THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS. STORMBREAKER. EVIL STAR...

[anthonyh]

It feels like it’s been months since I posted anything on my website (despite the fact that we’re now getting almost 20,000 hits a month). I’m sorry. But as you may have guessed, it’s been a busy year.

Anyway, here’s the latest news.

First of all, as you may have seen, ARK ANGEL won the British Book Awards a few nights ago in London. I know that I owe this to the number of you who voted for me so THANK YOU. Good to see off a certain other junior spy who was also nominated (actually, Charlie Higson came up to me to congratulate me…he’s a really nice guy and I hope he wins next time).

It was quite a wild evening. The high point for me was finally getting to meet…Oh God! What was her name…? Oh yes – JK Rowling! She told me that her daughter was an Alex fan and signed a card for my son and to meet her you’d never guess that she’s about a zillion times richer than the queen.

Meanwhile, Alex Rider is riding high in the New York Times bestseller list – currently at number six. And that’s before Ark Angel is published which happens next month. I’m about to leave on a coast-to-coast tour of the USA with about twelve flights in fourteen days and covering New York, Washington, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Houston etc.

USA tours are exhausting. A typical day starts at 7.00am. You drive to the airport. Fly for two hours. Get met. Drive for another two hours. Arrive at a bookshop. Sign a book. Meet two hillbillies and their dog, Rex. Drive to a school. Talk for an hour. Drive two more hours to another airport. Wait two hours for a flight (delayed due to leaves on the runway). Fly…

Not much fun, to be honest. But apparently I will sell books and that’s the idea.

At the end of the tour, I’m heading to Nevada and California, researching the central section of my new book, NIGHTRISE. This is the sequel to EVIL STAR and I’m currently about 60,000 words in…about two thirds of the way. I think I can promise you that it’s like nothing I’ve ever written before, extremely violent and bloody and featuring my first fully-formed heroine. Yes, at last I’ve written a girl into one of my books – and I really like her. The book will be out in April 2007.

That’s exactly one year after EVIL STAR which comes out on April 3rd. As much as I love writing Alex Rider, this series means a lot to me…my answer to the Lord of the Rings, Philip Pullman, Narnia and all the rest of it. So far, response to the new book has been terrific and I really hope that the series will take off soon in the same way as Alex.

On the subject of which, expect a movie announcement next month (May). I’m going to the film festival at Cannes where STORMBREAKER is being screened and the producers are jumping with excitement about the response so far. As usual, I’m not allowed to say anything (they’re more secretive than the Nexus) but for what it’s worth, I delivered the screenplay of POINT BLANC a few weeks ago.

And finally, Alex 7…

It’s on its way. I have the plot and most of the characters and I’m off to Australia, Thailand and Lombok later this year to research the settings. I’m hoping that the title of the book will be SNAKEHEAD, providing nobody else nicks it first. And what can I say? It’s got Smithers, the Australian Secret Service, a vicious Chinese gangster and some great action sequences and a huge climax with a vicious twist. I can’t wait to write it.

That’s it for now. I’m really looking forward to July 21st and the premiere. I’ll write again when I get back from the USA.