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James Preller has an idea.  An awesome idea.  We’ve all heard that boys are reading far less than girls these days.  To combat this lack of laddie reading, folks have come up with booklists or websites or what have you to inspire the male masses to pick up a book.  Preller, however, has taken a rather practical approach.  As he explains on his blog, “I’ve reached the conclusion that one of the most powerful, positive factors to encourage and inspire boys to read is, very simply, to see their fathers read. Look, there’s dad sitting down with a book. Any book. Fathers don’t just chop down trees, fix door jambs, and watch football. We read, too. It’s a valid male activity, like burping. Think of the power of that simple image. There’s Dad with a book in his lap.”  As a result he’s calling upon the menfolk to contribute photos to the cause.  Show us some dudes with books.  I know of one website that does something similar, but the results are pretty different.  In any case, help James out.  See more here.

• Okay folks!  It has happened.  They’re trying out eReaders for small fry.  I thought we had another year to go before any of this finalized, but as of right now Barnes & Noble is advertising their color NOOK for kids on their website.  There’s nothing particularly new about it (plenty of apps do similar things for kids) except potentially the size.  After some digging I found that the new NOOKcolor is going to be about 7-inches.  Something to ponder.  One wonders what the Christmas sales (and post-Christmas sales) will be looking like this year . . . and if they’ll meet expectations.  Thanks to Nina Crews for the link.

• The Brown Bookshelf has offered a challenge unto you masses out there.  Here’s the skinny: Each February (Black History Month) they make a point to highlight the accomplishments of twenty-eight African-American authors and illustrators who work in the field of child and YA books.  Right now they want the best “new and unnoticed works by African-American authors” for 2010.  And they need them very soon too!  So if you’ve a chance, submit your too little known and appreciated favorites by October 31st to The Brown Bookshelf and shed a little light on some unsung gems that caught your eye.

• I’m still bummed that I didn’t get to go to the KidLitCon this year.  I find solace in reading the recaps instead.  In fact, you can find a nice, big, beautiful recap encapsulation (or ReEnCap if you want to be cute) here.  A hearty tip of the hat to Tea Cozy for the link.

• 10 Comments on Fusenews: Give it what you’ve got, last added: 10/27/2010
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  Meghan said, on 10/27/2010 6:15:00 AM
  

  Thanks for mentioning Eva Ibbotson on here. I didn’t know she had passed away, but I am a huge fan of her writing. She will definitely be missed.

  rockinlibrarian said, on 10/27/2010 6:58:00 AM
  

  Seconding Meghan’s comment. Eva Ibbotson had a way with words for sure. RIP, and thanks for letting us know!

  Kate Coombs said, on 10/27/2010 6:59:00 AM
  

  I’m thinking Barnett’s new book should be called Mackingjay, actually.

  Ilsa J. Bick said, on 10/27/2010 7:00:00 AM
  

  I didn’t know about the Nook reader for kids, but Velocity is also working on a kid-friendly storybook reader. See it here: http://www.cruzreader.com/story.php.

  While this is all interesting, I still think that a crucial interaction between a parent and kid will be lost with a reader. Call it my prejudice, but being a child shrink means I think about child development and human interactions–particularly between parent and child–all the time. That kind of human interaction is just as important as manipulation of the environment. There’s something about holding and manipulating the actual BOOK that’s dovetails with the development of a kid’s spatial-recognition skills. In a way, this is why older teens haven’t much liked ereaders and don’t find them all that useful as textbooks (I believe it was Princeton that tried the experiment and concluded that readers were a no-go). Spatial skills develop very early on and go hand-in-hand with acquisition of object permanence: that something continues to exist in three-dimensional space (and memory) even if a child can’t see it. It’s why very young children will look behind a mirror to see where something’s gone; why peek-a-boo works so well with infants but bores a toddler. The toddler knows you’re there; the infant is delighted to see you reappear; and the kid in-between will eventually reach out and take your hands away to reveal your face–> a key realization that utilizes both object permanence AND a knowledge of HOW an object occupies space.

  This is also a highly adaptive survival skill. If this were a cave-kid, this would translate, eventually, into an understanding that the wolf about to eat you is hiding behind that rock; it’s not gone and if you don’t realize that, you don’t survive. So these kinds of skills are very old: not primitive, just essential.

  In the same way, think about how people find information in, say, a book. The book exists in multiple dimensions, not the least important is 3-D: as an object with width, length and depth. Depth (and not just depth perception) is extremely important in terms of accessing information. If you talk to kids (and older teens and adults), many can tell you approximately how far *along* in the book a certain tidbit of information might be; this is how people find things in books (and space, in general; it’s why you can recall not only the layout of your cluttered desk, but how you also remember that the paper you’re looking for is third pile over, about halfway down). Similarly, kids can also describe the look of the page and its layout, as well as what comes before and after.

  While the ability to recall the look and layout of a page might translate through a reader (and I’m still not sold on that), there is no 3-D in a reader and no opportunity to exercise spatial skills that might compensate if, say, your ability to recall WHAT the page looks like isn’t as advanced. Spatial skills are also something that many boys are better at by adolescence than girls.

  Just some food for thought. While there may be gains with readers, I wonder, really, what will be lost: which skills might not develop as well or be capitalized upon. Conversely, would some kids develop different skill-sets? Possibly. Only time would tell–but, again, I’m not sure that neglecting innate abilities in favor of new tech is a good thing.

  Cheryl said, on 10/27/2010 7:09:00 AM
  

  I *love* that TV movie of THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER — it caught the tone of the book pretty close to perfectly. I hope this new one does it as well.

  Elizabeth Bird said, on 10/27/2010 7:15:00 AM
  

  And Kate Coombs wins the Mac naming contest. Fer sure.

  Sergio Ruzzier said, on 10/27/2010 8:09:00 AM
  

  Thank you Betsy! I can’t wait to receive your list.

  Brooke Shirts said, on 10/27/2010 8:26:00 AM
  

  The link to Travis Jonker’s trip to 1992 doesn’t seem to be working. Any help? I’m a-dyin’ for some hip ‘92 action.

  Elizabeth Bird said, on 10/27/2010 9:29:00 AM
  

  Oof! That’s no good. I think I’ve worked out the quirks in any case. Should be up and running now!

  Genevieve said, on 10/27/2010 11:45:00 AM
  

  Aw. I’ve just discovered Eva Ibbotson this year and have been devouring her books. I’ll definitely miss her!

  Add a Comment

Got a treat for you kiddos today.  You may have seen that charming It’s Kind of a Funny Story movie trailer they’ve been showing in front of films these day.  You know.  This one:

Cute.

Anyway, this film is based on a teen novel by Ned Vizzini.  And Mr. Vizzini, believe it or not, once spoke on a Children’s Literary Salon panel in my library a year or so ago.  Recently I spoke with him about how his book become a movie, and since there’s a chapter in my upcoming Candlewick book about author cameos in screen adaptations I asked if Mr. Vizzini had one of his own.  He shared with me this story, and it’s just so darn good that I had to present it to you here today with his permission.  This is pretty cool, folks.  From Ned:

“When word got out that my book It’s Kind of a Funny Story was being turned into a film, people asked me, “Will you have a cameo?” This struck everybody as a good idea, but it worried me — ideally, I don’t want anyone to come to my books with a preconceived notion of what I look like. Picture this: a reader familiar with my work drags her/his friends to the opening night of It’s Kind of a Funny Story, the film based on my novel. In the middle of the film, my dumbass face appears. The reader recognizes me and grabs her/his friends: “That’s the author!” The friends (who couldn’t care less about me) think: “So this is the doofy white guy responsible for this stuff…” Now, what if these friends are Czech? Chilean? Kiwi? What if they’re 62? 17? 45? I’m a 29-year-old Italian-WASP from Brooklyn; it’s very specific. By staying hidden, I increase my chances of a reader empathizing with my characters without prejudging me. For this reason, I took a pass on the whole film cameo thing. However, when I saw a screening of It’s Kind of a Funny Story, I was pleasantly surprised to see that in place of me, one of my books has a cameo. My second book and first novel Be More Chill (2004) is featured in a scene being read by Craig Gilner, the main character, played by Keir Gilchrist. The directors, Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, put this “Easter egg” in the movie without telling me — I love it. Now, in my scenario, the fictional reader grabs her/his friends: “That’s the author’s other book!” And the friends know what to buy.

I did get to participate in It’s Kind of a Funny Story in two ways besides the Be More Chill Easter egg: One of the producers of the film, Ben Browning of Wayfare Entertainment, asked me in the middle of shooting, winter 2009, if I had a T-shirt with a band name on it that I could “clear” for him. He wanted a character in one scene to be wearing a band T-shirt but he didn’t want to bother the Pixies. I was happy to oblige. I had a shirt from a band I love, Drunk Horse, a San Fra

Last night Cassandra Clare posted some movie news about City of Bones. Check it out here!

I am so excited for this! I had not heard anything up to now about it and I am so happy that we have a chance to see this book come to life on the big screen!

Are you excited? What scenes would you want to see in the movie? (I am partial to the Greenhouse scene :) )

The first book I ever remember reading on my own, for a school assignment, was Mr. Popper’s Penguins. Jim Carrey has reportedly signed on to star as Mr. Popper in the film adaptation of the classic. Here is the release directly from The Hollywood Reporter:

The popular 1938 children’s book “Mr. Popper’s Penguins” finally is marching toward the big screen, with Jim Carrey starring as a businessman who inherits a flock of penguins.

Carrey’s casting follows a search for a lead actor that seemed to last longer than a forced march to the South Pole.

Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Owen Wilson were among those who circled an updated adaptation that will be produced by John Davis for Fox before talks with Carrey heated up this summer.

The film is on the fast track at Fox and will begin production in October in New York.

Mark Waters is on board to direct a script by Sean Anders and John Morris that modernizes the whimsical story.

In the book, a house painter who dreams of traveling writes a letter to Admiral Drake, who answers him on a radio show and then sends him a penguin captured near the South Pole. Then he gets a second penguin, and that leads to a dozen more and chaos at the painter’s house.

To pay for all this, the painter trains the birds to perform, but his adventure in showbiz doesn’t go well and he eventually travels with the admiral back to the North Pole to release the birds into the wild.

In the new version, Carrey plays a New York businessman who receives a half-dozen penguins who wreak havoc on his business and apartment before he finds important life lessons in their presence.

Carrey most recently was heard onscreen as the voice of Scrooge in the CGI remake of “A Christmas Carol,” which opened in December. His most recent live-action role was in Warner Bros.’ “Yes Man” which opened in late 2008 and grossed nearly $100 million in the U.S. and about $226 million worldwide, good for anyone else but only average for Carrey.

Carrey also has completed a starring role as a gay man in “I Love You Phillip Morris,” which screened last year at Sundance and Cannes and has opened overseas but does not have a U.S. release date.

Carrey had been rumored to be considering a half-dozen or more other movies, but his publicist said Friday that there are no other movies to which he is attached.

Taylor Schilling

Taylor Schilling (Mercy) beat out actresses including Abbie Cornish and Katie Cassidy to score the female lead opposite Zac Efron in The Lucky One, an adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks novel. The book tells the story of a Marine (Efron) who attributes his survival of three tours of duty in Iraq to a photograph he’s kept of a woman (Schilling) he doesn’t even know. When he gets back to the U.S., he sets out to find her. Dear John meets Cinderella. {New York Magazine}

It's the bellbottoms on the hippy dippy minstrel that I love.

• Comic book bloggers and children’s literature bloggers are two sides of the same coin.  Our interests often run parallel.  The degree to which the academic world regards us is fairly similar (though admittedly we get to have Norton Anthologies while they are sorely lacking any such distinction).  I don’t read my comic book blogs as frequently as I might, but once in a while the resident husband will draw my attention to something particularly toothsome.  Such a case was this series on Comic Book Resources.  A fellow by the name of Greg Hatcher makes a tour of the countryside each year, finding small towns with even smaller bookshops and thrift shops.  This year his has posted his finds and the children’s literature goodies are frequent.  In part one he pays homage to a surprise discovery of Kieran Scott’s Geek Magnet and shows the sad state of Sacagawea-related children’s literature in gift shops today (though I sure hope the Lewis & Clark gift shop also has the wherewithal to carry Joseph Bruchac’s Sacajawea: The Story of Bird Woman and the Lewis and Clark).  In part two Greg discovers the oddly comic-less Janet Townsend novel The Comic Book Mystery, finds the name Franklin Dixon on a book that ISN’T a Hardy Boys novel, and waxes eloquent on the career of illustrator Kurt Wiese. In part three he locates some very rare and pristine Trixie Belden novels (which I adored as a kid).  And finally, in part four he introduces us to the Danny Dunn series, shows us a hitherto unknown Three Investigators cover, and discusses Henry Reed (with illustrations by Robert McCloskey, of course).  If you enjoy bookscouting in any way, these posts are a joy.  Take a half an hour out of your day to go through them.  Greg writes with an easy care that I envy and hope to emulate.  Plus I loved the idea of giving photographs inserted into posts colored notations the way he does.  I’ve already started to try it myself.  Thanks to Matt (who, I see, recently credited Better Off Ted, for which I am grateful) for the links.

• I sort of view agent Nathan Bransford with the same wary respect I once bestowed upon a toucan I found in the London department store Harrods.  I’m grateful that he’s there and I can’t look away, but there’s something unnerving about running across him.  And now he appears to have a book coming out with Dial in 2011, which is nice except that I keep misreading the title as Jacob Wonderbra and the Cosmic Space Kapow.  For the record, I would give a whole lot of money to any author willing to name their titular character (childish giggle) after a bra, a girdle, or even a good old-fashioned garter.  Okay . . . why am I talking about Nathan Bransford again?  Oh righ
  3 Comments on Fusenews: Of gigs and dreck, last added: 8/26/2010
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  rams said, on 8/26/2010 1:35:00 AM
  

  Current wine, of which the minister himSELF was partial to a glass.

  tanita said, on 8/26/2010 2:33:00 AM
  

  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I NEED THAT RASPBERRY CORDIAL.
  I currently live in cordial-land, and still have never found raspberry.
  Nor currant wine, either. Which is probably a good thing. Erg.

  Rachel said, on 8/26/2010 8:51:00 AM
  

  I’ve had that cordial! They sell it at the Anne of Green Gables living history-type village on PEI! That was such a cool place to visit.

  Add a Comment

A Brand New Me by Shari Low

Shari Low’s bestselling British chick lit, A BRAND NEW ME, is in production with Working Title Films. Mimi Hare and Clare Naylor, screenwriters of The Accidental Husband, are adapting the screenplay.

Here is the description of this wildly popular novel:

Leni Lomond isn’t one of life’s risk-takers. A creature of habit, she’s been stuck in her comfort zone for so long she’s practically asleep.

So, on December 31st, she vows that things will be different this year – new job, new man, new life.

Less than a month into the New Year, Leni’s first resolution is fulfilled when she accepts a job as PA to TV astrologer Zara Delta. And her new assignment – to date men from every sign of the zodiac – looks like it might just help her with the second.

As the year goes by, the men Leni has to date include wannabe rockstar Matt, who sees Leni as his ticket to fame and fortune, overgrown teenager Harry – a man whose idea of a good date is a night at the amusement arcade – and therapist Craig, whose psycho babble is even of a turn-off than his beard…

But just when Leni’s ready to give it all up her fortunes take a turn.

Will this year finally be the one in which Leni changes her life – or is her destiny already written in the stars?

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

According to Deadline Hollywood, Fox Searchlight has acquired North American rights from IDG China Media to Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, an adaptation set in 19th Century China of the Lisa See novel directed by Wayne Wang. Gianna Jun and Li Bing Bing star,  and Ron Bass wrote the script with Angela Workman and Michael Ray. (Bass and Wang previously teamed on the screen adaptation of the Amy Tan novel The Joy Luck Club.) The deal was made by Searchlight presidents Nancy Utley and Stephen Gilula and acquisitions exec veep Tony Safford. Kathy Morgan of KMI International will handle foreign sales. Oh, by the way, did I mention that the film’s producers are Wendi Murdoch and Florence Sloan — in other words, the wives of News Corp (Fox) honcho Rupert Murdoch and MGM chairman Harry Sloan. Meanwhile, executive producer Hugo Shong has a China-based film fund underwritten mostly by Wendi.

Katherine Heigl is set to star in ‘One for the Money’, the first in Janet Evanovich’s wildly popular Stephanie Plum series. According to Variety, Reese Witherspoon was previously attached.

Fans of the popular “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” series will have to wait until late May for the final installment, “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest,” but they have something new to be excited about.

Variety reported that the film rights to “Dragon Tattoo” have been sold to Sony to produce a film based on the bestselling book. Although there has already been a film released in Sweden last February that made almost $100 million dollars across Europe, this will be the first American film based on the first trilogy.

The film will be c0-produced by the trusty Scott Rudin with the makers of Swedish film, Yellow Bird Films.

Over at MTV’s blog, they speculate who will play the tough, tattooed computer hacker turned sleuth Lisbeth Salander, who has been called “one of the most compelling characters in contemporary fiction.”

According to MTV, their choice is clear:

She is “a pale, anorexic young woman who had hair as short as a fuse, and a pierced nose and eyebrows… She was a natural redhead, but she dyed her hair raven black… She had a wide mouth, a small nose, and high cheekbones that gave her an almost Asian look.” And of course, she has a dragon tattoo (among others). With that in mind, here are our top three picks for Lisbeth:

Shannyn SossamonIf I were to leave my duties as your faithful blogger and take up a career as a Hollywood casting agent, my No. 1 pick for this role would be Shannyn Sossamon. Best known for her early ’00s roles in “A Knight’s Tale” and “40 Days and 40 Nights” this exotic brunette is a perfect physical facsimile of how I imagine Lisbeth to look.

Samaire ArmstrongAnother young starlet who’s just the right mix of delicate and dangerous is “Dirty Sexy Money” and “O.C.” actress Samaire Armstrong. Plus, with stints on T.V. crime shows like “NYPD Blue,” “Numb3rs” and “CSI: Miami,” she’s no stranger to a little detective work.

Kate MoennigWe loved Kate Moennig as tough-as-nails (with a heart of gold) lesbian Shane McCutcheon in “The L Word.” Pretty yet androgynous, we hope Kate would consider a hiatus from her role as Dr. Miranda Foster on the medical drama “Three Rivers” to step into Lisbeth’s well-worn combat boots.

Kristen Stewart of “Twilight” fame is a name that will probably pop up, although she was great in “Adventureland,” she has never come off as a “tough girl.” We will have to wait and see. Feel free to weigh in on who you think should be cast.

Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins are two very funny, very talented screenwriters. So much so, that Variety has deemed them among the 10 Screenwriters to Watch. Check out their profile in the industry trade here.

Emily and Sarah are penning the Lunch Lady screenplay. Mizz Lady Lunch is in very, very good hands.

I didn't have the posters in junior high, but I still got a kick out of this.

I was watching the Sci-Fi channel earlier today and saw the above preview for the movie based on Paranoid Park, a Blake Nelson novel that was a 2006 Cybils nominee. The movie is directed by Gus Van Sant and released by IFC Films. I have to say...so... Read the rest of this post

Although today was the kind of day fraught with flat tires, frustrated husbands, misplaced cell phones (later found underneath the cat) and other time drains, yesterday's writerly ruminating got me thinking about why people go to signings and try to... Read the rest of this post

My long-suffering assistant, HHQ, has asked me to drop a newsletter onto the web site to bring everyone up to date with what’s going on.

So first the big news. Alex Rider 7: SNAKEHEAD is finished and although I probably shouldn’t say it, I think it’s my favourite in the whole series.

As you all probably know, it opens in Australia a few days after Alex has splashed down from outer space. Alex is picked up by the SAS and taken to their headquarters at Swanbourne, Perth. He is then recruited by Australian intelligence and sent under cover to Bangkok to gather intelligence on a snakehead – a gang – run by the sinister master criminal, Major Winston Yu.

What Alex doesn’t know is that Yu is also working for Scorpia…yes, they’re back and dare I say it that this time they’re nastier than ever. Yassen Gregorovich also makes an appearance in the book and there’s a character called Ash who knows some nasty secrets about Alex’s past and the way his parents died. This is certainly the most personal Alex Rider book to date.

If any of you come to the Oxford Literary Festival on 21st March. I’ll be reading a chapter. And of course I’ll post a secret chapter on this site some time later this year.

Anyway, my publisher read it yesterday and she loved it which is a good start as she’s a tough woman to please. In fact I had a big meeting at Walker Books last week which was followed by lunch and some of the most rubbery pancakes known to man (it was Shrove Tuesday) and they went through some of the plans for this year which begin with the launch of NIGHTRISE this April.

You may have noticed that the Diamond Brother books have been repackaged and I’d be interested to know what you think of the new covers. I like them. They’re quite young and cartoony but fun and certainly more lively than the last ones. I’ve also written new introductions for them so if you find yourself in a bookshop, have a quick read (no need to buy the book…nobody minds). The intros are short and they made me laugh anyway.

There’s a new Diamond Brothers novella coming out in October – THE GREEK THAT STOLE CHRISTMAS. I adapted it from a radio play I wrote a couple of years ago but I’ve also expanded it and added some extra jokes. I still plan to write another full-length novel with the Diamonds one day.

SNAKEHEAD comes out in November – in time for Xmas. And what’s great is that I’ve already got an idea for the next one. The only slightly odd thing is that Alex won’t be in it… Remember you heard about it here first!

Not much else to say. I’m not doing many school visits this year because of my usual insane work overload. I’m in Andover and Devizes quite soon though. And I’m doing lots of festivals including Oxford, Bath, Hay-on-Wye (why?) and Edinburgh. You can keep track of my movements on the calendar designed by the ever-brilliant Xero.

Finally, just in case you’re wondering. I’m working on the screenplay of POINT BLANC, currently on the third draft. The producers still hope there’ll be a second Alex Rider movie. We’ll see. I’ll keep you posted.

I hate February. It’s cold and drizzling and my new pad in Clerkenwell is half-finished and I’m not even sure that the half that’s finished is as nice as the half that isn’t. My sons are up to their necks in exams, Lucky (the dog) refuses to answer to his new name and all in all I’d much rather be skiing. But I think it’s going to be a great year…

Anthony Horowitz

I notice a lot of posts on the website and as usual I’m weeks behind – so here are my excuses.

I’m moving house. Right now everything I own is piled up in cardboard boxes and I’m spending half my life racing up and down the M4 between Devizes (where I’m living) and Clerkenwell…which is where I’ll be living once the flat is ready.

I’m insanely busy (as ever) – just finished the LAST EVER EPISODE of Foyle’s War. And I’ve begun work on a new series for the BBC.

Snakehead. I’m 35,000 words in (but don’t tell my publishers or they’ll only want me to deliver it sooner). This one is taking a lot of research. I’ve already spent a day on a container ship down in Southampton and early in the New Year I’m flying to Malta to check out the chapter that features my old friend, Yassen Gregorovich. I’m also flying to Aberdeen to visit an oil rig for the climax.

I think the book is going really well…in tone it’s closer to Scorpia than Ark Angel (and Scorpia are back – they feature in the first chapter which I’ll hide somewhere on this site early next year). So far, Alex has had a pretty rough time and it’s about to get a whole lot worse once he crash lands in the Australian rain forest…

And since quite a lot of you are asking this, no – Snakehead won’t be the last Alex book. At least, I hope not. There’ll be at least one more.

I’m also getting a lot of questions about the film of Stormbreaker.

Stormbreaker did pretty well in the UK – it made around $15m which is fantastic for an independent British film. By and large it got good reviews too. (Did anyone notice how the press treated Eragon this week? They can be nasty when they want to!) 

Meanwhile, the DVD of Stormbreaker did brilliantly: 110,000 sold in the first week.

Other news. Nightrise comes out in April.  I’ve just seen the cover and Walker Books have done a fantastic job. I’m travelling to Hong Kong in July with fonoS (some of you may have had messages from him on this site…just ignore him and maybe he’ll go away). That’s research for volume four!

A few things to look out for: Desert Island Discs on December 31st (please excuse the slightly weird choice of music). A TV appearance on BBC4 on December 28th. And an original Alex Rider story appearing in two issues of The Daily Mail some time around Christmas! It’s a sort of prequel – featuring Alex when he was thirteen, before he became a spy. I hope it amuses you.

There’ll also be a short new Diamond Brothers book some time in 07: The Greek that Stole Christmas. Meanwhile, Walker Books are re-issuing all the old Diamond Brothers books with new covers (yet again). I’ve written new introductions which made me smile anyway.

Anyway HAVE A GREAT CHRISTMAS. All good wishes for 2007…the year of the new Alex. Can’t wait…

Anthony Horowitz

In case you’re wondering why I haven’t posted anything in a while, I’ve just got back from an eight-week trip around the world.

I’d say I’m home except we’ve just sold it. Goodbye Crouch End! From now on I’m going to be living in Clerkenwell which is a really old part of London – Fagin (Oliver Twist) lived close by and when I wrote Raven’s Gate, I put the HQ of the Nexus in the same street. Trains rumble past every few minutes and ghosts hang around the corners. I have a new study which I’ve built on the top floor and while I work I’ll be able to look at St Paul’s and the Old Bailey. There’s not much green around although I have got my own lawn on the roof…even if it is made of plastic.

Not sure how I’m going to exercise the dog but I’m experimenting with a treadmill and a hanging bone.

Anyway, the world tour had its high points and its low points.

I started in Bangkok where I was researching Alex 7. I found some great locations in the Chinese area – where Alex has to live, pretending to be an Afghan refugee – and also on the river. Expect filthy water, mouldering buildings, vicious Thai criminals and lots of rats! I also saw some stomach-churning food on sale in the streets. Most of it actually seemed to be made from churned-up animal stomachs. Maybe Alex will have to face up to a bowl of entrail soup. We’ll see.

Then I went to Perth and visited Swanbourne which just happens to be the headquarters of the Australian SAS. Also very useful for the book although sadly they wouldn’t let me in. Well I’ll have my revenge when I portray the whole lot of them as a bunch of cissies.

I did a couple of school visits before heading off for New Zealand, then back to Melbourne and Sydney, probably my two favourite cities in the world. Alex walks round Sydney Harbour in Chapter Four and I made loads of notes in the sunshine, watching the ferries pull in and out, occasionally smashing into the jetty in a cheerful, Australian sort of way. I also did the famous bridge walk while I was there. Amazing views particularly as night fell and a storm closed in. It was like watching the end of the world.

I got back home in September but I was only there a few days before I had to head off to Canada and the Toronto Film Festival for some early screenings of Stormbreaker. The film went down really well although I felt a bit weird being there. Actors and directors go to film festivals but the truth is that nobody is terribly interested in writers and as far as I could tell I was the only writer there.

By now I was travelling with Alex Pettyfer and his mother (who will soon find herself in one of my books…you wait and see). It was the beginning of a four-week Odyssey – and very odd it was too. We went to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Saint Louis (home of the world’s biggest arch – so big it looked faintly ridiculous although I have to admit it’s very impressive too), Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Dallas, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington DC and New York.

The best thing about the tour? Seeing so many different cities, standing on the grassy knoll where President Kennedy was assassinated, staying in some pretty classy hotels (my bedroom in Washington was so enormous I actually managed to get lost in it…no kidding), the weather, art galleries, the International Spy Museum in Washington, seeing Little Miss Sunshine at the cinema, writing the first episode of my new BBC TV series in the evenings, cheap T-shirts and – definitely – getting back to the UK.

The worst thing? Well, almost everything else, really. Being asked two thousand times where I got the idea for Alex Rider from. All that travel! Airports and security systems. Suitcases and passports. Packing and unpacking. Doing TV interviews at 11.00am in the morning and knowing that nobody was really watching apart from bored housewives and kids missing school.

Was it all worth while? Well, the film opened in America last week but on a very limited number of screens. I don’t really understand why. It’s still possible that Stormbreaker will do well in the USA just as, if you strike a match in a rain forest, there’s always a chance you’ll start a fire. But I can’t say I’m very optimistic. Which is a shame because we screened the film loads of times in the USA and all the audiences I spoke to seemed very enthusiastic.

Anyway, it’s all behind me now. I’m back, working on Chapter 5 of Snakehead and look out for a brand new Alex Rider short story in the Daily Mail close to Christmas. It’s called “Christmas at Gunpoint” and takes place on a ski resort (Gunpoint, Colorado) the year before Ian Rider died, before Alex became a spy.

I’ve also finished – really finished - Nightrise and I still think it’s one of my best books with a lot of things in it that are going to surprise you. Well, they surprised me. That comes out next April. Only two more books and the series is complete. The next one is set in Hong Kong and I’ll be heading that way early next year.

Finally, there’s the new design of this website. I hope you like it as much as I do. My thanks to Xero in Cork, S.Ireland who put it all together and, of course, HHQ who run it and occasionally beat me around to get me to write a couple of pages like this. I do drop in from time to time for what it’s worth and try to answer your posts…even from fonoS who is clearly a prat. (The clue is in his name)

All the best,

Anthony Horowitz

Finally the movie you’ve been waiting for has reached the shores of North America. Alex Rider : Operation Stormbreaker premieres in New York on Friday the 6th of October and opens nationwide in the USA on Friday the 13th of October.

Get your popcorn now!
www.stormbreaker.com

A quick message on the day before I leave for Australia. I hope you’re all having a good summer and – despite the heat – GOING TO THE CINEMA! (More about that in a moment).

This Saturday, I’ll be in Bangkok, having a couple of days’ rest on my way to Perth which is where my book tour of Australia starts.

It seems like the right place to think about Alex 7 – or Snakehead as everyone now knows it’s called. I’ve already worked out the plot and I’m starting to think about the action which will include a chase through Bangkok. But what sort of chase? On the river or on the roads? By boat or on foot? Or how about stealing a tuk-tuk, one of the motorised rickshaws (and death-traps) that crowd the city? Hopefully, I’ll get some ideas as I walk around.

I’m thinking of throwing Alex into a cage fight too, although I’m not sure how he’ll survive it. So I’ll head for one of the main stadiums on Saturday night and see what it’s like.

I’ll be in Sydney in about a week’s time which is where Chapter Two of Snakehead takes place…somewhere called Darling Harbour. One of the things I really like doing when I write the Alex books is to walk round the locations and plan everything on the spot. The chapter involves three bank robbers, a speedboat and – of course - Alex. I’ll take a tour in the morning and write it in the afternoon.

That only leaves about 80,000 words to go…

The reason that I can start thinking about Alex again is that I have just finished my new book, NIGHTRISE – the third in the “Power of Five” series that began with RAVEN’S GATE and EVIL STAR.

I think NIGHTRISE is very different from anything I’ve ever done. For a start, it’s longer. For the first time I’ve broken the 100,000 word barrier (but don’t worry – it’s still shorter than a Harry Potter and it’s probably as long as I’m going to get). I’ve already posted stuff about my recent trip to America which really helped the book to take shape. The heroes are two Indian – or Native American – kids. Scott and Jamie Tyler. Twins. They have telepathic powers and get sucked into a conspiracy involving a huge international business, Nightrise, and a plan to assassinate the next president of the USA.

The book includes time travel, some very bloody battle scenes, a prison breakout, a torture scene, several monsters and a re-appearance by a villain from the last book. Matt and Richard also appear and, as you know, I introduce my first heroine…a girl called Scar.

By the end of this week, as I’ve done before, I’ll have hidden the first chapter somewhere on the website. If you find it, let me know what you think!

And now news about the film of Stormbreaker.

The premiere in Leicester Square was completely insane. I’d expected about 500 people to turn up but in fact there were more than 2000. Most of them had come to see Alex Pettyfer, of course – not me. But I’m not complaining. It was a boiling hot evening and going up the red carpet felt like a bit of Hollywood in London. There were dozens of photographers and TV cameras. I even got my picture in OK magazine!

Then, five days later, the film was released all over the UK. I tried not to read any of the reviews because film critics can be a pretty miserable bunch and anyway who really cares what they think? But from what I’m told, most of them liked it, some of them loved it and there was only really one who really hated it (someone who clearly had his head so far up his own bottom I’m surprised he was able to see the film at all).

Since then, it’s been a pretty nerve-wracking business. You probably don’t know this – I certainly didn’t – but when a big movie opens, the producers and the money people track seat sales every day of every week and know exactly how well the film is doing all the time. In other words, when you buy a ticket, they know!

So far Stormbreaker has done very well – although the competition from Superman and Pirates 2 has been strong. The hot weather has also kept some people away from the cinema. The last time I saw the producer, in fact, he was sacrificing chickens in the hope of rain. But people are still going and the film is still showing on screens all over the UK. The summer has six more weeks to run. And most important of all, word of mouth has been really great.

Which is to say that most of you seem to have liked it! I have to say, that’s a huge relief. And if you did like it, can you recommend it your friends, family, neighbours, passing strangers, paramedics, tourists etc? I really hope we’re going to make Point Blanc next year but it all depends on the box office.

Stormbreaker starts to open across Europe next month and then comes the big one – the New York premiere on October 3rd. These days, a film has to succeed in America if it’s going to succeed worldwide. I’m going to be travelling around the USA with Alex Pettyfer throughout September doing publicity and stuff. Keep an eye on my calendar…

That’s it for now. We’re making lots of changes to this website and I hope you approve. Thanks to Xero in Ireland who never rests. And HHQ in London. And everyone who has been to see the film…