Dreams

Dreams really can come true. Even ones that seem impossible, far-fetched, or out of reach. I have believed this all my life and tried to hold onto it during tough times. On Thursday I had irrefutable proof.

My sister Kim has always been a writer; she’s never wanted to do anything else. Being a novelist was her calling from the day she first learned that letters make words, words make sentences, and sentences make stories. She took herself off that day and came back hours later with a book about a lion and ladybird. She’s never looked back.

Kim has been a James Bond fan most of our lives. I grew up listening to the theme songs through our bedroom wall and being read extracts from Fleming’s novels. Kim has a love of learning and knowledge unlike anyone else I’ve ever met, and that love extends to everything she is interested in. As a fan she doesn’t just watch or read, she researches, she discovers, she searches out the intricacies of history and ideas. Her knowledge of 007’s world in both the books and the films is remarkable.

For as long as she’s been a fan Kim has wanted to write a Bond novel. It’s been her dream, but not one she ever truly thought would become a reality. Yet even without fully believing it Kim has worked hard and dared to dream that one day it could be real, thinking of plot ideas and even having the courage to share the dream out loud.

On Thursday it was revealed to the public that her long cherished dream has come true. First The Bookseller, then The Guardian, then Radio Fours Women’s Hour and every national newspaper ran the news: Award winning novelist Kim Sherwood has been commissioned by the Fleming Estate to write a trilogy of Double O novels, expanding the Bond universe.

(THE BOOKSELLER - CLICK HERE)

I sat at my computer all day, scrolling through Twitter, Googling my sisters name, reading articles, and chatting with Kim on the phone at least once an hour. The outpouring of love and excitement at the announcement, both for the idea and for Kim as the choice of writer, made it one of the proudest days of my life. I couldn’t think straight, I could barely think at all. I smiled all day. I cried. I kept having giggle fits. I had to go upstairs multiple times to cuddle the cat and try to calm down. I mostly failed.

(THE GUARDIAN - CLICK HERE)

Dreams are important. They help keep us moving forward. They give us something to work for, to aim at, to get out of bed for on grey and difficult days. Big dreams are sometimes heavy to carry, wanting something just beyond one’s reach isn’t always easy. Dreams that depend on the choices of others like Kim’s did, after all you can only write a Bond novel if the Fleming Estate don’t ask you to, can be hard to believe in. But dreams can also, sometimes, come true. And when they do there is nothing else like it.

(Women’s Hour: Kim is first up so its easy to find: CLICK HERE)

Many of you have probably already heard this news - but I am meant to share my news with you, a glimpse into the happenings of my life, and right now this is the biggest and most important thing happening. I am an overwhelmed and proud sister and there was no way I could have written about anything else today.

More will be revealed in the coming months, and the first book will be published by Harper Collins next September. But until then let’s end with this:

James Bond is missing. A new generation of Double O agents battle a global threat. At the same time, M and Moneypenny are searching for a mole in MI6. Will the truth be uncovered in time—or is this the end of the Double O section?

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