Meet Anthony Horowitz, creator of the award-winning Alex Rider series!

Q. What posed the biggest challenge with Stormbreaker; writing the book... or adjusting it to write the screenplay?

Writing the screenplay was the bigger challenge because I was so nervous about spoiling what I had done in the book. Each Alex Rider book is more difficult than the one before. There are an awful lot of people who will be disappointed in I get it wrong!

Q. How involved were you in choosing Alex Pettyfer as Alex Rider?

I think I was the first person to see Alex Pettyfer (in Tom Brown's Schooldays on TV) and I rang the producers the next day. But I didn't choose him. They saw 650 14-year-old boys and made the decision themselves. I'm hugely relieved that they chose Alex as I think he's great.

Q. What do you think a 21st century library should offer?

A 21st century library should offer all the latest books as well as classics. It should have internet access, newspapers and magazines, a coffee bar (why not?) and a librarian who doesn't scowl at you if you happen to sneeze.

Q. Ian Rider and Alex find out important information from the local library. How important do you think libraries are?

Libraries offer thousands of stories and millions of bits of information and they're completely free (well, we pay for them with our taxes but that's another story). Borrowing books is the best way to find out what writers you like.

Q. What inspired you on the creation of the gadgets in Stormbreaker and which one was your favourite?

My favourite gadget was the zit cream that dissolves metal because this is something that only a teenager would have – and it just makes me smile. All the gadgets are inspired by things that I find in my son's bedroom and that was a couple of years ago...

Q. Are there any changes in Stormbreaker: the movie compared to Stormbreaker: the book?

There are a lot of changes – and many of them are my fault because I wrote the screenplay. But making a $40 million film meant that I had to listen to the producers and the distributors who all made certain demands. But that said, everyone who has seen the film has said how close it is to the book. Alex is the same. The tone is the same (it isn't sillier or funnier or anything like that.) I'm very happy with the result.

Q. Hundreds of thousands of children will take part in this year’s Summer Reading Challenge, The Reading Mission. Got any tips for them?

Don't think of reading as a chore or something you "have" to do. Enjoy it! A good book should grab hold of you and carry you away... It really is great to lose yourself in a book. You shouldn't be afraid of dropping a book if you don't like it, or if it isn't working for you. Just make sure you start another.

Q. How did you come up with your idea of a teenage superspy?

I used to love James Bond films, but one day it occurred to me that Bond was getting too old. It was in that single thought that Alex Rider was born.

Q. Was a 14-year old Anthony Horowitz as adventurous as Alex Rider is?

I was adventurous – but only in my imagination. I had to wait until I was eighteen until I was able to set off around the world and have real adventures. As a boy, I was nothing like Alex Rider.

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