Author hide-outs

Anthony Horowitz

You will find Anthony Horowitz sitting on Hampstead Heath on a warm spring day. The sun shines down through the new green leaves on the trees around him, casting dappled shadows on the ground. He is a little way off from us, facing slightly to the right, behind the fallen trunk of an old grey tree. The bark is almost gone and patches of white wood shows through in places. One of its branches lies broken off beside it. Anthony sits cross-legged in jeans and a pale blue t-shirt. He leans forward, looking down at the book he holds in both hands, his dark head bent, partly concealing his face. At his side is small pile of books.

At the first Hotspot, Anthony reads to you. He is in close up, wearing a grey zip-up bomber jacket. His face is tanned showing up his bright, dark eyes. He has a wide mouth and a faint beard shadows his chin. His short, dark, wavy hair is parted on one side and combed forward, a lock falling on to his high forehead.

Anthony sits on a patch of bare earth in the shadows under the trees. Behind him, trees stand on either side of a pathway that cuts across from left to right through grass. The trees open out and the sun lights up a wide stretch of grass as it leads away into a wood in the distance.

At this Hotspot, are views of Hampstead Heath and of the towers and spires of London far away in the distance.

Move along past the fallen log and a large tree looms into close up, so near that the ridges and cracks in the bark are visible, rough and crinkly. Anthony leans on the right side of the tree in his blue t-shirt, hands in his pockets, smiling out at you. Look for the Hotspot here.

This Hotspot shows Anthony in close up, leaning against another tree wearing his jacket.

Move on across the grass and the shadows of the trees. A little way off is a clump of bushes and three tall, spindly trees, a rough pathway winding between them to the distant open grassland. In the shadow of the black trunk of a big old beech tree, there is Anthony, hugging it with one arm, looking quite serious. Look about for the Hotspot.

At this Hotspot, Anthony comes into close up in his jacket, a view of the Heath behind him.

Move along to a patch of bare earth and gravel, the Heath rising up to a hill in the distance. A few low bushes sit along the horizon like grey clouds peeping up over the brow of the hill. Under the trees in the shade is Anthony. It is so dark only a little of one side of his face is visible. The rest of him is a black silhouette. He stands with his hands in his jacket pockets, his weight on one leg, the other thrust out before him. There is a Hotspot round here.

In this Hotspot, Anthony comes in through a white door and down a steep stone staircase with a metal handrail one side and an ancient red-brick wall on the other. At the bottom is a wide archway with a second white door set back beneath it.

Move along through the shadows, where the trees become denser and another pathway leads away to a thicket of bushes shielded by the line of a high wall. And here is Anthony again, wearing his jacket, standing sideways on but looking at you over his shoulder. He is still in the shadows, and his own shadow is thrown on to the path in front of him. You will find another hotspot here.

At this Hotspot, Anthony stands in front of the high railings of an old dark red-brick house with just one tiny white-painted window peeping out between them.

Move on into the dappled sunlight of an avenue of trees crossing from left to right, a narrow path running through them. Here you will find the last Hotspot.

At this Hotspot, Anthony sits at the bottom of the stone steps in his blue t-shirt, his dog between his knees. The dog is large and brown, with long legs. His coat is smooth and he has a long face and floppy ears. The dog looks up at Anthony adoringly, licks his chops and turns to pant at you dribbling a little.

Move on just a little way and you will find the old tree-trunk on the ground and Anthony sitting where you first found him, looking down at his book, waiting for you.