Pete Johnson’s fiction provides a heady cocktail of “compulsive readability” and “emotional truth”. Often, Pete focuses on extremes of emotion – fear, love, bereavement. This is writing that begs to be read and talked about.
THE BASICS
Born: Winchester, April 29th 1965
Jobs: Film extra, Film critic, Teacher, Journalist, Author
Lives: St. Albans, Hertfordshire
First Book for Children: Secrets From The School Underground, 1986
THE BOOKS
When Pete Johnson was ten, he wrote a fan letter to Dodie Smith – author of The Hundred and One Dalmatians. She wrote back to him and the two began exchanging letters. “She was the first person to encourage me to become a writer,” says Pete, who began sending stories to publishers at the age of eleven.
After studying English at Birmingham University, Pete worked as a film critic for some local newspapers. This led to a plum job as a film critic on Radio One.
It was working as a teacher at a secondary school that inspired Pete’s first published novel, Secrets From The School Underground and his short story collection, One Step Beyond. Pete gained some valuable insight by inviting his students to comment on his writing. “They helped to make me tough on my writing,” says Pete, “I learnt that bad books – and clichés – arise when a writer doesn’t know enough about his world.” Today, Pete still regularly visits schools and libraries to keep in close contact with his readers.
Pete Johnson’s most popular novels have been those in which the characters experience the strongest emotions. In We The Haunted and The Dead Hour, Pete’s subject is bereavement. He drew heavily on his own experience. “People are immensely sympathetic immediately after someone close to you dies, but it was six months later when I felt the pain of loss at its most devastating.” These are the two books about which Pete receives the most letters.
In Ten Hours to Live, the emotions are even more raw. The book tells the story of Ben who thinks he has found his soul mate in Sophie. For a while the relationship goes brilliantly but then Sophie suddenly stops seeing him. What has he done wrong? Devastated, he writes Sophie a letter begging her to come round. This novel has just been shortlisted in Belgium for The Children’s Book of the Year Award.
Pete’s most popular stories are those for younger readers too. These include The Ghost Dog, Eyes of the Alien and The Creeper. These have been praised as “very readable” and “skillfully plotted” (The Observer) but also for their “deep understanding of the way children think and feel” (School Librarian). The eerie tales have a huge following and have been translated into eleven different languages.
More recently, Pete has turned his talents to Puffin’s Surfers series which offers 9-12 year-olds fast-moving, gripping reads. The Mind Reader stories feature Matt who has the ability to read minds. It gives Matt a huge sense of power, but it also places him in great danger. Mind Reader was a 1999 Book Trust selection and made such an impact that Pete has written a sequel, Mind Reader: Blackmail. His next book for Puffin is Bug Brother. It is a comic fantasy and Pete’s first title for the 6-9 age group.
Several of Pete’s stories have been dramatised for Radio 4. He has also written plays for radio and theatre and made several appearances on TV.
Pete is delighted with the enormous feedback he receives from readers, whether in person or by mail. “I’ve never read a book that’s so original as your We The Haunted,” wrote one fan, “It’s as if I cannot get my head out of the book.” Another wrote simply, “Thank you for making me mad about reading.”
WHAT HE SAYS...
“Writing is an incredible form of investigation. I love hearing stories and telling stories. Writing is how we make sense of our lives. As D H Lawrence observed, ‘we shed our sickness in our books’.”
“One of the best things an author can do is show the reader he or she is not on their own.”
WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT PETE JOHNSON...
“Pete Johnson is a wonderful storyteller.” Evening Standard
“An author who can pinpoint what is distinctive about his readers… without being either patronising or strait-jacketed by their demands.” Sunday Times
“Quick-witted style and gripping intimacy.” The Times
“Holds the reader’s interest from the first page to the last.” The Bookseller on Mind Reader
“A gripping story.” The Express on Mind Reader
“This story will say a lot to many young readers – advance from here along the spectrum to Romeo and Juliet.” Books For Keeps on Ten Hours to Live
“Had me gripped from the first chapter.” The Herald (Glasgow) on Ten Hours to Live
AWARDS
Stockton Children’s Book of the Year Award 1997 for The Ghost Dog Young Telegraph Book of the Year 1997 for The Ghost Dog
You can visit Pete Johnson's website at www.petejohnsonauthor.com.
