Spotify
Apple Podcasts
Amazon Music
PocketCasts
Pandora
iHeartRadio
RSSJohn Peel
John Peel is an accomplished and beloved author who has published an extraordinary number of books over the decades, going all the way back to the original Doctor Who series, which he has written many tie-in books for. He’s also done novelizations of and tie-ins for plenty of other major franchises, including Star Trek and James Bond. However, to me, he will always be one of the top old-school kidlit authors, having written a variety of highly imaginative and enduring horror and fantasy series for young readers, which I still enjoy even now in my 40s. He was one of my earliest childhood inspirations when I first started writing my own horror and fantasy stories long ago, and it was an absolute pleasure to connect with him today to discuss his many, many years in the publishing world.
Links
John’s latest book, Unstoppable, has just been released.
You can check out lots of his other work here.
And some of his Doctor Who audiobooks as well:
My personal favorites are the Foul Play books, the Diadem series, the Dragonhome trilogy (aka Jane Eyre with dragons), and the Shockers books.
Enjoy!
Yes! AI needs to go. It threatens work, creativity, knowledge, facts….just needs to go full stop.
ah man this makes me so nostalgic. I adore Dragonhome and Diadem. Two of my favorite kids series ever. I still have them!
I’ve been hooked on John Peel’s work ever since Book of Names. It’s so nice to hear him speak like this.
Oh sweet, John Peel is one of my favorite authors. And he’s so adorable to listen to, he just loves his work so much.
more Diadem soon please?
Have to say I’m still holding out hope that he’ll suddenly be inspired to do another Dragonhome book someday.
My guy!
Nice. I like your style and will look forward to more eps soon.
“Now I have your name and I know where you live.” I’M DEAD XD
It’s so interesting he’s one of the only people Terry Nation trusted to write about the daleks. I never knew the rights to specific characters were held by creators outside of the main IP in that way.
John can talk forever and I can happily listen
and after all that, R.L. Stine quit?! LOLOL that’s amazing
Fun conversation! John has such a good vibe.
I wish I woke up in the morning loving my job the way this guy does! Alas… LOL
Ooooh great new show!
John Peel!
I’ve just been getting my nephew into Diadem. He’s always been a reluctant reader but he’s really enjoying these.
You two sound like old friends! Did you know each other before or did you really just meet for the first time for this? If so, wow. Very good.
LOL your laugh and response after the Simon and Schuster story. I agree it serves them right XD
Imagine being a big fan of Doctor Who and then becoming the only person the dalek creator allows to touch their characters. Actually living the dream!
I like this a lot. Are you planning to talk to other authors from that group like R.L. Stine?
I’m a fan. More eps coming?
I’m a teacher and the number of students I’ve seen using AI lately is out of hand and extremely depressing. It is absolutely the worst.
I never get tired of hearing this author talk. He always reminds me of my grandpa sitting on a porch rocking chair telling me wild stories from his past.
I’d love to hear more of these “casual conversations.” Solid change from formal interviews, and way more chill.
This was fun! Subscribed!
Honestly, I wanted Simon Brewster’s power😈
I’ve recently gotten my daughter reading Diadem and she’s tearing through the series,which makes me so happy.
Just read his new book Unstoppable and felt so damn nostalgic all the way through. Feels like his classic horror stuff from way back and I miss that.
Does anyone else find him really comforting to listen to? He’s got such an old-fashioned vibe and it’s so relaxing.
I’ve always been amused by how such a sweet soul can write some of the most twisted horror books LOL
Dude I’m crying laughing at John’s glee that RL Stine quit after they fired all the other authors thinking he was all they needed lol
He’s so fun! I didn’t know he had such a sense of humor. If he’s ever at a convention near me, I’m on board.
I wish he’d written more Star Trek books because those were always a pleasure. Then again I’m a shameless DS9 and general Star Trek fan…
Excuse me, what? They fired all my beloved authors just to double down on Stine? What was that manager smoking???
Writing is for sure one of the most undervalued professions out there. It’s very sad. I mean can you imagine a world without books?
Indeed. AI is the death of everything.
I adore his take on the daleks. I know they go in some new directions but I kind of appreciated that.
Listening to his random stories is so relaxing. He has the most oldschool way of speaking.
How could his useless editor cut out the joke about the Vicki-cat being neutered??? Heresy! No sense of humor.
We have the same tastes in fiction!
I can’t believe how much he’s written over the years!
The twists and turns of this man’s mind kind of scare me, but he’s brilliant lol
Yes! John freakin Peel!
Aaah there’s always been something about John Peel that makes me want to give him a hug
I knew he had to be a serious DW fan to write so many tie-in books, especially about the daleks, which are always my favorites. Gotta love those evil pepper shakers!
Very nice!
This was super enjoyable! John is a treat.
I’d love to hear more of your and other writers’ thoughts on the recent surge in AI use with chatgpt becoming so mainstream. It’s such an important topic and I’ll bet you could run an entire episode just about that, given the threat it poses and how so many creative people are responding.
You know….I always felt he should’ve written some tie in books for Sliders. His writing would fit the tone of that show so well.