military_rank q 
Sebastian Charles Faulks CBE ( born 20 April 1953 ) is a British novelist , journalist and broadcaster . He is best known for his historical novels set in France  " The Girl at the Lion d ' Or ", " Birdsong " and " Charlotte Gray ". He has also published novels with a contemporary setting , most recently " A Week in December " ( 2009 ), and a James Bond continuation novel , " Devil May Care " ( 2008 ), as well as a continuation of P . G . Wodehouse ' s Jeeves series , " Jeeves and the Wedding Bells " ( 2013 ). He is a team ___MASK76___ on BBC Radio 4 literary quiz " The Write Stuff ". ___MASK46___ is a military or naval term , the meaning of which depends on the country and service . Q is a fictional character in the James Bond films and film novelizations . Q ( standing for ___MASK46___ ) , like M , is a job title rather than a name . He is the head of Q Branch ( or later Q Division ) , the fictional research and development division of the British Secret Service . A novelization ( or novelisation ) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium , such as a film , TV series , comic strip or video game . Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of home video , but continue to find commercial success as part of marketing campaigns for ___MASK64___ films . They are often written by accomplished writers based on an early draft of the film ' s script and on a tight deadline . Ian Lancaster Fleming ( 28 May 1908  12 August 1964 ) was an English author , journalist and naval intelligence ___MASK63___ who is best known for his James Bond series of spy novels . Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co ., and his father was the Member of Parliament for Henley from 1910 until his death on the Western Front in 1917 . Educated at Eton , Sandhurst and , briefly , the universities of Munich and Geneva , Fleming moved through several jobs before he started writing . Research and development ( R & D or R + D ), also known in Europe as research and technical ( or technological ) development ( RTD ), is a ___MASK49___ term for activities in connection with corporate or governmental innovation . Research and development is a component of Innovation and is situated at the front end of the Innovation life cycle . Innovation builds on R & D and includes commercialization phases . The James Bond series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming , who featured him in twelve novels and two short - story collections . Since Fleming ' s death in 1964 , eight other authors have written authorised Bond novels or novelizations : Kingsley Amis , Christopher Wood , John Gardner , Raymond Benson , Sebastian Faulks , Jeffery Deaver , William Boyd and Anthony Horowitz . The latest novel is " Trigger Mortis " by Anthony Horowitz , published in September 2015 . Additionally Charlie Higson wrote a series on a young James Bond , and Kate Westbrook wrote three novels based on the diaries of a recurring series character , Moneypenny .