Mark Stay's Blog, page 25

One Month Till The Holly King Arrives…

Imagine my surprise today when I realised that there’s only one month until The Holly King is published… Not sure I’ve ever been so unprepared for a book’s publication, and that’s down to a busy summer scrabbling around to earn a bit of cash to keep the wolf the from door etc.

So yes, there will be a launch at the splendid Waterstones in Canterbury on Tuesday 26th September, 6:30pm and tickets are now available (up till recently the buy button had been missing!). The ticket will also give you money off the book if purchased in the store on the night and students get in for free. There will also be cakes, strange woodland creatures and an abundance of antlers. Please feel free to arrive in your own Yule costume. I’ll be reading an extract from the book and I’ll be happy to answer questions and yes there will probably an online stream of this, but I haven’t quite set it up yet (see above, re: wolves and doors).

Oh, and if you can’t make it, but would like a signed copy then you can order that directly from me here. Also, there’s no embargo on this book, so I’ll be despatching these beauties as soon as I get them in stock… which will be soon… before the end of the month soon. Just saying…

Oh, and I can confirm that Candida Gubbins has recorded her narration for the audiobook edition and it’s magnificent. There’s a new character called Pearl and Candida’s voice for her is perfection. You’re in for a treat. The audiobook is available from your preferred audiobook provider now!

I should have news on a US ebook edition soon, but until then happy reading!

Damian Dibben and a Feast for the Senses

It’s not often we get authors on the podcast who get around to sorting their own merchandise, and it’s definitely a first when we get someone who has their own tie-in furniture and art! Damian Dibben is an extraordinary mix of author, screenwriter, actor and artist and he discusses it all in this week’s podcast.

Another first for this week’s pod is that Mr D has made a declaration to finish his non-fiction debut in 12 months’ time! I have genuinely no idea what it’s going to be, but that date is in the diary and I’ll be nudging him every week about it.

And in the extended version for our podcast supporters we discuss writing the senses and I offer all sorts of tips on writing sight, sound, taste, smell, touch and more. If you want to support the podcast and get access to hundreds of hours of extra material, you can do so by clicking here.

Ten Years On: The First Cut of Robot Overlords

Long time readers of this blog will know that I’ve been looking back at my diaries from ten years ago, during the filming of Robot Overlords. From now on the diary entries you’ll see are the ones featured in the back of the film’s novelisation (and if you want a signed and dedicated copy of the paperback, then please step this way and click here).

The film wrapped principle photography on 25th July 2013, which was also the day I finished my second pass on the novelisation. Around that time I started my sabbatical from Orion and began adjusting to working as a full time author for six months. Jon and I were exchanging ideas for a possible sequel (one that sadly won’t ever happen now) and other projects while he was working on the edit of the film. Then I got a call…

Tuesday 6th August, 2013

Jon called to soften me up before I see the first assembly tomorrow. He still thinks it’s a good film, but he’s got a mountain to climb during the edit. We agreed that there’s no way we can go toe-to-toe with the mega-blockbusters, but we will have one of the most ambitious British films out there. Can’t wait.

Wednesday 7th August, 2013

Saw the rough assembly of Robots today. No VFX, no sound design, a temporary score from others movies etc, just a very rough cut, but I’m delighted to report that it’s going to be a belter. It starts lo-fi and indie and then just gets bigger and bigger and bigger. It’s quite extraordinary, the performances are great, and I can’t think of another film to compare it to.

What’s clear is that Jon, Matt and Vicki (Webbley – assistant editor) have a huge task ahead of them. At least 10-12 weeks of editing. Also at the screening today were Christian Henson (composer), Jeremy Price (sound designer), and Dan Johnson (dubbing). By the end they look googly-eyed at the prospect of all the work ahead of them. Again, it’s an ambitious film and people have been befuddled by it (in meetings when we were trying to raise the money, people were sometimes sceptical that we could pull it off) but once they get their heads around it, they’re cool. Nvizible now step-up. They’ve designed shots of the Sentry powering up that are so cool, we might use it for the opening titles*.

*We didn’t!

Seeing this for the first time was an out of body experience. I’d seen a few clips, and I’d been on set of course, but seeing it all put together was unreal and very exciting. And you learn so much. I soon realised there was far too much grown-up chit-chat/exposition for a kids’ film, and that the things you cut that you think are essential so often strengthen what’s left behind. Big learning curve and an absolute treat.

That comment about not knowing what film to compare it to will come back to haunt me. One of the problems we had with robot overlords is there really wasn’t anything like it out there in cinemas… which made it difficult to sell.

Oh, and I also spotted this in my diary from Monday 12th August:

Also had a good idea this evening. MAGIPOCALYPSE — fantasy where magic disappears and former wizards go on the run without their powers… Watch this space.

That became The End of Magic. More about that an its sequel soon…

AJ Pearce on Writers and Passion, Patience and Persistence…

This week’s guest on the podcast was so easy to chat with for many reasons. We both write about the same time period in Britain (the Second World War), we’re both writing a series with recurring characters, and we’re both mildly obsessed with magazines. AJ’s was inspired by one, and I’ve got every issue of Empire because I’m a sad sod.

But I also really clicked with AJ when she was talking about the three things a writer needs. The spoiler’s in the title: Passion, patience and persistence. That last one is particularly necessary. Boy oh boy is it. There are so many times when I’ve come close to just giving up, Quite recently, actually. But I was chatting with an author friend who was feeling the same way and we soon realised that this is all we’re any bloody good at, so we’re going to stick with it. Things have got better since. A bit. There are glimmers of hope on the horizon! Hang in there, people. This too shall pass and all that…

Oh, and in the extended version for our subscribers we discuss writing emotional scenes, what happens at the London Book Fair, ageism in publishing, how to organise your book series bible (and I show you what the Witches of Woodville series bible looks like!). To support the podcast and get hundreds of hours of extra stuff pop along to Patreon here, or join the Bestseller Academy here.

How to Break Your Readers with Jeremy Szal on the Bestseller Experiment

I think to be a good writer you need to have at least a tiny sliver of sadism in your DNA. It comes with the territory. In order to tell an engaging story you need to tease and tantalise. This can be done with a light, playful hand, or you can leave your poor reader a sobbing wreck in a puddle on the floor as they weep for the fate of the characters and the hell that you’ve put them through. That’s my theory, anyway. Eliciting an emotional response from a reader should be the goal of any story. I think I thrilled readers with Robot Overlords, people told us that Back to Reality made them laugh, but I don’t think I made anyone cry until The End of Magic (if you know, you know). And I have to admit it gave me a sadistic thrill and I wanted more. So every book/script since I’ve worked hard to create characters that readers will love, then done terrible things to them that either destroys them or makes their eventual triumph all the more satisfying. This week’s podcast guest, Jeremy Szal, told me how he also works to “break the readers” and jokes that their “tears are delicious” and he’s right to do it! Jeremy also speaks honestly about writer burnout and the toll that getting published and staying published can take, and me and Mr D discuss the realities of publishing and the mental health of writers. And in the extended version for patrons, we discuss the value of short stories and I give tips for writing actions scenes. If you want to support the podcast and get access to hundreds of hours of extra material like this, then become a Chart Topper Patreon here.

Writing Success: Luck or Skill? This week’s Bestseller Experiment with Antony Johnston

This week’s guest is Antony Johnston who has written comics, script and novels and is also the creator of the comic that became the movie Atomic Blonde. He’s now got a new cosy crime series starting with the novel The Dog Sitter Detective. He’s had an extraordinary career. A phrase that Antony uses a couple of times is that he was in the ‘right place at the right time’ and that he benefitted from that serendipity. I don’t doubt that the timing of certain events put some wind in his sails, but in my experience I’ve found that you tend to make your own luck by working your buns off and Antony has worked very hard indeed, spotting trends and changes in the industry and reinventing himself in the manner of his heroes David Bowie and Neil Gaiman. That’s not to say that we live in meritocracy that automatically rewards hard work (far from it!), but in the creative industries you have to create in order to get noticed, and the more you create the more like you are to succeed. As Joe Abercombie put it in one of our early episodes, ‘The longer you dance naked in the rain, the more likely you are to be struck by lightning.’

And in the extended version for Academy members and podcast Patrons, Me and Mr D discuss reinvention and “flitting”, being an organised writer, how to make a short film and much more!

Freya Berry: Being Ambitious on The Bestseller Experiment

Towards the end of my interview with Freya Berry, author of The Dictator’s Wife and The Birdcage Library, I do my usual thing of asking what’s coming next. Her reply was to say that while developing ideas for her third book it occurred to that it might be the most challenging one of all. An author’s first book is about simply seeing if you can get to the end, which is a huge achievement. The second book is to prove that the first one wasn’t a fluke, and so with the third book she is “trying to be ambitious” as she develops her ideas. And she’s right to think that. It’s hard enough to get one book published, but few authors get beyond three books, particularly in when working in traditional publishing, and those that sustain a career do so by continuing to surprise and delight their readers. Yes, there are authors who have great careers by seemingly writing the same book over and over (naming no names, but there are some very formulaic books out there), but as AI threatens the livelihoods of writers everywhere, I think that style of cookie cutter fiction won’t be enough to appeal to readers. A writers’ voice needs to develop and grow over time and a reader will join them on that journey. In the podcast I give the example of Terry Pratchett, whose Discworld books started as brilliant and funny parodies of the fantasy genre, but as the series continued his themes and characters deepened and became their own thing the parody elements fell by the wayside. His voice is what we kept coming back for and AI might try to parody that, but it will never truly have a voice of its down.

THE HYTHE FOOD AND DRINK FESTIVAL: Saturday 29th July

I’ll be signing books in the Authors’ Gazebo on the Saturday only! Needless to say the food and drink will be amazing, so come along to get some great grub, then meet a bunch of wonderful authors and there’s stand up comedy in the evening! There are more details here.

Heide Goody & Iain Grant on the Bestseller Experiment: How to Appeal to as Many Readers as Possible…

I had a bit of revelation while recording this week’s podcast. As is traditional, me and Mr D discuss the interview with our guests — this week it’s the brilliant duo of Heide Goody and Iain Grant — and at one point Heide brings up Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a theory of human motivation and is often represented as a pyramid, with our most essential needs at the bottom, rising up to self-actualisation and transcendence…

Heide told me how she and Iain would use this in their writing to help develop their characters’ needs and wants. My little revelation came in my post-interview chat with Mr D when it occurred to me that the bottom layers of the pyramid — the basics of survival: food, water, health, security, safety — are the stakes that we find in good genre fiction. Then a little further up we find belonging, love and esteem, which is what we love about romance novels and contemporary fiction. Then above that are the things that we associate with finding meaning in life: cognitive needs and higher planes of existence and all the kind of self-indulgent stuff that bores us in literary fiction (insert smiley face)… So my tip for you writers is if you want to appeal to as many readers as possible, then go for that lower half of the pyramid.

Of course we discuss much more, including the essential elements of cozy crime and how being a writer opens doors that are usually shut. In the extended version for our Patrons Mr and Mr D offer tips for co-writing. If you want to support the podcast and get loads of extra material like this you can do so by clicking here.

The Ghost of Ivy Barn is One Year Old and you can get it for half price!

One year ago today the third Witches of Woodville novel, The Ghost of Ivy Barn, was released to an unsuspecting world. And to celebrate this momentous day I’m offering the paperback for half price from the Witches of Woodville online bookshop (For one week only! While stocks last etc).

This includes signed and unsigned paperbacks, the three book bundle, and the “Big One” bundle of all of my “oeuvre”*.

If you’ve not yet read The Ghost of Ivy Barn, then now is the perfect time to catch up with the mysterious goings on in Woodville before the release of The Holly King in September. But hurry, it’s all while stocks last and ends on Friday 14th July.

CLICK HERE TO BUY!

*Apparently, this isn’t French for eggs…