Category: Podcasts

Robot Overlords on Authorized

Long time readers of this blog will know that I’ve been a guest on the Authorized podcast quite a few times. I love Andrew, Hannah and the gang and have nothing but respect for the passion and literary rigour they bring to the podcast with their love of film novelisations. So to have an entire episode dedicated to the Robot Overlords novelisation was a real honour, especially as the film celebrates ten years since its premiere at the London Film Festival.

What’s unusual about this episode is that I’m not in it for the first couple of hours (yes, it’s nearly three hours long!). Understandably, they wanted to discuss the book without the author simpering in the corner, but they also brought on my old chum Paddy Eason, the VFX supervisor on the film to give an insider’s view to the making of the film. They say lots of very nice things about the book, which is going to make me completely unbearable for a few days at least, and they reveal connections to Psycho, Mad Max, Planet of the Apes and Pixar’s Cars. Do please enjoy…

And if you fancy reading the book, you can get signed copies of the paperback from me here…

ROBOT OVERLORDS SIGNED PAPERBACK

I’m on the Worm Hole podcast

I was delighted to be a guest on The Worm Hole podcast! This is in-depth stuff that I’ve not discussed before. Do check out the brilliant website for more details and a transcript (I love it when podcasters make all this effort!). Click on the image below for more…

Episode 2 with LJ Shepherd

My special guest on the podcast this month is LJ Shepherd, author of the stunning debut novel The Trials of Lila Dalton. We discuss first lines and …

Episode 2 with LJ Shepherd

Mr Tickle needs to go on a Course and other topics on the WCCS…

I had an absolute blast chatting with the two Christophers on the Writing Community Chat Show last night! We covered all kinds of stuff about writing, publishing, which fictional character I’d like to slip into the Witches of Woodville series and, indeed, why Mr Tickle needs to go on a course. Urgently. You can watch the replay here…

If you want to support the two Christophers, then pop over to Substack (where I think you can get a 7-day free trial, so what’s stopping you??).

Alien Romulus and Newtonian Custard on the Authorized Podcast

It’s always a delight to be asked to guest on the Authorized Podcast, but this was a particular joy as we discussed the film Alien Romulus, and my fellow guest was writing chum Gavin G Smith who took umbrage to a line of description in one of my books. As well as discussing the many pros and cons of the film, we also, somehow, got on to the subject of Newtonian Custard. It’s… it’s simpler if you just have a listen…

I’m down the Red Rabbit Hole!

I was delighted to be kidnapped and dragged down into the Red Rabbit Hole by Lisa & Nicky for their splendid podcast. We talk about terrifying scarecrows, getting bellringing right in fiction, and my high fibre diet (that’s more interesting than I make it sound… probably). And I believe there’s a second instalment coming next week! But have a listen to part one by clicking on the image below…

Talking Charlie’s Angels on the Authorized Podcast

In my tenth (count ’em!) appearance on the splendid Authorized Podcast, we discuss the novelisation of McG’s first Charlie’s Angels movie by Elizabeth Lenhard. This was a movie chosen by a randomiser, and it wasn’t a film I was familiar with, but it’s lost of fun and the book is frothy and fun read.

This was recorded on the evening that England lost the Euros (you can hear the strain in my voice) and we also get into McG’s leering gaze, the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, and why the A-Team movie had its premise all wrong, and much more! Oh, and I get to choose my next novelisation and it’s a classic!

The podcast is available on all the usual pod catchers, and you can listen on Spotify here…

Play Dirty on the Authorized Podcast

I’ve been lucky enough to be a guest on the Authorized Podcast a few times now, but this novelisation of the 1969 WWII movie Play Dirty has been the most fascinating. The film stars Michael Caine*, was directed by Andre de Toth, with a screenplay co-written by Melvyn Bragg. The novelisation is by the mysterious Zeno, and we do some digging to discover who he really was. I have to explain Melvyn Bragg to Americans, and we spend about ten minutes getting confused about the difference between a ‘presenter’ and a ‘host’. And it’s all fun! Enjoy…

*It’s his 91st birthday, today, 14th March. Happy birthday, Sir Michael!

Indiana Jones and the Cup of the Vampire on Authorized

It’s always a treat to go on the Authorized Podcast, but this was a different and extra special episode for two reasons: instead of film novelisation, we were discussing a choose-your-own-adventure book called Indiana Jones and the Cup of the Vampire, and secondly because my son George joined for this episode. To discover why you’ll just have to tune in (not that people actually ‘tune in’ to podcasts, but you get what I mean) and you will also be rewarded with some excellent insight to the Club Penguin phenomenon…

The Jewel of the Nile on the Authorized Podcast

In a follow-up to last week’s Romancing the Stone podcast, I was invited back by the Authorized Podcast gang to discuss the sequel The Jewel of the Nile. The film itself was off to a bad start in that the original screenwriter and creator of these characters, Diane Thomas, was not involved. At first she was working on Spielberg’s Always, then an Indiana Jones sequel, before tragically passing away in a car crash. This meant the film was scripted by Mark Rosenthal and Lawrence Konner who would later go on to write one of my favourite Star Trek movies, The Undiscovered Country, but they only had a couple of credits to their name on this one, and from digging into to making of this film it seems there was interference from all sides, so I guess they were hobbled from the beginning. So anyway, this is my long way of saying we weren’t fans of this one. I feel for the novelist Catherine Lanigan who did her best to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. Have a listen here…