Short answers, pulled from the story.
Ian Fleming created the James Bond literary character in 1952, beginning Casino Royale on the 17th of February 1952 at his Goldeneye estate in Oracabessa, Jamaica. The novel was published in 1953. Fleming went on to write twelve Bond novels and two short story collections before his death on the 12th of August 1964.
Fleming took the name from Dr James Bond, an American ornithologist and expert on Caribbean birds based at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, who authored Birds of the West Indies, first published in 1936. Fleming, a birdwatcher himself, owned a copy of that guide and chose the name because it was, in his words, "brief, unromantic, Anglo-Saxon and yet very masculine." A separate 2018 claim traces the name to James Charles Bond, who served under Fleming in the Special Operations Executive.
Fleming based Bond on a composite of individuals he met during his service in the Naval Intelligence Division in the Second World War. Named figures include his brother Peter Fleming, Conrad O'Brien-ffrench, Patrick Dalzel-Job, Bill "Biffy" Dunderdale (MI6 station head in Paris), Sir Fitzroy Maclean, and MI6 double agent Dusan Popov. A 2016 BBC Radio 4 documentary also explored links to author Phyllis Bottome's 1946 novel The Lifeline.
In the novels, Bond stands 1.83 metres tall and weighs 76 kilograms. He has blue-grey eyes, a slim build, a 3-inch vertical scar on his right cheek, and short black hair. Two separate characters in the novels compare his appearance to that of composer and actor Hoagy Carmichael.
Bond enthusiast and gun expert Geoffrey Boothroyd wrote to Fleming to criticize the .25 ACP Beretta as an unsuitable weapon and suggested the Walther PPK 7.65mm instead. Fleming adopted the change in Dr. No, pairing it with a Berns-Martin triple draw shoulder holster as Boothroyd recommended. In thanks, Fleming named the Secret Service Armourer who issues the gun Major Boothroyd.
Multiple authors have continued the series with authorisation from the Fleming estate. John Gardner wrote fourteen novels and two novelizations between 1981 and 1996. Raymond Benson wrote six novels, three novelizations and three short stories between 1996 and 2002. Anthony Horowitz has written three novels. One-off continuation novels were written by Kingsley Amis, Sebastian Faulks, Jeffery Deaver and William Boyd. Charlie Higson and Steve Cole also wrote the Young Bond series.