Anthony, thanks very much for coming in. We'll get Jaffa Cakes in next time, honest
As promised, here are some more answers from Anthony:
Inghouls 2: Can I say first, Inghouls, that in a way I'm quite glad this conversation is aimed at parents rather than children. I talk to children all the time but think it's important to engage adults in the conversation too. From my experience, if parents aren't interested in books, it's unlikely their sons/daughters will be. As to your question, I'm not 100% sure it is possible to encourage your son to write and as someone who was very rotund and unfit at the age of ten (and onward) I would be more inclined to encourage his football playing! Sorry if I'm sounding like an agony uncle here. How to write more imaginatively? Read. When I read books that I love ? Dickens, Stephen King, Stiegg Larsson, whatever ? I find myself inspired to write well. It's sort of infectious. And if you really want one other piece of advice, I'd say make sure he writes about what he enjoys (football perhaps). I don't think it's possible to write well if you're not enjoying it.
Daisymoo: Thank you for asking about Foyle's War, Daisymoo. FW will be back on the screens next year with three episodes ? of which I wrote two. The Russian House tells the terrible story of what happened to the Russian PoWs who were repatriated at the end of the war. The Hide is based on a bizarre unit called the British Free Corps ? British PoWs who were persuaded to fight for the Nazis. The stories take place between VE day and VJ day when the war was still, technically, continuing. Contrary to rumours, the new series is not called Foyle's Peace!
Mollyroger: very happy to engage with you about all things JB. Of course I prefer the Sean Connery Bond films...they were the ones I grew up with and nobody bettered Connery in the part. I did like Roger Moore at the time but looking back, I do cringe at some of the "jokes" and the central performance. The later Bond films struck me as increasingly unsatisfying...the stories just didn't make any sense and things like John Cleese's ill-considered appearance as Q, made me want to hide behind the seat. I did like the first Daniel Craig film but, like you, thought it didn't really work as a Bond film. Yes, it had lost its innocence, its joie de vivre. I was also surprised that they were allowed to show a female agent drowning in front of our eyes. This was unpleasant and - given how many ten-year-olds there were in the audience when I went to the film ? completely inappropriate. Even so, Casino Royale had lots of good things in it. Then came the second Craig film, Quantum, for me the worst Bond film ever made, a feeble rip-off of the Bourne series, directed in a way that was more inclined to induce nausea than thrills. Glad I got that off my chest!
Roisin: I hope you enjoyed H-on-W as much as I did. I think it's my favourite festival, particularly if the sun is shining. I'm not sure how you can get scripts and pre-production notes as I don't think they're in the shops (although I did notice recently that there is a new series of books analysing popular TV shows). I'll be happy to send you a script or two if you write to me via my assistant, Olivia Zampi, at Greenlit Productions, 14-15 D'Arblay Street, London W1F 8DZ. We don't really do storyboards, by the way. We can't afford them!
StewieGriffithsMum: Dear SGM, please could you tell your high street retailer from me that he or she is an idiot! Anyone who discourages a child from reading anything is clearly heading in the opposite direction to the rest of the world and for what it's worth the Alex Rider books have a huge female following. I'd say that around half of my emails and fan letters come from girls. I noticed that in her conversation with Mumsnet, Jacqueline Wilson mentioned that she has boy readers too and that's exactly how it should be. Of course there is a certain amount of sexual stereotyping in children's literature. Don't expect to see an Alex Rider novel with a pink cover any time soon. But I've always been slightly suspicious of the boy/girl debate (why is it always boys who supposedly don't read ? why is it only boys that we seem to worry about?) and I'm even more suspicious of your retailer. Give me his or her address and I'm heading round with a brick...