Anthony Horowitz started off with a huge confession to make…
It took him ages to finally say yes to appearing at Bloody Scotland. Finally on the 10th Anniversaries of this crime festival in Stirling, he said yes and this incredibly fast talking author did not disappoint as he went from his young adult books to adult books to screen and theatre.
The Alex Rider series, that have has proven to be very popular with young teenagers and those almost hitting that milestone. For those who don’t know, Alex Rider is a teenage spy and there is lots of action to be had to feed these young minds and imaginations.
Anthony Horowitz talked about the importance of young people reading and being engaged in books. Having worked in and currently volunteer in a library and in education, I couldn’t agree more…
He talked about his writing and how he just kept trying and how his publisher gave him the opportunity to, even though initially his books weren’t selling many, until his fortunes changed in 1999. He shared his concerns for new writers and how they may not have the same opportunities to be kept on with their publishers as he was, even though, initially he didn’t have huge success, or that big hit.
James Bond
Anthony Horowitz got a lot of praise for this book. It seems that he took inspiration from Ian Fleming’s books and set it around the era of 1950-1966. It was interesting to hear that Ian Fleming initially got criticised for The Man With The Golden Gun at times for poor writing and more, especially a book he had written, whilst unwell, but reckoned the atmosphere her created was good. He based this book on that very book and reimagined the initial creation and became quite reflective as he set it just a year after Ian Fleming died.
Everyone has their favourite James Bond, he divulged Sean Connery was his favourite, but also liked Rodger Moor.
Hawthorn Series
The Twist of a Knife is the latest book in the Detective Daniel Hawthorn series.
Anthony Horowitz talked about how he, in fictional form, is in this series and takes up the part of the side kick. He informed the audience that it wasn’t about him. He described it as he being “Watson to Hawthorn’s Holmes”, which gives an idea of what the characters are like.
He talked about “Meta-Fiction” and how Agatha Christie was a master of this, of the real and unreal, of the laying down the clues to be fair to readers.
Theatre
Turns out that Anthony Horowitz has also written plays, not necessarily to critical acclaim, more that divided opinion of the critics, such as his play – Mind Game. He reckons it is exciting to write for the theatre and sees it as an opportunity to stretch himself.
Further Projects
Anthony Horowitz has 3 projects on the go at the time of writing this from novels to tv:
The 14th Alex Rider book, A new Hawthorn novel and a new tv project. He currently has The Magpie Murders on Brit Box and more on the way, possibly into 2023.
Advice he would give to writers is to read and write and have adventures as well as believing in yourselves.
Bookmarks and Stages by Lou 
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