*** News: Steve Cole to take on Young Bond.

This morning it has been announced that Steve Cole has been selected by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd. to write four books in the Young Bond series. These books will pick up the story of the young James Bond where Charlie Higson's By Royal Command left off, and I am more than a lot excited about this news. Steve Cole is one of this country's hardest working and most prolific writers for children and I think the future of Young Bond is in a very safe pair of hands.

The full press release is pasted below for your delectation:

‘A thrilling privilege and an exciting challenge.’ Steve Cole to take on Young Bond.

Random House Children’s Publishers will publish a new wave of authorized

Young Bond titles.

Random House Children’s Publishers (RHCP) are delighted to announce that Steve Cole has been selected by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd., the Fleming family-owned company, as the author of a new Young Bond series.

RHCP have acquired UK and Commonwealth rights in four titles from Jonny Geller at Curtis Brown on behalf of Ian Fleming Publications Ltd. and Curtis Brown will represent all foreign rights.

The author to accept this exciting mission is DOCTOR WHO and ASTROSAURS author, Steve Cole, has sold over three million copies of his RHCP books in the UK.

These new titles will pick up where Charlie Higson – the writer of the previous wave of Young Bond titles – left off and will follow teenage James in the aftermath of his expulsion from Eton. This time in Bond’s life has never been explored before and readers can expect all the thrills, action, glamour and tension that are the essential ingredients of a classic Bond adventure.

Cole’s first Young Bond novel will launch with a dynamic marketing and publicity campaign in Autumn 2014. It will be published in hardback on RHCP’s highly respected Jonathan Cape children’s imprint.  

Steve Cole says: ‘I first encountered Bond in print as a teenager, when I read From a View to a Kill. Fleming´s writing was so vivid and authentic, Bond and the world he inhabited seemed suddenly real to me – and the danger and glamour led me through book after book. It´s both a thrilling privilege and an exciting challenge now to be shaping a new era in the life of such an iconic character – with many firsts and surprises to come as James´s life in the dangerous 1930s develops.’

Philippa Dickinson, Managing Director of RHCP says, ‘I’m absolutely delighted to be working with Ian Fleming Publications to publish a new quartet of Young Bond adventures. The period when James Bond would have been a teenager was an extraordinary time – a perfect setting for thrilling storytelling for young adults.  Steve Cole is an exceptional storyteller with a wonderful ability to connect with his readers.  A winning combination.’

Corinne Turner, Managing Director of Ian Fleming Publications Ltd., says, ‘Steve Cole is an imaginative and engaging author whose plots are addictive and gripping, so we were thrilled when he agreed to steer Young Bond through his mid-teen years. As publishers of Ian Fleming’s original Bond books and William Boyd’s new Bond continuation novel, SOLO, Random House are the perfect partner to work with us in bringing the next generation of Young Bond books to life. On behalf of Ian Fleming Publications and the Fleming family, I’d like to welcome Steve Cole to the exciting world of 007 – we can’t wait to see what scrapes James gets into next.’

www.ianfleming.com