Mark Stay's Blog, page 3

Me and Ben Aaronovitch: 23rd August, Staines Library

One for the Staines Massive! I’ll be chatting with the wonderful Mr Ben Aaronovitch about his new novel Stone and Sky and all sorts of other stuff besides. Surrey Libraries always run a fun event and this will be a lively chat with books for sale afterwards. These events can sell out pretty quickly, so click on the image below for tickets…

Oh, and if you can’t make it and there’s a burning question that you’ve always wanted to ask Ben, just pop it in the comments below and I’ll report back…

Rowan Coleman (take 2!) on the Creative Differences Livestream

Let’s try again, shall we? After the Starlink failure this week, we’re going to have another go at a livestream with the magnificent ROWAN COLEMAN on MONDAY 28th JULY, 8pm BST!

Join us on FACEBOOK

Or on Youtube…

Rowan Coleman is the internationally bestselling and award winning author and screenwriter of many novels including THE MEMORY BOOK, THE SUMMER OF IMPOSSIBLE THINGS and THE GIRL AT THE WINDOW. Her latest novel NEVER TEAR US APART is out now, and under the name Stella Hayward she’ll be publishing THE GOOD BOY in September (about a dog who turns into a man)… Rowan and I have also been working together on a few collaborations, so we might chat about that too. Who knows? You will if you show up!
Do please join us live as you’ll have the opportunity to ask Rowan questions on the night. It’s going to be so much fun. Monday 28th July 8pm BST.

The Things People Say to Authors at Comic Cons… Round 2

Who’s up for another round of Things People say to Authors at Comic Cons…?!

For my future comic con appearances pop over to https://markstaywrites.com/diary-and-appearances/

Rowan Coleman on the Creative Differences Livestream, Thursday 24th July 8pm BST

Rowan Coleman is the internationally bestselling and award winning author and screenwriter of many novels including THE MEMORY BOOK, THE SUMMER OF IMPOSSIBLE THINGS and THE GIRL AT THE WINDOW.

Her latest novel NEVER TEAR US APART is out now, and under the name Stella Hayward she’ll be publishing THE GOOD BOY in September (about a dog who turns into a man)…

Do please join us live as you’ll have the opportunity to ask Rowan questions on the night (we’ve also written on a number of projects together, and we’ll definitely be chatting about that!). It’s going to be so much fun. Thursday 24th July 8pm BST.

A reminder: the live show is just that, live and raw and things can go wrong including stuff that gets edited out of the final podcast, but… it’s also your opportunity to ask questions of the guests. So if you have a question for Rowan, join us and get involved.

Join us on Youtube…

Or join us on facebook

What’s the Most Non-Writery Thing I Do?

I was delighted to be featured on the Author Interviews site for an all-new batch of questions. I reveal my favourite writing tools, the most non-writery thing I do, and my favourite scene from The Corn Bride and more. Click on my grinning mug below for the whole interview…

I’ll be the the Guildford Comic Con this Saturday, 19th July

I’ve got stock (finally! See previous post for palaver details) and I’ll be at the Guildford Comic Con this Saturday 19th July. For tickets, click on the image below…

And here’s me waffling about it too if you prefer sound and vision with subtitles…

For more dates, visit my diary and events page…

Diary and EVENTS

Cabin at the Movies Saturday 12 July 2025

Highlights from Cabin at the Movies on Saturday 12 July 2025 in which I was joined by novelist and screenwriter Mark Stay to find out Mark’s all-time…

Cabin at the Movies Saturday 12 July 2025

I Won’t be Going to the Midlands Comic Con this Weekend

Sadly, I won’t be able to go to the Midlands comic con at the NEC centre this weekend, 12-13 July 2025. I ordered stock for the event at the end of June, but HarperCollins recently moved to a new distribution centre and it’s had ‘teething problems’, which in my case means I’m still waiting on stock! And without stock to sell, there’s not much point in me going, sadly…

However, I will be at the Guildford comic con on 19th July, and the Maidstone Museum Steampunk day on 26th July. There are more details on my diary page here.

A Woodville Short Story in a new Anthology

A new short story “Elderflower Cordial” will be featured in this splendid anthology from the wonderful people at Stars and Sabers. It’s a crowdfunded project and you can get all kinds of excellent “swag” (it says here) in return for your support.
And to whet your appetite, I can reveal that the story features a character from The Corn Bride, so if one is hankering for more Woodville thrills, then this is where you will find it. Click on the image below to support the project…

Nicola Whyte: Write What Makes You Happy

Special guest Nicola Whyte, debut writer of 10 Marchfield Square, reveals how writing for herself led to a breakthrough…

TRANSCRIPT:

MARK: What’s the best happy accident of your writing career?

NICOLA: Well, it might have been that Times Chicken House one. Subbing that in at the last minute… But actually, it kind of turned me off writing for children for a bit because the subbing after that was brutal. And so I thought, I’m just, you know what: I’m done. I’m done trying to please people and do whatever… So I’m just going to write whatever makes me happy. And of course, that was Marchfield, so…

MARK: You said earlier about writing for yourself and writing super long books or whatever, but I think that’s the key to it, though, isn’t it? You’ve got to write… You can’t chase the market. You’ve got to write what you love, and what you’re passionate about. And when those stars aligned in terms of; the market’s ready for it, then great things will happen. So, I think that’s the lesson to be learned from that. And writing for kids… I’ve tried it. It’s the hardest thing ever. It really is such a such a difficult market.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

Or watch it all on Youtube…