And where better to start than with Mr. Alex Rider himself, Anthony Horowitz?  Actually, this part of his site is my favourite – a very cool section on all things Alex.  You can check it out at:

http://anthonyhorowitz.com/alexrider/

Next up I paid a visit to the creator of Coraline, one of the best films I have seen all year.  Make that the past ten years.  As you would expect from the multitalented Neil Gaiman, this site is a visual feast full of quirks and surprises.  Do like I did and spend many a happy hour digging through all the amazing content on offer.  You can find it at:

http://neilgaiman.com

I know that the equally talented Eoin Colfer is keenly interested in all things technical and it shows at his whizzy site.  There’s an excellent online game,  The Artemis Fowl Inner Circle, and plenty of useful information alongside an eye-popping design.

http://eoincolfer.com

Before you think I’m biased, there are a couple of female authors with excellent, interactive sites that I enjoyed enormously.  Most of the fun at Cathy Hopkins’ site goes on within Cathy’s Club and it’s well worth joining:

http://cathyhopkins.com

Meanwhile, Michelle Paver has a devoted fan following and a buzzing forum at her Wolf Brother series site:

http://torak.info

Lastly, I had to mention the Maestro of the macabre and his equally chillling site:

http://darrenshan.com

It’s a gore fest par excellence and if it doesn’t scare the pants off you then  quite frankly nothing will.

I am so excited to report that Kumari, Goddess of Gotham has been longlisted for this year’s Doncaster Book Award along with Eoin Colfer’s ‘Airman,’ Darren Shan’s ‘Demon Apocalypse,’ Charlie Higson’s ‘Hurricane Gold’ and Michael Morpurgo’s ‘Born to Run’ amongst a host of other fabulous authors and titles. What I particularly like about this award is that no adults are involved – it’s strictly chosen by kids and they are the only ones who can vote for their favourite. For more about it click below:

http://www.doncasterbookaward.net/index.php