The horror of Anthony Horowitz

Children's author and screenwriter Anthony Horowitz was at the point of giving up writing for children when he produced his first tale about teenage spy Alex Rider, Stormbreaker.

He had been steadily writing one children's book a year but his main career was screenwriting for TV series such as "Midsomer Murders" and "Foyle's War" and he regarded his children's books as something of an indulgence. Sales of titles such as The Devil and his Boy, and Groosham Grange (about a boy who goes to wizard school--written before Harry Potter hit the shelves) had been "respectable", but not brilliant. Horowitz had started to wonder if there was any point in carrying on.

It's as well he did: UK sales of his Alex Rider series have recently broken through the one million mark (Nielsen BookScan) and Stormbreaker is being made into a $40m film.

The stresses Horowitz faces as a top-selling author are very different from the early days of his children's writing. Because of the time he has had to dedicate to the "Stormbreaker" script he is now behind with his next project, a horror series for children called The Power of Five, which is based on a series he originally wrote over 20 years ago. The first title, Ravens Gate, is published by Walker Books in August and, at this stage, the second of the planned five titles should have been well under way.

Writing round the clock

Horowitz works from a comfortable studio in the garden of his north London home, watched by a cardboard cut-out of Alex Rider in the corner. The large glass windows overlook a small but pretty garden and a bedroom downstairs means he can write into the early hours without disturbing his family, which includes two teenage sons.

Horowitz admits he is overstretched at the moment--he looks worn out--and the strain of combining two careers, writing for screen and for children, may be starting to show. Yet he retains an energetic commitment when talking about his work, pacing the kitchen as he explains what has made him go back to an idea he had in his early 20s, to rework and rewrite it.

The Power of Five is a good versus evil plot in which five children with paranormal powers are pitted against an ancient and dark power that threatens the earth. Instead of the gimmicks and gadgets used in the Alex Rider books, these children have to learn how to use their own gifts to overcome the evil they face.

He says, "When I wrote the original book, called The Devil's Doorbell, I thought it would be quite fun to write something along the lines of Lord of the Rings or Narnia, but to set it in the real world. For me, mystery and fantasy and adventure are more exciting if it's happening around you, just out of the corner of your eye. For example, there's an antique shop just down the road from here and they've never sold a thing all the time I've been here--so what are they doing? What is the shop fronting? Satanism?

On re-reading The Devil's Doorbell, he thought that, while the writing was "rather poor", the ideas were good and more relevant than when he originally wrote them. "It struck me that this was the right time, and a good time, to explore the idea of good versus evil--principally around the issue of war in Iraq--and the idea of corruption in high places which is not only unworthy but, given what has happened in Iraq, quite evil."

Horowitz has kept very little of the original book and some 80% of the first title is new. The main character, Matt, is much more feisty, with echoes of Alex. "It's quite hard to feel into another character when I've got Alex Rider sitting on my shoulder," he says, "but Matt is much more damaged goods--he is not as attractive as Alex and it takes time to get to like him."

There are also a number of violent and sinister deaths during Matt's fast-paced adventures, for which Horowitz is unapologetic. "How far can you go with horror? I go as far as I feel it's right and leave it to the editor to tell me if it's too far. I believe a children's writer has no responsibility--it's up to parents and teachers to decide whether or not children should read certain books--although I wouldn't want them to decide against these books!" But he also believes this is what children want to read. "I don't think anyone has written a really 'shivery' horror book for kids for some time-- other than Darren Shan--and that's what I'm trying to achieve."

Walker has high expectations for the new series; the first print run will be 150,000. In the US, Scholastic acquired the series for "an eye-widening" amount of money, says Horowitz--some $1m--through the Gina Maccoby Agency. Other foreign rights deals are handled by Jill Hughes on behalf of Horowitz's agent, Maggie Noach, and have been agreed in countries including France, Portugal, Japan and Serbia. A film deal for the new series can only be a matter of time.

While Horowitz is delighted with his success, he is also keen to point out the long apprenticeship that he and other committed children's authors have served. "It's a wonderful time for children's authors but I am worried that children's publishers are looking for instant successes with many zeros attached. Every week you hear of a new book that has been written by someone who has never written for children before and gets a lot of hype. I am worried that the 'not very good books' are in danger of squeezing out the authors who are writing good books."

Caroline Horn