Mark Stay's Blog, page 12

GB Ralph: Share the excitement!

In this special festive edition of the podcast I welcome GB Ralph, author of the cozy Milverton Mysteries series!

We discuss:
Slow burn romance
Writing in scenes and converting them to chapters
Chapter word count analysis (it gets nerdy!)
Tips for book launches
Tips for writing on your commute and how Gavin wrote his debut novel on his phone
What he learned from switching from romcoms to cozy mysteries
How he uses deadlines to motivate his writing
And the importance of narrators for audiobooks

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

Or watch it on Youtube…

LINKS

GB Ralph’s website
Everyone this Christmas has a Secret
The Holly King by Mark Stay
Only Murders in the Building
Arcane
Mini Metro game
Allie X Last Christmas
Altego Music’s Wham/Chappel Roan mash-up
The Penguin
Beyond the Throne by Kristian Nairn
Rosalie Cunningham, To Shoot Another Day
December will be Magic Again by Kate Bush
Christmas at the Airport by Nick Lowe

Edit by Kai Newton
Production assistance by Emily Stay
Jingle by Dom Currie

Best of 2024 type thing with Mark Stay

Author, podcaster and screenwriter Mark Stay… I’d heartily recommend his The Witches of Woodville books. These are set in Kent in World War Two and …

Best of 2024 type thing with Mark Stay

How do writers cope with rejection?

Sometimes, only a Hobnob will do…

Mike Shackle on Deadlines

This month’s special guest Mike Shackle reveals the importance of deadlines, why releasing each book is like a pay rise, and whether he’ll ever retire…

TRANSCRIPT

MARK: How do you know when you’re done?

MIKE: Deadlines, deadlines. Basically, every time I release a book, I. It’s like giving myself a pay rise each month of $1,500. So, yeah, it starts a big pay rise each each time over a year
and things like that. So if I was being really cynical about my career, I would just be writing
the next detective book and putting out… I had a discussion with this Sebastien de Castell, because he was talking about, you know, when do we know we’re going to retire? I mean, but, I need I know the, the money I like and I need to live on, but I have to make this stuff. I have to tell these stories. Even if it was just me doing it. And that desire to do that is only got greater as the years have gone
on, I probably end up in a loony bin, dribbling in a corner, talking about Simon Wise and, you know, everything else…

MARK: Reserve a space for me…

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

Or watch it on Youtube…

G B Ralph on Mark Stay’s Creative Differences podcast (live!)

Mark Stay has invited me to join him for his monthly livestream where he chats with fellow authors about “their writing and the little things that …

G B Ralph on Mark Stay’s Creative Differences podcast (live!)

MIKE SHACKLE on the Importance of Notebooks (and ambition)

This month’s special guest Mike Shackle reveals how he knows when to start working on a project…

TRANSCRIPT

MARK: What’s the thing that makes you think you’re ready to start writing on a project?
MIKE: I have lists of ideas that I want to write that go back years. I write a Witchfinder, I write a Michael Dylan book. Right now it’s the Witchfinder. I should be writing a fantasy
for the next couple of months. It’s like a little production line, but I have all these notebooks everywhere with different things that I’m working on, just so I can keep the ideas straight in my head. With the books that I write, my ambitions, and what I want to write. I they push me on and they’re the devil on my back, but they’re also the cheerleader saying, you can do it.

LISTEN TO THE WHOLE PODCAST

Or watch it on Youtube…

The Holly King is 99p on Kindle

Yes, that’s right The Holly King is a mere 99p over the festive season! Treat yourself now…

The Holly King 99p Kindle ukTHE HOLLY KING 99C KINDLE USA

The Importance of Friendship for Authors

This month’s special guest Mike Shackle reveals the small thing that made a big difference to his creative process…

LISTEN TO THE WHOLE PODCAST

Or watch the whole interview on Youtube:

Join GB Ralph on the next Livestream

G B Ralph, Monday 9th December 2024, 8pm GMT

G B Ralph is a Kiwi author of cosy mysteries and romantic comedies. His writing features chaotic yet lovable characters getting into trouble, an astonishing amount of crime, and handsome men falling for each other.

He’s currently documenting the increasingly implausible series of murders sweeping an enchanting small New Zealand town in The Milverton Mysteries, once described as “Agatha Christie, but make it gay.”

I hope you can join us live! It’s the last livestream of the year, and things might get festive… which basically means I might wear a Santa hat. Don’t get too excited. About that. Definitely get excited about meeting GB Ralph!!

JOIN US ON FACEBOOK

Or on Youtube…

Mike Shackle and the Squeaky Toy of Doom

I’m joined by Mike Shackle, author of the epic LAST WAR fantasy trilogy, and he also writes thrillers under the name Michael Dylan: we talk about the perils of writing epic fantasy when publishers are imposing word limits, the pros and cons of self publishing and traditional publishing, writing cop thriller fiction, setting a mission statement for each book, and Michael creating his own artwork! 
And we’re also joined by Buddy. Who has a squeaky toy that has an urgent message for the world…

WATCH ON YOUTUBE

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST ON YOUR FAVOURITE PODCAST

LINKS

THE LAST WAR TRILOGY
THE WITCHFINDER CHRONICLES
MICHAEL DYLAN’S DI SIMON WISE THRILLERS
MIKE SHACKLE’S ART
REBECCA MILLAR EDITORIAL
ANDREW CHAPMAN (REMEMBER HIS NAME)
PRIMAL SCREAM: COME AHEAD
FURY OF THE GODS BY JOHN GWYNNE
DAY OF THE JACKAL ON SKY UK
NAUTILUS on Amazon Prime UK
THE PALIN DIARIES 1999-2009
BOBBY DAZZLE

Edit by Kai Newton
Production assistance by Emily Stay
Jingle by Dom Currie

Support the show

Visit https://markstaycreativedifferences.com/
Join The Green Room: https://ko-fi.com/markstaywriter/tiers
Buy my books here: https://witchesofwoodville.com/#bookshop
And there’s more about me at: https://markstaywrites.com/