Benson post-007 character in development at ABC

Image for The Black Stiletto, a character created by former 007 continuation novel author Raymond Benson

The Black Stiletto, a character created in a series of novels by former 007 continuation author Raymond Benson, is “in development” at ABC, according to a story on THE DEADLINE: HOLLYWOOD entertainment news website.

Here’s an excerpt:

Black Stiletto, based on the novels by Raymond Benson, follows a young woman’s evolution into a modern-day hero when a family secret from the past is revealed and puts the only family she’s ever known in imminent danger.

Benson wrote 007 continuation novels published by Ian Fleming Publications from 1997 to 2002, as well as three movie novelizations (Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day) as well as a number of Bond short stories.

Benson also wrote The James Bond Bedside Companion, a reference book about the 007 novels and films, that was originally published in 1984 and updated in 1988.

Chicago television station interviews Raymond Benson

Benson

WGN, a Chicago television station that’s also available on U.S. cable systems, did a feature on Raymond Benson, the 007 continuation author from 1997 to 2002. To view the story on WGN’s Web site CLICK HERE.

The story presents Benson discussing the 50th anniversary of Dr. No. The piece also mentions his continuation novels and The James Bond Bedside Companion reference book first published in the 1980s (and recently reissued, though that’s not referenced). WGN also mentions his new series of books featuring a character called the Black Stiletto.

(A factoid for our readers outside the U.S.: WGN is short for “world’s greatest newspaper,” the former slogan of the Chicago Tribune, part of the same company.)

Benson wins a Lovey!

Cover Art © Del Ray Books. Click to embiggen.

Our good friend — and six-time James Bond novelist — Raymond Benson has just picked up an award at last week’s Love Is Murder mystery writer’s conference in Chicago. Sharing the “Lovey” with filmmaker John Milius, Mr. Benson won in the Paranormal/Sci-Fi/Horror category for the novel Homefront — The Voice of Freedom, based on the popular HOMEFRONT video game developed by Mr. Milius for THQ.

The book is published by Del Ray, a division of Random House. They describe it thusly:

HOME IS WHERE THE WAR IS

America may be reeling from endless recessions and crippling oil wars, but hack reporter Ben Walker never expected to see his homeland invaded and occupied by a reunified Korea—now a formidable world power under Kim Jong-il’s dictator son.

The enemy’s massive cyberattack is followed by the detonation of an electromagnetic pulse that destroys technology across the United States. Communications, weapons, and defense systems are rendered useless; thousands perish as vehicles suddenly lose power and passenger jets plummet to the ground.

Fleeing the chaos of Los Angeles, Walker discovers that although America’s military has been scattered, its fighting spirit remains. Walker joins the soldiers as they head east across the desert, battling Korean patrols—and soon finds his own mission. Walker reinvents himself as the Voice of Freedom, broadcasting information and enemy positions to civilian Resistance cells via guerrilla radio.

But Walker’s broadcasts have also reached the ears of the enemy. Korea dispatches its deadliest warrior to hunt the Voice of Freedom and crush the ever-growing Resistance before it can mount a new war for American liberty.

(Mr. Benson has previously won the “Lovey” in 2009 for Metal Gear Solid in the same category, and in the 2007 “Best Thriller” category with Sweetie’s Diamonds.)

On the off chance that you haven’t yet read it, Homefront — The Voice of Freedom is available at all fine booksellers, and from Amazon.com in several formats, including Kindle.

HMSS extends its congratulations to Raymond Benson on the winning of his third “Lovey” award!

PS: As a by-the-way, fans of his fabulous novel The Black Stiletto are in for a treat. Right now you can grab — for free! — a copy of his short story “The Black Stiletto’s Autograph” over at the SmashWords website. A sort-of prequel to the novel, this particular piece gives us a little back story, and a little additional insight, into the character of our favorite new costumed urban avenger. So, if you can’t wait for The Black Stiletto: Black and White to come out later this year, hightail it over to SmashWords to snag your free copy. They have it formatted for practically every platform in the world (including Kindle), so don’t worry if you don’t have an iNook or whatever.

Raymond Benson does another Black Stiletto interview

Former James Bond continuation author Raymond Benson has done another interview to promote his new novel, The Black Stiletto. It’s on the Comicbook Nerd Web site. Here’s a brief excerpt:

When I wrote Bond (gosh, that was over fifteen years ago when I started) I was required to write an outline of the story first. That trained me very well, so I’ve always done it. Some writers like to outline, others don’t. I like it. It’s tantamount to writing a treatment of the novel first. That way you can look at the story with a bird’s-eye view and figure out what works and what doesn’t. It’s easier to throw out or re-write a paragraph or two of an outline than it is to wreck two full chapters of prose! I’m very proud of my Bond novels, but they were very early in my novel-writing career. I believe I’ve improved immensely as an author since then. The Black Stiletto is my 26th published book. I’ll probably never write another Bond novel, but I’m pretty sure that if I did, my older ones would pale in comparison.

You can read the entire interview BY CLICKING HERE.

Raymond Benson to be on Aug. 30 Dave White Presents

Raymond Benson, former 007 continuation novel author, is scheduled to be on the Aug. 30 edition of the Internet radio show Dave White Presents.

Benson, whose Bond novels were published from 1997 through 2002, will discuss his new project, The Black Stiletto, about a costumed woman vcrime fighter active in the late 1950s and early 1960s who hasn’t been seen since.

The show is scheduled to be available at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time at http://www.KSAV.org, which you can also find by CLICKING HERE. It will be run again at 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time.

Starting Aug. 31, you can access the show at http://www.audioentertainment.org/dwp or BY CLICKING HERE.

Meanwhile, here’s another interview Benson did this summer about The Black Stiletto, which is due out on Sept. 5. Warning, some (mild) spoilers — so don’t watch if you don’t wany any more details than we’ve provided:

Raymond Benson’s latest project: The Black Stiletto

Raymond Benson, former James Bond continuation novel author, has a new project. It’s called the Black Stiletto and here’s a video promoting it (Benson has a cameo at the 1:24 mark):

To see The Black Stiletto Web page, JUST CLICK HERE.

Benson penned 007 continuation novels starting with 1997’s Zero Minus Ten until 2002. He also wrote the novelizations of the Bond movies Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day.