun
Mon Apr 24 18:40:46 2000 icebreaker {public msg} the next question
Mon Apr 24 18:37:25 2000 bondfan {ask} Did you work with Jaguar the way that Gardner worked with Saab?
Mon Apr 24 18:41:18 2000 rbenson {public msg} Yes I did… I worked with an engineer in the UK who helped me with all the `extras`, which despite some of the criticism are all entirely possible
Mon Apr 24 18:41:39 2000 rbenson {public msg} all of those things, including the flying scout, the pigment-changing paint, are all possible
Mon Apr 24 18:41:43 2000 rbenson {public msg} (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:41:48 2000 icebreaker {public msg} wow!
Mon Apr 24 18:41:53 2000 icebreaker {public msg} Did not know that!
Mon Apr 24 18:41:59 2000 icebreaker {public msg} Actually Raymond
Mon Apr 24 18:42:12 2000 icebreaker {public msg} I think you picked the best runner up to the Aston that anyone could
Mon Apr 24 18:42:20 2000 rbenson {public msg} I doubt I`ll be using the Jag again
Mon Apr 24 18:42:27 2000 icebreaker {public msg} it`s a shame that EON doesn`t use the Jag
Mon Apr 24 18:42:28 2000 rbenson {public msg} Time to move on… (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:40:01 2000 suzy {ask} Hello, Michael…it`s Suzy…took me forever to get here…Hello, Raymond
Mon Apr 24 18:42:40 2000 icebreaker {public msg} hey Suzy
Mon Apr 24 18:42:46 2000 icebreaker {public msg} glad you could come

Mon Apr 24 18:41:40 2000 suzy {ask} RB, could you say something about the significance of the title “Doubelshot”?

Mon Apr 24 18:43:30 2000 rbenson {public msg} It`s just a play on the “doubles” concept that runs thematically throughout the book
Mon Apr 24 18:43:40 2000 rbenson {public msg} It wasn`t my title
Mon Apr 24 18:43:44 2000 rbenson {public msg} But I think it works
Mon Apr 24 18:43:46 2000 rbenson {public msg} (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:44:20 2000 icebreaker {public msg} Critics, fans and John Gardner himself all seemed to agree that he had done a few too many books by the time he stopped. Do you have a limit to how many you want to do in order to have made your mark in the series?
Mon Apr 24 18:44:47 2000 rbenson {public msg} Not sure how to answer that one… I suppose if I felt they were getting stale, I`d let them be…
Mon Apr 24 18:44:56 2000 rbenson {public msg} I`d be proud, though, to have done 14… no small feat
Mon Apr 24 18:45:10 2000 rbenson {public msg} (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:45:35 2000 icebreaker {public msg} I ask because Gardner has been on record as having wanted to stop back at #6 but never did
Mon Apr 24 18:45:43 2000 icebreaker {public msg} end
Mon Apr 24 18:45:48 2000 rbenson {public msg} I`m not aware of that (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:46:12 2000 icebreaker {public msg} we are getting lots of questions so hold tight a second

Mon Apr 24 18:32:39 2000 nated3og {ask} to rbenson, I have noticed that your wrighting is similar but inexorably different than Ian Flemming. Are you tring to meet Mr. Fleming`s style, or surpass it with your own blend of wrighting?

Mon Apr 24 18:46:47 2000 rbenson {public msg} I could never meet Fleming`s style, nor do I try to do so
Mon Apr 24 18:46:52 2000 rbenson {public msg} I hold him in very high regard
Mon Apr 24 18:47:11 2000 rbenson {public msg} If any of his style creeps into my books, I can only think it`s because I know his books so well
Mon Apr 24 18:47:28 2000 rbenson {public msg} I think the correct term is that I try to capture the SPIRIT of his books
Mon Apr 24 18:47:34 2000 rbenson {public msg} I certainly can`t write like him
Mon Apr 24 18:47:39 2000 rbenson {public msg} I`d be foolish to think I could
Mon Apr 24 18:47:43 2000 rbenson {public msg} (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:43:07 2000 bondfan {ask} If not the Jag, then what car–the DB7?
Mon Apr 24 18:48:16 2000 rbenson {public msg} I have no idea what car at this point… in my upcoming book, the one I`ll write this summer, Bond will need a car…
Mon Apr 24 18:48:27 2000 rbenson {public msg} in my outline, he`s driving the Jag, but doesn`t use any of the extras at all
Mon Apr 24 18:48:36 2000 rbenson {public msg} Maybe I`ll do that, but maybe I`ll find a new car…
Mon Apr 24 18:48:40 2000 rbenson {public msg} Don`t know yet (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:42:20 2000 bondfan {ask} Let me just reiterate that the Union is a fitting successor, and am I wrong is surmising that we are in store for quite a confrontation in the next book bewteen 007 and Le Gerant
Mon Apr 24 18:49:02 2000 rbenson {public msg} You are quite correct! 🙂 (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:40:41 2000 yankee {ask} As a fan, do you find that reading the scripts of the new films before they are released spoils your enjoyment of them? Or does it pique your interest to see what the final fims will look like?
Mon Apr 24 18:49:38 2000 rbenson {public msg} That`s a tough one… you see, I have to write a NOVEL based on the script before I ever see any of the film
Mon Apr 24 18:49:46 2000 rbenson {public msg} So, I`ve already got a film inside my head
Mon Apr 24 18:49:53 2000 rbenson {public msg} Before I see the real film
Mon Apr 24 18:50:04 2000 rbenson {public msg} So, ultimately, what I see on the screen is different from what I picture
Mon Apr 24 18:50:11 2000 rbenson {public msg} It can`t be helped
Mon Apr 24 18:50:28 2000 rbenson {public msg} I`m sure it effects my enjoyment, but it doesn`t mean I DON`T enjoy them
Mon Apr 24 18:50:31 2000 rbenson {public msg} (end)

Mon Apr 24 18:44:06 2000 yankee {ask} Can you give us any tid-bits about the 3rd book in the trilogy?
Mon Apr 24 18:50:52 2000 rbenson {public msg} Hmmmm…..
Mon Apr 24 18:51:00 2000 rbenson {public msg} It takes place mostly in France and Corsica
Mon Apr 24 18:51:06 2000 rbenson {public msg} Marc-Ange Draco will return
Mon Apr 24 18:51:16 2000 rbenson {public msg} Le Gerant and Bond face off
Mon Apr 24 18:51:30 2000 rbenson {public msg} There`s a significant love story angle
Mon Apr 24 18:51:50 2000 rbenson {public msg} There will be a show business angle
Mon Apr 24 18:51:53 2000 rbenson {public msg} (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:49:33 2000 suzy {ask} Will the next novel round out the “trilogy” and be the end of the Union?
Mon Apr 24 18:52:24 2000 rbenson {public msg} That one I can`t answer here! You`ll have to wait and see! 🙂 (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:52:29 2000 rbenson {action: } smirks.
Mon Apr 24 18:52:34 2000 rbenson {action: } grins evilly.
Mon Apr 24 18:52:41 2000 rbenson {public msg} I meant to grin evilly, not smirk.
Mon Apr 24 18:52:42 2000 icebreaker {public msg} suzy, you know better than to ask that question GIRL! 🙂
Mon Apr 24 18:45:25 2000 bondfan {ask} How many more books are you contracted for right now?
Mon Apr 24 18:53:17 2000 rbenson {public msg} the contracts are usually 3 at a time, so I`m about to begin the first one in a new contract of 3
Mon Apr 24 18:53:26 2000 rbenson {public msg} (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:53:37 2000 icebreaker {public msg} Bondfan has a question about Draco
Mon Apr 24 18:51:58 2000 bondfan {ask} Wait a second–isn`t Draco dead, as Gardner pointed out in Nobody Lives Forever.
Mon Apr 24 18:54:14 2000 rbenson {public msg} If he did, both Glidrose and I missed it! At any rate, I am free to use or ignore anything Gardner did
Mon Apr 24 18:54:32 2000 rbenson {public msg} For example, I never went with the way he changed MI6
Mon Apr 24 18:54:35 2000 rbenson {public msg} in his later books
Mon Apr 24 18:54:51 2000 rbenson {public msg} We demoted him back to Commander because it sounds beter
Mon Apr 24 18:54:53 2000 rbenson {public msg} better
Mon Apr 24 18:55:07 2000 rbenson {public msg} As far as I`m concerned, Draco`s alive and well…
Mon Apr 24 18:55:09 2000 rbenson {public msg} (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:55:34 2000 icebreaker {public msg} Do you get unsolicited submissions from people wanting to get their story ideas into your books and if so, how do you answer them?
Mon Apr 24 18:55:57 2000 rbenson {public msg} I am not allowed to read unsolicited submissions… if I get anything that remotely looks like one, I delete it
Mon Apr 24 18:55:59 2000 rbenson {public msg} (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:44:22 2000 bondfan {ask} What would you have chosen as the titles for your books?
Mon Apr 24 18:56:36 2000 rbenson {public msg} My original title for Zero Minus Ten was “No Tears for Hong Kong”
Mon Apr 24 18:56:49 2000 rbenson {public msg} For The Facts of Death, believe it or not, it was “The World is Not Enough”!
Mon Apr 24 18:57:06 2000 rbenson {public msg} For “High Time to Kill” it was “A Better Way to Die”
Mon Apr 24 18:57:20 2000 rbenson {public msg} for Doubleshot, it was “Doppelganger” and then “Reflections in a Broken Glass”
Mon Apr 24 18:57:31 2000 rbenson {public msg} Actually, I think that the next novel will have my suggested title
Mon Apr 24 18:57:35 2000 rbenson {public msg} for once
Mon Apr 24 18:57:41 2000 rbenson {public msg} Never Dream of Dying
Mon Apr 24 18:57:44 2000 rbenson {public msg} (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:57:51 2000 icebreaker {public msg} can we quote you on that?
Mon Apr 24 18:57:53 2000 icebreaker {public msg} end
Mon Apr 24 18:57:55 2000 icebreaker {public msg} end
Mon Apr 24 18:58:13 2000 rbenson {public msg} I suppose… let`s just say for now that`s what it is, and the publishers haven`t objected
Mon Apr 24 18:58:15 2000 rbenson {public msg} (end)
Mon Apr 24 18:58:21 2000 icebreaker {public msg} sounds very good.
Mon Apr 24 18:58:25 2000 icebreaker {public msg} and if I may
Mon Apr 24 18:58:37 2000 icebreaker {public msg} put in a gratuitous plug for my own site, you can find all of Raymond`s
Mon Apr 24 18:58:56 2000 icebreaker {public msg} original titles plus Ian`s and John`s in the What Was The Title section-end
Mon Apr 24 18:59:33 2000 icebreaker {public msg} Okay, we are almost out of time. Please bear with me for one second as I peruse the last sets of questions.
Mon Apr 24 18:58:25 2000 suzy {ask} Will you be doing research for your next novel when in Paris for your book-signing?
Mon Apr 24 19:00:49 2000 rbenson {public msg} Yes I will! along with some other areas of France (end)

Mon Apr 24 19:01:30 2000 icebreaker {public msg} Here is our last question of the evening…from a mysterious spy down in Gainesville FL
Mon Apr 24 18:59:59 2000 spy {ask} If for whatever reason Bond had to be killed off in a novel, how might you plot/portray his death?
Mon Apr 24 19:01:46 2000 rbenson {public msg} That will never happen!
Mon Apr 24 19:01:51 2000 rbenson {public msg} Old age?
Mon Apr 24 19:02:04 2000 rbenson {action: } grins evilly.
Mon Apr 24 19:02:10 2000 rbenson {public msg} (end)
Mon Apr 24 19:02:20 2000 icebreaker {public msg} Thanks Raymond. This might be a good time
Mon Apr 24 19:02:39 2000 icebreaker {public msg} to let everyone know when and where to pick up copies of Doubleshot and any book signings in the future
Mon Apr 24 19:02:44 2000 icebreaker {public msg} end
Mon Apr 24 19:02:51 2000 rbenson {public msg} It`s available now in the UK
Mon Apr 24 19:02:59 2000 rbenson {public msg} It should be available in the US the first week of June
Mon Apr 24 19:03:16 2000 rbenson {public msg} I`m doing a signing in London on May 6 at noon at Adrian Harrington Bookshop
Mon Apr 24 19:03:21 2000 rbenson {public msg} 64a Kensington Church St.
Mon Apr 24 19:03:38 2000 rbenson {public msg} I`m doing a signing at an English-language bookshop in Paris on May 10 at 7:30pm
Mon Apr 24 19:03:42 2000 rbenson {public msg} WH Smith Paris
Mon Apr 24 19:03:47 2000 rbenson {public msg} 248 Rue de Rivoli
Mon Apr 24 19:03:52 2000 rbenson {public msg} then… back home
Mon Apr 24 19:03:58 2000 rbenson {public msg} in the Chicago area
Mon Apr 24 19:04:11 2000 rbenson {public msg} June 10, Barnes & Noble, Arlington Heights, 2pm
Mon Apr 24 19:04:26 2000 rbenson {public msg} June 14, Borders Michigan Avenue, Chicago, 7pm
Mon Apr 24 19:04:33 2000 rbenson {public msg} that`s all I know of for now
Mon Apr 24 19:04:35 2000 rbenson {public msg} (end)
Mon Apr 24 19:04:30 2000 suzy {ask} Can`t wait for Doubleshot, RB…a toute a l`heure, alligateur 🙂
Mon Apr 24 19:04:55 2000 rbenson {public msg} Thanks, it`s been fun!
Mon Apr 24 19:05:01 2000 icebreaker {public msg} Okay, thanks again Raymond for coming
Mon Apr 24 19:05:06 2000 icebreaker {public msg} thanks everyone
Mon Apr 24 19:05:06 2000 rbenson {action: } waves at everyone.
Mon Apr 24 19:05:08 2000 icebreaker {public msg} for showing up
Mon Apr 24 19:05:09 2000 rbenson {action: } faints dead away.
Mon Apr 24 19:05:12 2000 icebreaker {public msg} you were great
Mon Apr 24 19:05:13 2000 willply {public msg} Great work both of you. Very nice chat! (MIC OFF)
Mon Apr 24 19:05:16 2000 icebreaker {public msg} raymond was great
Mon Apr 24 19:05:23 2000 rbenson {public msg} thanks
Mon Apr 24 19:05:27 2000 willply {public msg} Both of you were.
Mon Apr 24 19:05:36 2000 icebreaker {public msg} and we`ll see you next month with Patrick Bauchau from A View To A Kill
Mon Apr 24 19:05:38 2000 icebreaker {public msg} Bye for now!