A quick word...

Here's a quick message from me - just to bring things up to date.

First of all, I haven't been around much because I've managed to injure myself in a jet ski accident ten weeks ago. Moral of the story: write Alex Rider stories, don't try to be Alex Rider! Nothing too serious but I'm in and out of hospital and got some great shots last week of my own insides as seen by an MRI scanner. It was funny being inside one after writing about it in Ark Angel - and by coincidence I ended up in the same hospital that Alex was sent to in that book.

Anyway, maybe one day I'll be able to post the photograph which would give you an "inside" view of a writer which you'd probably prefer not to have. Alternatively, I'm thinking of turning it into a Christmas card with glitter balls hanging off my ribs...like an Xmas tree.

Perhaps not...

Some of you have been asking how I came up with the name Ark Angel. To be honest, it's not my favourite title. I knew the title had to be the name of the space station and it struck me that it was a bit like an ark but it was up in the air which is where the angel bit came from. Other titles were: ENEMY FIRE, LASERBLADE, ENTRY POINT, ATMOSFEAR and RE-ENTER ALEX...so you can see I was pretty desperate.

I still haven't seen anything of Stormbreaker the movie but I'm hoping they'll show me a cut before Christmas. Right now I'm working on the book that they're going to put out: "The Making of the Movie". I think a lot of these books are pretty lame so I'm trying to make this one as good as possible although I won't be writing it all.

And 2006 looks like bringing a flood of Alex products including toys, board games, computer games, T-shirts...all the usual stuff. Every day I get sent emails about new Alex stuff. I just hope I'm making the right decisions.

Finally. I still haven't started work on the second film. Point Blanc or Skeleton Key? I just can't decide. AND I'm meant to be working on Alex 7. No wonder my back has collapsed! The rest of me will soon follow.

All the best,

Anthony Horowitz