The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
New ‘Bond’ writer delights audiences with charm and insights at packed Writers Week
FANS who had flocked to see Anthony Horowitz speaking in the ballroom of the Listowel Arms Hotel on Saturday night were certainly not disappointed with the occasion.
The author – who is best known for his television series ‘Foyle’s War’ and his best selling teenage spy novel series based around the adventures of 14 year old ‘Alex Rider’ – was in Listowel to promote his latest ‘James Bond’ novel entitled ‘Forever and A Day’.
The book, which has been sanctioned by the Ian Fleming estate, is a prequel to Casino Royale, Fleming’s first 007 novel, and will explore the origins of the world’s most famous secret agent.
This is the second Bond novel that Horowitz has written for the Fleming estate after his debut with ‘Trigger Mortis’ in 2015.
The 63-year old was relaxed, funny, articulate and charming as he joined RTÉ radio broadcaster Rick O’Shea for a very informal chat on Saturday evening.
The pair chatted about the author’s earliest experiences of failing academically at almost every subject, only to discover books and stories at his local library, to the moment he discovered his love of storytelling when he was 10 years old when telling stories to help the younger children sleep in their dormitory at the boarding school he attended.
Speaking about his earliest experience of Bond, Horowitz said he loved the novels from the minute he first read them and with his latest work, he wanted to make sure that he stayed true to Fleming’s original description of Bond.
“I would never want to write anything that would surprise Fleming if he came back and read it,” he laughed.
Horowitz, who had earlier spent an hour and a half signing books for children in Listowel Library, declared that he loved the relaxed nature of Writers’ Week and that he hoped to back one day.