An Interview with Anthony Horowitz
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An Interview with Anthony Horowitz IAN KINANE Anthony Horowitz is the bestselling author of the Alex Rider spy series for chil- dren as well as two James Bond continuation novels, Trigger Mortis (2 !"# and Forever and a Day (2 !$#% He is also the author of the &herlock Holmes continu- ation novels The House of Silk (2 !!# and Moriarty (2 !(#, and is responsible for creating two of Britain)s best-loved television series, Midsomer Murders (!**+- present# and Foyle’s War (2 2-2 !"#% Ian Kinane: ,an you provide some background information on how you came to be involved in writing the James Bond continuation novels. Anthony Horowitz: - have had a lifelong afnity with James Bond and an afec- tion for the books which goes back to my very early years. - was ten years old when - saw the 0lm Dr. o (!*12# for the 0rst time. Bond has very much been part of my intellectual and creative life. - read 2leming’s books at an early age and then loved watching the 0lms with Sean ,onnery and 3oger 4oore. -n my twenties, or perhaps a little later, - had the inspiration to write a sort of teenaged version of James Bond% 4y thought process was that, at the time, 3oger 4oore was too old for the part% He was 05y-seven in his 0nal Bond movie, A !ie" to a #ill (!*$"#% - was pursuing a career as a children)s author and my books weren)t doing terribly well% A5er having an initial idea of a 6unior spy, a sort of 6unior James Bond, - wrote the 0rst of the Alex Rider books, Storm$reaker (2 #, which, - Ian Kinane is %he edi%or o, %he International Journal of James Bond Studies! Volume 2 · Issue 1 · Spring 2019 ISSN 2514-2178 DOI 10!24877"#bs!49 Dis%ribu%ed under '' () 2!0 *K was very clear with from the start, was inspired and informed by the James Bond 0lms 7 although - tried to ma'e my character as di/erent from Bond as - could% 8here are certain things teenagers and children can get away with or do that adults can)t% 8his is what initially brought me to the attention of the -an 2leming estate, who is very carefully watching what people are doing with secret agents and spies. And so - met with ,orinne 8urner (the literary manager of the -an 2leming estate# a few times and we got on very well% 9othing materialised at 0rst% 8here was one upset along the way: my ,hinese publishers accidentally pro- duced " , Alex Rider books with the number ; +< on the cover% 8his, of course was an infringement of the copyright of the 2leming estate, so all " , copies had to be pulped, unfortunately% At this same time, - was tal'ing regularly in schools and around the country about Bond, ac'nowledging what elements of the Bond franchise - had bor- rowed and what aspects - had used and adapted (in the Alex Rider series#% Sud- denly, one day, the estate announced that they were going to do a new Bond con- tinuation novel, and to my great dismay they chose Sebastian 2aul's to write it% - say ;dismay< only because - had always wanted to write Bond, to write one of the feature 0lms, or to 6ust be involved in that world in some way% 4y Alex Rider se- ries was very much a ;well if you won)t let me -’ll do it anyway< sort of thing. 8he estate did two more continuation novels afer this, by Jefrey =eaver (%arte &lan'he, 2 !2# and >illiam Boyd (Solo, 2 !?#, and - began writing articles in newspapers where - would mention almost en passant that - wanted to write one and that they should ask me. - sort of made this publicly 'nown, but that)s what - really wanted to do. Si@ years ago or so, - got a phone call asking if -)d li'e to come in and suddenly, rat number four, there - was. IK: >hat does a usual day of wor' look li'e for you when you sit down to write? =escribe your writing process. AH: >ell, it)s very much the same as all my other writing projects, in a sense. - use the word ;immersion< an awful lot when - tal' about writing a book% - im- merse myself so completely in the project% So, if -)m writing a Bond novel, - am hearing Bond, - am seeing Bond, - am inside that world% - sort of have a sense of everything that is Bond% So, - am aware of the colours, the smells, the textures, the cars, the women, the cocktails, the food 7 all of it% 8he process becomes more than 6ust writing: it becomes a sort of living inside the book, which is, - 2 In%ern-%ion-l .ourn-l o, .-mes (on& Stu&ies · Volume 2 · Issue 1 · Spring 2019 thin', the pleasure of writing a continuation novel% -t gives you the opportunity, as a writer, to be closer to Bond than anybody in the world because you are in the same book with him. >ith respect to my actual daily schedule when writing a Bond novel, - will wa'e up at + o)clock in the morning, and my 0rst thoughts will always be ;>hat is go- ing to happen to BondA >here is he? >here did - leave him the night before? -s he tied to a chairA -s he driving somewhere? -s he in bed with somebodyA >hat is he about to do? >hat am - about to do with him?” And so then it)s up to my of- 0ce. By this stage you 'now you are sort of in the middle of the process. - mean, - 'now what)s happening in the book 7 not all of it, but pretty much every bit of it% Berhaps - might not 'now exactly what a particular piece of action might loo' li'e. So, for instance, Bond might be tied to a chair about to be tortured% - will then devise and plan out the means by which he)ll be tortured% 8hat sort of de- tail% And - will make notes, having done my research% -)ll get together a good sense of what - am about to write and then - will write it% And the ne@t thing - 'now, it will be night% - am probably still there, writing. -t)s not li'e that every day% - mean, there are wal's with the dog; there are meetings with people; there are lunches 7 all of the other sorts of things that drag me away% But on a good day, - 6ust sit there and write. IK: How do you manage the balance of retaining elements of the Bond franchise which fans will recognise and appreciate with delivering new twists to that for- mula? AH: >ell, that)s the whole tric'% - mean, on the one hand, you’ve got to be ! D faithful to what 2leming has done and not tear the envelope 7 or, at least, not rip it too much% - mean, you can gently probe it and you might even crack it a little bit, but you cannot tear down the parameters. So, for example: - wouldn)t stop Bond smoking. - mean, in the novel Thunder$all (!*1!#, he does thin' briefy of cutting back a little bit, or he goes down to a lighter brand of 4orlands. But, broadly spea'ing, Bond smokes. He doesn)t not drin'C he hasn)t been on ;=ry January<% &imilarly, his attitude to women is always going to be very sexualisedC he is always going to look at them in a carnal way% He is not necessarily going to respect them for their intelligence. Fr he does. - mean, Bond is not as se@ist as people thin' he is; he does admire intelligence in women and he also very much admires independence. But that is not generally the 0rst thing that attracts him I. Kin-ne · An In%er/ie0 0i%+ An%+on1 2oro0i%3 4 to them. -t)ll be the clothes they)re wearing, the shape of their bodies, their eyes, their face. 8hose are the 'inds of rules you don)t break% And you have to live with them. 8he relationship with M, for instance, is profoundly important% 8hey were al- ways my favourite scenes in the books and in the 0lms. - loved Bernard Lee, and - thin' Judi =ench did a good 6ob. But, to a certain extent, the Bond 0lms did break faith with 2leming by taking Judi =ench out of the ofce in search of ac- tion% - suspect that is because the actor herself got fed up 6ust doing three scenes at the beginning of the 0lm and wanted a little bit more to do. But, to me, that was breaking faith with the formula, and - wouldn)t have done it myself% So - play with those 'inds of scenes, and the relationships between the characters, trying to get them right% Hou have to have the essentials, but then you have to create original stories. 2or example, you would look for arenas where Bond has never been before, or push the envelope a little bit by giving Bond a gay friend, which - did in Trigger Mortis% 8his is an example of where - took 2leming’s homophobia 7 which is al- leged, and, - fear, occasionally visible in the boo's 7 and played around with it a bit, 6ust li'e - took a particular character trope, the ;sidekic'<, and played around with that% Hou do that with the girls, as well% - don)t call them ;girls<% 9o-one is calling them ;women< or ;the female love interest<% Fne has to be very careful about the word one chooses.