Fleming had first mentioned to friends during the war that he wanted to write a spy novel, an ambition he achieved within two months with "Casino Royale". He started writing the book at Goldeneye on 17 February 1952, gaining inspiration from his own experiences and imagination. He claimed afterwards that he wrote the novel to distract himself from his forthcoming wedding to the pregnant Charteris, and called the work his "dreadful oafish opus". His manuscript was typed in London by Joan Howe (mother of travel writer Rory MacLean), and Fleming's red-haired secretary at "The Times" on whom the character Miss Moneypenny was partially based. Clare Blanchard, a former girlfriend, advised him not to publish the book, or at least to do so under a pseudonym.