Bond is back - for me he never went away!

So last weekend it was World Bond Day. I almost missed it, which would've been really annoying, as I'm a huge Bond fan.

I'm really looking forward to No Time To Die, the latest instalment, but I also wanted to make a teensy contribution of my own to World Bond Day.

If you've read my novel, you'll already be in the know. But for those who haven't here are some of the ways I managed to work the world of my favourite spy hero into Changing Trains:

1. A Couchette with a View

The protagonist, Sam, listens to the evocative That Fatal Kiss from A View To A Kill on his overnight train from Paris to Barcelona. It's a very soulful, chilled, reflective and hopeful moment in the book.

2. From Nice with Love

Madame Gilbert, the landlady of the pension in Nice, insists on calling Sam her little James Bond. She's one of the most popular characters in the book and was just like that in real life, too.

3. A Diamond is Forever 

In Monte Carlo, Sam recalls seeing Shirley Bassey singing a Bond theme at the famous Sporting Club in the principality on TV, while growing up in Scotland.

4. Casino Royale 

Sam has a deja vu moment at the world famous Casino de Monte Carlo. Although he's visiting this place for the first time ever, he feels it is strangely familiar, then realises it's because he's seen it in Bond movies. He feels like Bond himself may even be in there at that moment. 

5. You Only Live Twice

Sam meets his very own 'Bond girls' on the overnight train from Venice to Nice. Being gay doesn't excuse chivalry, of course, so when Sam Rescues Lucy and Sally on an overnight train from Venice to London, they are more than happy to become his own un-official 'Bond Girls'. 

So there you go. A bit of Bond in a gay themed novel. What's not to like...