Ideas have their own times, and certain ideas are appropriate for certain publishers. I also believe that if you have an idea for a book and try it on two or three contemporaries and they say no, then fine, put it away and wait. “I often find books grow out of those cuttings. “I’m a great clipper and tearer of items out of magazines, and these I file away under subject,” he told Crime Time. Peter Haining’s most recent project was a series of World War Two stories based on extensive research and personal interviews such as The Jail That Went To Sea, The Mystery of Rommel’s Gold, Where The Eagle Landed and The Banzai Hunters.ĭescribing himself as a writer for hire, he had a practical approach to coming up with new book ideas. Enthusiastic and prolific in equal measure, he was considered by many a name to be reckoned with in the world of mystery fiction. In an interview published on Crime Time, it’s revealed he began writing at school and never stopped, moving from newspapers to magazines to book publishing, before becoming a freelance writer in the early 1970s. Haining, who won the British Fantasy Awards Karl Edward Wagner Award in 2001, also wrote about fictional heroes Sherlock Holmes, Poirot, Maigret and James Bond as well as editing many anthologies of horror and fantasy stories, and leaves a legacy of over 200 titles of various formats. Other titles followed such as The Key To Time: A Year-By-Year Record, The Doctor Who File, The Time-Travellers’ Guide, Doctor Who: 25 Glorious Years and The Nine Lives of Doctor Who.

Haining, who lived in Suffolk, wrote a number of books about Doctor Who, starting with the 20th anniversary volume Doctor Who: A Celebration – Two Decades Through Time And Space in 1983. Home › downthetubes News › Other Worlds › Television › Doctor Who › In Memoriam: Peter HainingĪward-winning journalist and author Peter Haining, perhaps best known for his Doctor Who books, has died suddenly at the age of 67, reportedly of a heart attack. Comic Projects: The Really Heavy Greatcoat.Comics Projects: Return to Planet Earth.Starblazer Checklist: Starblazer Abroad.Starblazer Recalled: Forgotten Fantasy Fiction – With Pictures.British Comic Reference | British Comic Characters Profiled | Garth.Marvel UK | “Genesis ’92”: Looking Back and What Might Have Been.Marvel UK in Print: Captain Britain, Death’s Head, Doctor Who and more – A Quick Guide.Action – The Sevenpenny Nightmare – Micro Site.British and Irish Creators and Publishers on Twitter.British Classic Comics and Creators on Facebook.British Comics Sales Figures: The Good Old Days.British News Stand Comics and Magazines for Teens, Pre-Teens and Children.Why Your Favourite British Comic Strip of 1974 Hasn’t Been Reprinted – Yet!.Lakes Festival Focus – Comic Creator Interviews.Roy of the Rovers – Rebellion Books Check List.

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The craft of terror by Peter Haining