He began writing his first Bond novel in 1952 in Jamaica over two months to take his mind off his upcoming wedding and pregnant fiancé. He derived the name of his character from an American bird expert whose book on Caribbean birds he had enjoyed, and considered it to be bland yet masculine sounding.įleming gave the James Bond character some of his personal interests, including international travel, golf and gambling. Fleming bragged to his friends about how good he believed the book would be.Ī nod to the original James Bond and his book 'Birds of the West Indies' as featured in Die Another Dayįleming spent much of his time in Jamaica, and was a keen birdwatcher. After serving in the British Naval Intelligence Division during World War II, Fleming was inspired to write a novel about an international spy.
