Q&A with Alex Rider author Anthony Horowitz - Answers back.

[ShadeMumsnet]

The earth has almost been destroyed by the forces of darkness. Those who have survived are barely human, drifting in a world ruled by famine, terrorism and war. Any last hope now rests with five extraordinary teenagers: the Gatekeepers...

If you'd like to read more about the chilling conclusion to Anthony Horowitz 's epic supernatural series, visit our November Chapter Book of the month page where you can read the first chapter and apply to win one of 40 copies of the book (application form closes at the end of Friday 2 November).

Anthony will be answering your questions in our exciting Q&A. Just post your or your children's questions here before midday on Wednesday 21 November and we'll pick the 10 best ones to send on to him. The chosen questions will each receive a copy of Oblivion.

[worriedmum46]

Did you always want to be an auther? and do you ever run out of new ideas?

[Firewall]

Your books are fantastic, it's so lovely to have books that also engage boys to read. My question is as a parent or teacher in your opinion what are the best ways of engaging boys to read and write more, or more importantly enjoy it?
Every year I see that in a-level English/English lit, once there is a choice, in most classes there are only one or two boys taking it as a subject.

[Hopezibah]

We would love to know who was or is your biggest inspiration and why?

[Helium123]

Hi, you've written books for kids as young as 8 years old. Would you ever consider bringing an exciting adventure to even younger kids? Even perhaps a picture book?

[preety18]

Where did you get your inspiration about this book?

[RachelMumsnet]

Still time to send in your questions to Anthony about Oblivion or any other of his books. If you've received your free copy of Oblivion, please do post on this thread and let us know what you think of it.

[modernbear]

Did you know Power of Five's ending when you started Raven's Gate or was the series, a living/evolving thing?

A second, more general, question (sorry, I thought I would just ask more out of interest than anything): I read somewhere that you were involved with the child protection agency, Kidscape. Why did you get involved with this particular charity and is your involvement in any way reflected in your work?

[Hamsterswheel]

My eldest son is 11 and a big fan of your books. He's read all the Diamond Brothers and Alex Riders but since starting secondary school he seems to have lost interest in reading and I'm struggling to find books to get him back reading. Who do you think are the best contemporary writers around at the moment for boys of this age? Would be really grateful for any suggestions for authors or book titles. I say contemporary because If I suggest any books I read or my dh read as kids, he isn't interested!

[katekat]

How your ideas are are being born? Is there any particular method to get an inspiration? Is it like a process or would you say ideas are being born spontaneously?

[BookwormMummy]

Do you feel that schools place enough emphasis on reading for pleasure in schools? My children love reading at home and have done from a very early age but it always feels like a chore to them at school. I know many schools are trying to change how reading is perceived at school but I'm still not convinced they are going about it the right way...

[Naggity]

My children would like to ask:

Which character from your books would you most like to be and why?

[SoMuchToBits]

This might be a slightly long post, for which I apologise.

I recently heard you speak at my ds's school speech day in September. He is in year 7 and only joined the school about two weeks prior to this. I was extremely impressed with your speech, as not only was it amusing, but it also centred very much on the value of reading, (especially fiction) and of school libraries.

Ds attended a local state primary school, with which I was very happy. I have become quite involved with helping out at this school, in particular with the school library, so I was interested to hear your comments. His primary school is only 11 years old, so the library has had to be built up in a small space of time. The children now have the option of borrowing books from the library, but only because a small number of parents (including myself) spend time voluntarily helping there. We do what we can, but I do realise that we are not trained librarians, nor teachers, and can only go by the experiences we have.

I try my best to match up children with books we have in the library which I think they would like to borrow. I see this as extremely important, as for my own son, I know he would read voraciously if he was interested in the book, but anything he didn't like would put him off reading.

My two questions are as follows:-

1. Which fiction books would you recommend to an almost 12 year old like my son? He is a competent reader, likes action and adventure stories, and so far has enjoyed all the Arthur Ransome books, the Narnia books, some cricket fiction books by Bob Cattell, the Professor Branestawm books and the Telford Railway series (sadly out of print, but my sister has copies!) as well as some of your own books.
   
   
2. I realise that my son is at an independent school, and the library there is fairly comprehensive, but for state schools (both primary and secondary) what sort of books would you like to see available in their libraries, and do you think it is important for them to have qualified staff to advise the children on what they might enjoy reading/like to try next etc? I am asking this as a passionate advocate of libraries, who helps out as much as I can, but doesn't necessarily have the expert knowledge I would like, and therefore feels sometimes unable to help the children as much as I would like.

[DilysPrice]

DD (10 - huge Alex Rider fan) wants to know "Are you a perfectionist? Do you have lots of crumpled up story ideas in the bin?"

I've just found out that this is a continuation of retreads of books you originally wrote in the 1980s, so I'd love to hear about the process of rewriting - how many of the changes are due to your development as a writer and how many are due to changes in the world around you, and your post-Alex Rider audience?

[Lissarella]

My boys loved your books. Girls can also be reluctant readers. Do you see yourself writing something specifically for girls in the future?

[ChewyK]

This question comes from my son Matthew. We have both enjoyed your Alex Ryder books.

Are you a fan of James Bond- and would you like to have been a spy? :)

[ChewyK]

This question comes from my son Matthew. We have both enjoyed your Alex Ryder books.

Are you a fan of James Bond- and would you like to have been a spy?

[Eirwen]

My teenage daughter is a huge fan of your 'Alex Rider' books and also the 'Power of Five' Series. She asked me to thank you for many hours of enjoyable reading material. She's thoroughly enjoying 'Oblivion' but is saddened as this is the end of another series. She's curious to know your future writing plans ..... any ideas or intentions for a new series ? What can we look forward to next ??? Thanks.

[RachelMumsnet]

Thanks for all the questions. We;ll be selecting ten to send over to Anthony later today and will link through to his answers later this month. The 50 free copies of Oblivion should now have reached you - if you were lucky enough to win a copy, please do let us know what your child thinks. We appreciate it's a hefty book and may take a bit of time but we would love to hear whether they enjoy the book and will be passing all comments on to Anthony at Walker books.

[RachelMumsnet]

You can see Anthony's answers to the ten questions here:

Anthony Horowitz Q&A

If your question was answered you have won a copy of Oblivion and we'll be sending over a pm tomorrow. Thanks to those who posted questions to Anthony.