It occurs to me that you folks may have general questions you never get answered. So feel free to post them here. What I will then do (or at least am planning to do, unless it turns out I can’t for some reason) is use the edit function to respond directly to the questions right where you ask them. That way folks won’t have to scroll like mad to find the answers.
If I think the thread’s getting too long, I’ll cut off responses and we’ll do another round in a week or so.
PAD
ADDENDUM: Okay, it’s 12:30 AM and I’m cutting off the postings now. I’ll answer these as I have time over the next few days.
• 
Did you like Priest’s Black Panther run?
Didn’t read it. Marvel dropped me from my comp list, so I got out of the habit of buying Marvels for the longest time. I’ve only recently started buying them again.
Back in 1999, I went to I-Con for the first time, and me and a few friends got the privilege of interviewing con guest Sylvester McCoy, the 7th actor to play the lead character in the British series Doctor Who. As me and my friends were waiting in a green room area of the gym, we noticed a man with a Space Cases jean jacket meet up with McCoy, showing him a Muppet version of his alter ego. Since I found out it was you, I’ve noticed a few Doctor Who references here and there by you, most notably your introduction to I, Who 2 by Lars Pearson. So…
1. Still a Dr Who fan?
Yes.
2. Ever go to a DW con?
No.
3. Would you go to one, say one in Massachusetts?
Depends on when, etc.
4. Wally in Supergirl – look influenced by McCoy’s Doctor?
Boy, at first I thought you meant “Star Trek’s” Doctor McCoy. You mean Sylvester McCoy. No. Not really. Certainly not consciously
PAD
One Comic industry related question I have had for sometime is: how much control do you have over what assignments you get from your various publishers? Do you get to come in and say, “I have this great idea for Aquaman. When there is an opening can I get next dibs?” or perhaps, “I have some ideas for that 2099 project you have been tossing around let’s get together and cut the edges off of it.” Or is it like, “Dammit, the Hulk writer just walked out. You – David, tomorrow…my office. I need three ideas for the next issue. Get on it!
It’s a combination, really. Sometimes they approach me, sometimes I approach them.
“? The same could actually go for your genre novels. Do the people at Star Trek call you and say they would like two novels from you in the next two years. One featuring Q, and one about helping a planet which has become the trash dump for all the other planets in a territory.
On occasion I’ll be asked to write a specific type of novel. “Vendetta” grew from a desire to write a major book about the Borg. “Imzadi” came from Pocket getting Roddenberry’s office to agree to a novel about Riker and Troi’s early years. That kind of thing.
Hey, um… on the personal side I collect the signatures of my favorite authors and you are one of them that I really want. What are the odds that you can add some of these letters to the comic letters page you spoke of in an earlier blog and start making with autographs? It doesn’t even have to be a comic… just something to hang by the old writing desk for last minute inspirations.
If you send something for me to sign to my postal box–PO Box 239, Bayport, NY 11705–and be sure to include a self addressed, stamped envelope, I’ll sign it and send it back. Does that help?
Hey Peter,
Love Cap’n Marvel. And here’s my questions.
when are you going to write Iron Man? Do you even have any desire to? What direction would you take if given the chance?
1) No plans to. (2) Not particularly. (3) Haven’t really thought about it.
Best, and I look forward to many more years of Genis and Rick.
Sean
Okay this has been bothering me for a long time. Who was the Net Prophet in Spider-Man 2099?
As is mentioned further down: John Tensen, a.k.a. Justice from the New Universe.
1) How are you doing today?
Fine. A little tired.
2) Why do you think Young Justice stirred up so many detractors? (the jokes weren’t that bad).
Because, as insane as it sounded, fans couldn’t wrap themselves around the notion of a team consisting of a group of teens who just like hanging out together. Somehow that seemed unrealistic to them as they went off to hang out with their friends.
3) What do you currently enjoy writing the most?
The Apropos novels were a lot of fun.
4) Why do hot dog buns come in packs of ten while hot dogs come in packs of eight?
According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage council, “When hot dog buns were introduced, hot dogs were sold in varying quantities at the butcher shop. Not until 1940 were hot dogs packaged the way we currently see them in the grocery store. When manufacturers began packaging hot dogs, they chose the 10 to the pack formula. Today hot dogs are sold most often in eight or ten to the pound packs, but some are sold other quantities as well. Sandwich rolls, or hot dog buns, most often come eight to the pack because the buns are baked in clusters of four in pans designed to hold eight rolls. While baking pans now come in configurations that allow baking 10 and even 12 at a time, the eight roll pan remains the most popular.
“Okay this has been bothering me for a long time. Who was the Net Prophet in Spider-Man 2099?”
John Tensen from JUSTICE (Marvel’s New Universe). PAD and/or Marvel confirmed this long ago.
Corey
1. Regarding Apropos: Ma nishtana ha leila hazeh?
I’m just going to pass over that one.
2. Am I ever going to get back those old issues of Aquaman, Action Comics, and Adventure Comics that I lent to you when you first started writing Aquaman?
I wouldn’t count on it.
MikeD, from Any Questions #1: 2) If you could do whatever you pleased with the book to increase sales, what would you do?
Peter David: Full frontal nudity with Marlo.
Luigi Novi: If you could do that……shaved or not shaved?
The legs and armpits shaved. Ther rest, as nature intended.
PAD
I know you’ve written Star Trek stories for both novels and comic books… do the differences in the media affect the way you approach the creation of your plot? In other words, all other things being equal, do you significantly tailor a story to the format?
Only in the sense that I know what works and won’t work with a particular license.
I’m gonna take a chance and if you get to this, cool. If not I’ll post it again when you do this again. Now to my question, which is more of a request:
Could you please(out of my wheelchair, on my knees begging),please go to DC, get Arrowette,WonderGirl,Secret and Empress and start a girl superhero group so I don’t have to get my Cassie fix from Teen Titans which so far I can’t stand?And if it’s at all possible, could you get either Todd back or Phil Jimenez to do the art? Please, I’m begging….seriously.
Thanks!
Col
Sadly, I doubt that will be happening anytime soon.
What is your opinion on the Marvel Family?
There is a long standing rumour that you stated a great dislike for them but then your handling of Mary Marvel in Supergirl did not seem to bear it out.
So fan or not, and if fan would you ever consider writing them.
Beware longstanding rumors, as they have often have little relation to longstanding fact. No, I have no dislike for the Marvel family at all. If I did, I’d never have used Mary Marvel. I think the closest I ever came to stating “dislike” was saying that I wasn’t thrilled with the new “codename” of CM3. Yes, it’s an inherent problem that Junior can’t say his own name, but the new codename doesn’t do much for me. Otherwise, though, I love those characters. Yeah, I’d consider writing them…presuming they were offered me. Unfortunately, the problem is that they don’t seem capable of sustaining a book no matter how well written they are. But if I write them and they tank, it becomes “Peter David can’t sustain a book.” So I’d have to approach it carefully.
1] If DC gave you the job of writing Jessie Quick, the fastest femme alive in the DCU, would you want to write a series or miniseries for her?
Nah. Speedsters make me nervous, because if you play them accurately, they’re impossible to beat. I could deal with Impulse because he was easily distracted.
2] If Marvel gave you the job of writing the X-books and gave you the proper freedom in writing it, would you be in favor of working on it?
I have real trouble believing that such a situation could occur.
3] What’s your opinion on comics coverage in the mainstream media? Do you think it’s too, ummm, sugarcoated? And that it cares more about what’s hyped outrageously than about what’s really got class?
My only opinion of comics coverage is that there isn’t enough of it. As for the media caring more about what’s hyped outrageously than what’s really class…that may be true, but that’s hardly limited to comics.
4] Do you agree that if there’s any minorities that should really be featured in comics, it’s ones from such backgrounds as Swedish, Danish, Armenian, Dutch, Lebanese Christian, Druse, Corsican, Fijian, Bulgarian, Czech, and Macedonian? The readership does deserve to get to know about such nationalities and their cultures and customs too, don’t they?
Yeah, but as a write you have to be willing to do the research to make it accurate. Otherwise, next thing you know, you’re hearing from angry Swedes, etc., complaining that you’re doing them an injustice. So as a writer who’s just trying to hit his deadlines, you have to decide whether it’s worth the…wait. Druse? What the hëll is Druse…?
5] If there’s any CrossGen titles that you’d like to write if offered a job by them, which would it/they be?
Truthfully, I don’t know the CG titles well enough to say I’d be interested in any of them.
6] What places have you travelled to abroad? Have you ever visited Israel too?
Yes. I’ve been to Israel. I’ve seen London, I’ve seen France, although I have not seen your underpants. I’ve been to Germany, Romania, Portugal, Argentina, Mexico, Spain, Canada, Ireland, Scotland. And yet, I’ve never been to me.
Thanks very much, and I hope it’ll be possible to work on another great Q&A topic like this later on as well!
I love your books, I’m reading Knightlife right now. Superb!! Sir Aprophos is next on the table. I got to know your books due to your writing for my alltime favorite scifi shows Babylon5(incl.Crusade) and Star Trek. The centauri-trilogy is what started my taste into your books, and the New Frontier’s got me hooked. Can hardly wait till the new releases in november.
Here’s my question; Having written for those scifishows what other shows would you like to write for?
I for instance would love to see a Stargate book or comic at your hand.
Greetings from Holland, Kira
Ah, but saying what shows I’d like to write for is far different from saying what comics OF the shows I’d like to write for. In terms of the latter…none. I’m trying to write fewer licensed tie-ins, not more. What shows would I like to write for? “Angel.” “Smallville.” The new “Tarzan” series interests me.
Were Crazy Eight (Leslie Shappe) and SpeedFreak (Mr. Shappe) brother and sister, husband & wife, or related in any way? Both assasins, both with the same last name, both crazy…
They were siblings, yes.
No question. It’s just nice to know you like “Hill Street Blues”. The greatest show ever. Makes up for us not agreeing on “That’s My Bush”.
This may well be the first post in blog history to mention “Hill Street” and “That’s My Bush” in the same entry.
Oh, and ditto on on Robin Hood and Casablana.
I’ll also mention, given your screen name, that I have a stupid fondness for the early Johnny W. “Tarzan” films. Yes, I know they’re not remotely accurate to the books. But they have a certain charm. I have several of them on Laserdisk, including one of “Tarzan and His Mate” that includes a beautifully filmed, utterly tasteful five minute nude underwater swim sequence the censors cut (Tarzan has his loin cloth but Jane is starkers. Stunt swimmer, but still…)
Hi Peter,
I know you have a fondness for Doctor Who so…have you ever been approached to write an original Doctor Who story for the various book and audio ranges? And if not, would you ever consider writing one?
Thanks,
Sean Brady
P.S. In case you didn’t know, there’s a new animated story starring Richard E.Grant as the 9th Doctor being webcast by BBCi in November.
As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been approached by the book folks, but never actually put together the time or a proposal to do it. And yes, I heard about the Grant one…although, for my money, they got the wrong Grant. I thought Hugh Grant did a wonderful job in his exceedingly brief outing during “The Curse of the Fatal Death.
from Luigi Novi
re:MikeD, from Any Questions #1: 2) If you could do whatever you pleased with the book to increase sales, what would you do?
Peter David: Full frontal nudity with Marlo.
Luigi Novi: If you could do that……shaved or not shaved?
JG: Pierced or not pierced?
Not.
How do you keep up your pace writing all those novels and comic books? How did you get that kind of discipline? Do you have a set goal of a certain amount of pages to write or something else? I would also love to hear any advice you have for those who want to become novelists. Thanks!
There is a degree of discipline involved, yes. On the other hand, there’s also seeing bills piling up and going, Ðámņ! Better finish this comic book fast. As for those who want to become novelists, here’s my advice: Write novels. Really. That’s pretty much it. Everything else is just window dressing. Sit down, write the dámņ things.
I hope this isn’t misconstrued as being rude or intrusive, but my question is:
How do you get four girls through college on a comic book writer’s salary?
Well, I haven’t done it yet, have I? I’ve sent exactly one through college.
Based on when the last post was, I think maybe I can post now. I asked before, but got the runaround. So for real: what’s up with the name “Falkar?” It’s a character in NF, a planet in “Q-Squared,” and maybe is mentioned elsewhere, though I’m not sure.
There really isn’t anything behind it. I just accidentally combined a couple of sounds at different times in my writing and overlapped without realizing I’d used the name before.
And if there really isn’t anything behind it, how do you come up with such great, realistic-sounding words from other languages, character names, etc.?
By piecing together parts of other words to give it a tonality matching the mood I want it to invoke. Either that or I just pull names from other languages entirely. For instance, in “Imzadi,” all the villains were named after objects on a Passover plate. What can I say? It amused me to have Riker and Troi being menaced by guys whose names meant “Lamb Shank” and “Bitter Herbs.” Unfortunately some people thought I was an anti-Semite for doing that…an interesting conclusion what with my being Jewish and all.
Just curious,
Chris