The main hero’s name in Dream Whisperer came to me as a double pun.
Fleming works for the special branch of His Majesty’s Secret Service. The association with James Bond, Britain’s most famous fictitious spy, was an obvious one. Just as popular memory confuses the creator’s name with the creature’s in Frankenstein, Bond became Fleming in Dream Whisperer. As characters go, Bond and Fleming are very dissimilar, although they share a tragic first-love history. Whereas for Bond, the experience turned him into a relentless womaniser, it made Fleming a sexual hermit. At least in this first novel. I do have plans for him in next instalments, don’t worry. I planted a few other references to the Bond universe in Dream Whisperer. Both Miss Moneypenny and Q have short cameos. Q doesn’t feature as a character in any of Fleming’s novels, although Q and Q Branch are mentioned in his books. Miss Moneypenny does appear in Fleming’s stories but is a character of no consequence.
The second reason why Fleming got his name is that I’m Flemish myself. In Dream Whisperer, Fleming tells Rebecca his Protestant ancestors migrated from Catholic Flanders to France. They were Huguenots and had to flee France when the French Catholic government started persecuting them in the 17th century. In France, they called themselves Flamant; in England, the name was anglicised. In fact, the name entered Britain way before the 17th century. In the Middle Ages, as of the 12th century, many Flemish weavers and dyers settled in England, Scotland, and Ireland.
Fleming is the eleventh in his family line who devotes his efforts to the special branch. While writing Dream Whisperer, I’ve drafted a family tree for the Fleming family, and I’m sure I’ll return to Fleming’s ancestry in ulterior stories. In the novel I’m writing right now, I’ll reveal how Fleming’s grandfather was killed. Getting murdered runs in the family, as Fleming explains to Rebecca. Only four of his ancestors in the special branch died of natural causes.
Fleming is an outsider. His grandfather married an elf, which makes Fleming neither human nor elf. The events in Dream Whisperer will further deepen his identity conflicts. On more than one occasion, he isn’t on the same page as his boss, M. It’s an open question whether his personal convictions will allow him to serve an organisation that only exists to serve the purposes of humankind. Because of his dual nature, Fleming is bound to see both sides of the coin, and he understands that humans may not be the best custodians of our planet. So why should he always choose their camp?