Interview with Neville Teller

Author of “Audio Drama: 10 Plays for Radio and Podcast”

Where are you from originally and where do you reside now?

I was born and bred in London, England. I now live in Israel.

If you currently reside somewhere besides where you were born, what’s the story that lead from there to here?

After service in the army from 1950 to 1952, I went to Oxford University. Coming down in 1955, I somehow got a break from a BBC radio producer, and my first abridgment (“The Lady Vanishes”) went on the air in February 1956. Although that was followed by more commissions, it soon became clear that this was no way to earn a decent living. So in September 1956 I joined British Cellophane as a junior advertising executive.

From then, I ran a double career: one in advertising, marketing, publishing, the Civil Service and finally a national cancer charity; the other as a writer for BBC radio and related fields. The former saw me progress through a variety of companies, including the law publishers Butterworths, Granada publishing, Times Newspapers, the Department of Health and Social Security and Macmillan Cancer Relief. The latter saw a large output of radio and audio work, including more than 50 radio dramas for the BBC. I am now guest playwright for the San Francisco based Shoestring Radio, and my radio dramas are broadcast across the US and into Canada.

I was made an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, 2006 “for services to broadcasting and to drama.”

When I left my last post, my wife and I retired to Israel.

What made you decide to write and publish your first book?

We started visiting Israel back in 1980. One of our sons married an Israeli girl, and over the years they had three daughters, so we kept coming over to to see them grow up. Out of interest in what we learned about the country, I put together a collection of my short stories, poetry, social and personal incidents and political pieces, and published them under the title “One Man’s Israel”.

How would you describe your books to first time readers?

I have written on a number of subjects that interest me. Arising from some of my BBC work, I have published “5-Minute Bedtime Stories” for children. I have published three books about the politics of the Middle East. My most recent is “The Chaos in the Middle East, 2014-2016”. And in March 2019 I published a collection of 10 radio dramas of mine under the title “Audio Drama: 10 Plays for Radio and Podcast”.

Who do you feel is most likely to connect with the topics you write about?

People interested in the politics of the Middle East, people interested in radio and podcasting, and children!

What unexpected or surprising thing did you learn during the process of writing and publishing?

How much can be achieved, if only one sticks at it.

If you could, what advice would you give to past self yourself before embarking on this journey?

Never be discouraged. Keep at it, and you’ll get there.

How many people would you ideally like to reach with your books?

As many as possible.

What has been the biggest challenge and frustration during the process to date?

Convincing yourself that your glass is half full, not half empty.

What’s your biggest strengths when it comes to book a) writing, b) publishing and c) marketing?

Persistence

What’s your biggest weakness when it comes to book a) writing, b) publishing and c) marketing?

When reading proofs, a tendency to be less than absolutely concentrated. It’s extremely annoying to run across typos in the finished book which a little more care could have avoided

When do you think you will you write your next book?

It’s written -just awaiting a certain political event before being submitted to the publisher.

Are you self published or did you use a hybrid publisher, or a traditional publisher?

Hybrid publisher.