Who was the original author of the James Bond books?

We’ve had way more James Bond writers than actors at this point, and the franchise itself is owned by the Broccoli family (no, I’m not making that up), but the callsign of 007 will never change.

You have to come up with a truly cool character for audiences to stay interested for multiple decades, and Bond fits that bill. He’s handsome, suave, and has really cool toys that we all wish we could play with. Admit it, you’ve pretended to shoot a laser at people with your watch at least once.

I still don’t understand what the difference is between shaking and stirring a martini, or why that, of all things, has become a defining characteristic of Bond. But you can’t deny that it’s just cool to say.

Unlike Tolkien or Stephen King, the original author and creator of James Bond is a bit more incognito. Who created this iconic character?