Pete answers your most frequently asked questions . . .

WHEN DID YOU FIRST START TO WRITE AND WHY?
I wrote a fan letter to Dodie Smith, the author of 101 Dalmatians. She wrote back and was the first person to put into my head the idea of being a writer. A few years later I started entering writing competitions - quite small ones at first, but the prizes I won gave me the confidence to press on . . . !

WHAT WOULD YOUR ADVICE BE FOR BUDDING AUTHORS?
1. Always carry a notebook with you and try to jot something down in it every day. It could be a snatch of conversation, an idea for a story, whatever you feel like writing.
2. Ideas for stories rarely come fully-formed. You might only receive the glimmer of something first of all. But don't give up. Keep thinking about your idea. You'll be surprised how things can slowly grow in your mind.
3. Some days just have fun playing with ideas, characters and styles. Writing is often about discovery and exploration. So allow yourself time to experiment.

DO YOU REALLY CARRY A LITTLE NOTEBOOK EVERYWHERE YOU GO?
Yes, much to the annoyance of my friends.  For you never know when you're going to get a brilliant idea or hear something you've got to write down. Real life is always interesting - and that's where all the stories begin.

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE BEST THING ABOUT BEING A TEENAGER IS?
It's like starting a book. Everything is ahead of you.

DO YOU THINKS IT'S HARDER FOR TEENAGERS THESE DAYS?
I think it's tougher now, yes. Not just with things like exams but media pressure starts younger: things like having the right hairstyle, which seems so important now and wasn't when I was young.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE BOOK?
Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger. It is really the first 'teenage' book and still one of the best.  I re-read it regularly.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE BANDS?
Oasis; The Cure; Madness; The Jam.

DO YOU SUPPORT A FOOTBALL TEAM?
Yes, Spurs (who else?).

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB?
I was a film critic on a local paper, The Bucks Free Press (Terry Pratchett had worked there some years earlier) and for Radio One, on Wednesday nights.

HAVE YOU MET ANY FAMOUS MOVIE STARS?
Yes, I interviewed modern stars like Melanie Griffith, Dustin Hoffman and Nicholas Cage.  My favourite star was Ingrid Bergman.

IS IT TRUE YOU COLLECT AUTOGRAPHS?
Yes. This started when I was a film critic. The autographs were souvenirs. But I've since collected more.  I know have over four hundred autographs, ranging from Fred Astaire and Doris Day, to Robert De Niro and Cher. 

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE - AND LEAST FAVOURITE - TELEVISION PROGRAMME?
Favourite: Fawlty Towers. The funniest comedy show ever written. I know some episodes off by heart now; The Simpsons.  Least favourite: anything featuring Paul Daniels. Every time I see him, I want to put a pitch-fork through the screen!

WHAT WAS THE FIRST BOOK YOU WRITE AND WAS IT PUBLISHED?
The first book I ever wrote was called Secrets from the School Underground written while I was a teacher at a secondary school. I used to read aloud extracts to my class on Friday afternoons. It was later published.

WHICH OF YOUR BOOKS DID YOU MOST ENJOY WRITING?
The Creeper. This is about an old horror story which impacts on a girl today. I had great fun inventing a monster and devising a story for him. I also greatly enjoyed listening to old horror and sci-fi radio programmes from the 1950s - my favourite was certainly Journey into Space.

WHERE DO YOU WRITE YOUR BOOKS ?
I have a study, which has big windows, bright posters on the walls and masses of books lurking about. Everyone who goes into it says it has a very happy atmosphere. So it's ideal for writing.

DO YOU EVER GET WRITER'S BLOCK?
Yes I do sometimes. What I have learnt is that you get writer's block for two reasons. A scene can be really, really hard, in which case it is probably not right. Other times you can get writer's block if you try too hard. In a funny way, with writing you have to let the ideas come to you, you can't force them. Your unconscious doesn't work office hours. If I get writer's block then I just go for a long walk and get some fresh air and exercise.

DID YOU ENJOY YOUR SCHOOL DAYS?
I enjoyed my early days at school, hated the middle years (changed schools quite a few times, took a long time to settle down) and I liked my last years a great deal. My favourite memory from school is actually the last day of term. I loved the happy atmosphere: even the teachers smiled on that joyous day.

DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD HAVE ENJOYED YOUR BOOKS WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG?
I think you write books first of all for yourself, books you would like to have read when younger.

DID YOU HAVE AN IMAGINARY FRIEND AS A CHILD?
Yes I did and I used him in one of my books too.

WHAT DO YOU DO TO RELAX?
I pretend to keep fit. I go to the cinema every week. I probably go out more than a lot of my friends because I am in all day so it is nice to be out and about in the evening. I do think that exercise is brilliant for writing.

WHICH PETE JOHNSON SHOULD I READ?

Sample three of his most popular titles:

THE GHOST DOG:  the famous spooky tale.

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR PARENTS: the laugh out loud comedy.

WHICH OF PETE’S BOOKS ARE ESPECIALLY POPULAR WITH BOYS?
SIX KEY TITLES . . .

Horror: THE GHOST DOG A terrifying ghost story starts to come true.
Horror: THE FRIGHTENERS What terrible power does a mysterious schoolboy possess?
Thriller: TRAITOR A boy finds himself terrorised by a gang – of girls.
Thriller: AVENGER When the whole school turns against one boy, he asks for help from a ghost!
Comedy: RESCUING DAD What happens when you try and do a ‘groundforce’ on your dad? A Dads/Lads favourite.
Comedy: HELP! I’M A CLASSROOM GAMBLER Has a schoolboy hero really found a secret way to stop school ever being boring again?

*** If you would like Pete to visit your school, click here ***

WHICH IS PETE JOHNSON'S GREATEST BOOK?
Click here to find out!

Pete lists his seven favourite books from childhood

These are the seven favourite books from my childhood. My criteria has been simple: I just picked the seven books which meant the most of me. They are in no particular order.

WILLIAM THE PIRATE:  Richmal Crompton

I discovered the William books first in my local library. I was immediately drawn to the wonderfully, fat hardbacks with those super illustrations (by Thomas Henry) And so William Brown just bounced into my life one day and really, he’s never left it. From the start I loved his energy, his opinions, his rants and his glorious self-belief. William was in no doubt that ‘stachoos’ would be put up to him one day.

There are thirty-eight William books – all well worth reading. But although the first book ‘Just William’ is the most famous, I don’t think it’s one of the very best. If someone were meeting William for the first time I’d recommend: ‘William the Pirate.’ And there is one story in the collection: ‘William and the Princess Goldilocks,’ which would be my nomination for the best ever William story. It’s a perfect farce, full of glorious misunderstandings. Then read Mrs Bott’s Hat,’ and ‘The New Neighbour,’ – I guarantee they will make you a fan for life.

THE MYSTERY OF THE INVISIBLE THIEF: Enid Blyton

Everyone read Enid Blyton when I was growing up. In fact, I was first introduced to her, by a friend in the playground – a little tribute to Blyton’s power, which I think she would have appreciated I (She wrote. ‘I never listen to any critic over the age of twelve.’)

Of course I loved all the Famous Five books and the other series too: especially the ‘Barney’ books. But my favourites were always the ‘Mystery’ books – partly because the character of Fatty is one of Blyton’s very best; vain, important a total show-off, yet essentially good hearted. And partly because I loved the mystery element of the stories – gathering clues, etc. There is also more fun and energy in these books than any others.

As Duncan McLaren wrote. ‘Joy runs through the ‘Mystery’ books like a river.’ They show Blyton at her most relaxed and cheeky – the children really do tease P.G.Goon (another great character) unmercifully. I picked this book because I think it’s got an especially good mystery. But all the ‘Mystery’ books are great, except for the very last one. ‘Mystery of the Banshee Towers,’ which was written after Blyton had been quite ill – and just doesn’t have the magic of the others.

HOLIDAY AT DEW DROP INN: Eve Garnett

In 1937 Eve Garnett won the Carnegie medal for ‘The Family at One End Street,’ a landmark book detailing the life of a dustman and his wife, and their seven children. It’s still a vivid and vital read but I always liked the sequel better, as this is where Kate – my favourite character, and her brother and sister go down with Measles and are sent on a convalescent holiday to the Dew Drop Inn in the country. There they are looked after by Mrs Wildgoose – surely the kindest landlady ever. In the third One End Book,  ‘Holiday at the Dew Drop Inn,’ Kate goes back to the Dew Drop Inn on her own, and the whole book is devoted to her and her adventures there.

This is such a naturally funny book and it is packed with wonderful observations and great characters. A fascinating portrait too of a vanished world. It is shocking that it is currently out of print. It is well worth tracking down.

TOM’S MIDNIGHT GARDEN: Philippa Pearce

This story just fascinated me when I first read it. Tom is sent to stay with his uncle and aunt. One night he hears the clock strike thirteen: wanders outside and finds another world, another time and a girl name Hatty. The ending is one of the best I’ve ever read. I love time shift stories.

Two other favourites were: ‘Charlotte Sometimes’ by Penelope Farmer and ‘A Traveller in Time,’ by Alison Uttley.

SUSAN INTERFERES: Jane Shaw

My sister, Linda introduced me to the Susan-series. And although I never shared her enthusiasm for pony books or girls boarding school tales, I loved these because of their bubbly sense of fun.

Susan and her cousins Midge, Bill and Charlotte are vividly drawn, with lots of banter. Susan, being well-meaning but very interfering. In this, the best of the Susan books, they go to Switzerland, with a requested gift of a mysterious packet of tea. But is the tea as innocent as it seems? Clearly not. Soon all sorts of wild adventures take place. But the holiday itself is also described so well. This story is great fun by a much underrated writer.

THE WITCHES: Roald Dahl

In the early 1980s I heard Roald Dahl read aloud from his stories at the National Theatre. It was fabulous – he read his stories with wonderful vigour. But the highlight was the end when he produced a tatty old notebook and read the opening pages from a story which he hadn’t finished yet. For me this was the best of all. The opening just carried you into the tale rightaway.

The story was later published as ‘The Witches.’ And it’s still my favourite Dahl: fast-paced, exciting, very funny and yet sad and rather wise as well. A perfect children’s book.

101 DALMATIANS: Dodie Smith

This is quite simply a masterpiece and the book which inspired me to write to the author, Dodie Smith, when I was eight. It was the beginning of a long and for me, richly, rewarding correspondence. Even though it was dogs – not children – who were really Dodie’s first love. In fact, she wanted to call ‘101 Dalmatians’ a novel for dogs, but the publishers talked her out of it.

It’s an exciting tale, with wonderfully, likeable characters and, of course, one of the greatest villains ever: Cruella de Vil. There is a sequel: ‘The Starlight Barking,’ a totally different book to the first one but which I also like. And Dodie wrote too: ‘I Capture the Castle,’ another masterpiece … and very late in her life: ‘The Midnight Kittens,’ a charming book which deserves to be better known.