OGDEN — Students in Ogden got a treat on Friday as a familiar author made his way to town.

This year, English novelist Anthony Horowitz was the keynote of the Ogden School Foundation’s annual Fall Author Event. Horowitz is best known for his “Alex Rider” books, a spy series aimed at younger readers. He has also worked on several films and television shows as a screenwriter.

Having spoken at the foundation’s fundraiser last Thursday night, Horowitz was at Ogden High School on Friday morning for a short meet-and-greet with the winners of the foundation’s adjacent writing contest, which is open to junior high students from across the city.

“Every year, our students have a chance to compete in a writing contest as part of this event,” Brynn Murdock, executive director of the Ogden School Foundation, told the Standard-Examiner. “The theme this year was ‘Saving the World, One Decision at a Time,’ based on the ‘Alex Rider’ series. Students were asked to write about a time when they had to make a difficult decision that changed their perspective, and to discuss what they had learned.”

This year’s essay winners were Hannah Barnes, Andee Brown, Emilia Cawley, Delilah Fugal, Erin McMickell, Markhez T. Moore, Adison Smith, Ally Stark, Koby Thorpe and Aniyah Trujillo.

Horowitz, who had the opportunity to read the winning essays, told the Standard-Examiner he was blown away by what he’d read.

“I was impressed, both by the experiences that these young people had already had in their short lives, but more, the way they had come through them and had learned from them and were moving forward into a stronger place and how the decisions they had made had impacted them in such a positive way,” he said. “I was also very impressed with the quality of their writing, the clarity and the honesty of it. It was generally a very moving read.”

He said promoting reading is the best way to cultivate the next generation of writers.

“I know parents are very busy these days, but 20 minutes spent reading with your child at bedtime is a wonderful experience,” he said. “I know from bringing up two boys of my own and I always say, ‘Your kids will share their books with you; they won’t share their computer games.’ You might as well get in while you can.”

Horowitz also praised the job being done by Ogden’s school system in promoting reading and writing.

“I’ve been enormously impressed by all the people and their hard work and the amount of money that they’re pouring into education,” he said. “It goes without saying, everything begins with education. All of life does. The more we invest in it — the more time, money and love we put into it — the better the output.”

Following his meeting with the essay winners, Horowitz was the subject of a question-and-answer session conducted by Ogden School District librarian Lisa Pockrus before an audience of middle schoolers in the Ogden High School auditorium. For nearly 40 minutes, Horowitz answered student-submitted questions on his career, the intricacies of writing and his own advice to prospective writers.

“I was 21 years old when I was published for the first time,” he said. “I had written three novels and that was the fourth novel that got published — age 21. … Nothing ever happens immediately in publishing. It can take a long time. The one difference between a successful writer and an unsuccessful writer — the unsuccessful writer gives up. I never gave up.”

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