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.
Month: July 2023
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…
Ten Years On: Robot Overlords and My Shameless Cameo
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).
I managed to convince Jon to cast me, my wife Claire, our kids George (11 and suffering from growing pains) and Emily (13), my dad Derek and his friend Kevin as extras in the Poseidon Hotel crowd scenes. By this point the shoot had moved to the Isle of Man.
Sunday 7th July
Douglas, Isle of Man
A rather noisy and thrumming flight on a prop engine plane to the Isle of Man this morning. Movies have taught me two things about prop engines: 1) they conk out, usually mid-flight, and 2) they’re good for slicing-up Nazis. Disappointingly, the engines on our plane did neither.
Our taxi driver did his best to sell the island to us: there are no foxes, moles or badgers on the Isle of Man, there are some stretches of road with unlimited speeding, and we had to say hello to the fairies as we crossed over the fairy bridge. Very peculiar.
Met with dad and Kevin for lunch and, later, dinner. Dad got all proud and soppy over dinner. It was very sweet.
We’d had a stroll along the front earlier to find the location for tomorrow, bumping into Ella, then Callan, then (our Line Producer) Aidan Elliot on the way. Claire had to take George back to the hotel early. Still tired from his growing pains. We relaxed in the hotel room all afternoon, watching Andy Murray make history winning Wimbledon. The room is nice, but stuffy. I did nod off, but was awake to see him win the final set.
Monday 8th July
Douglas – Isle of Man
A fun, but exhausting day as an extra at the Castlemona Hotel. We all arrived at 8.15am for costume. Our clothing was deemed ‘not outrageous enough’ and the costume dept. got to work kitting us out. Dad looked like a 60s acid casualty, and Kevin ended up in a dress with a mohair cardigan (the costume lady took one look at Kevin – a former police officer, over 6ft tall with a beard – and said, ‘I’m putting you in a frock!’).
I got off lightly with a cotton paisley gown.
We soon realised just what the costume department meant when I met some of our fellow extras. They looked amazing, and many came in their own clothes, with terrific hair and beards and one girl had these incredible metal cones on her forehead. We, in comparison, were quite the squares. Paddy got roped-in too, and his paisley gown complimented mine*.
*And in any subsequent script revisions we were referred to as the Camp Gentlemen in the gowns.
We started with an energetic scene — a punch-up between two brawlers, and the crowd went wild cheering these guys on. Claire had to pretend to be drunk/unconscious while all this was going on as Emily tried to wake her up, and George joined in the yelling with gusto. I couldn’t see, but apparently dad was cheering while standing on a chair at the back.
We worked our way through shot after shot, and the room got hotter and hotter, but spirits remained high. I got chatting to Jon’s dad Bill – also roped-in as an extra with Jon’s sister – who looked like Willie Nelson in his get-up. He was always quick with a joke to gee people on.
George began to flag and he had his head on the table between scenes. He was tired and in pain, not a great combination. But Emily was having a great time. She and I ended up in the scene where our heroes are grabbed by the mob. Em was pulling at James Tarpey’s coat, while I was wrestling with Ella Hunt. She was fighting me by jamming her hand under my chin. Her refrain between takes would be, ‘Right, let’s have the chin…’
Tamer Hassan, despite suffering with a foot in a cast, soldiered on through a key scene with a shotgun, and we all somehow kept the energy levels up… except George who spent some of the afternoon with the nurse. His growing pains so bad, that if you listened carefully you could hear him creaking like bamboo.
Jon seemed to think we’d all be in it, though so much would depend on the final cut. But he was happy and with two and a half weeks to go there’s a feeling that they’re in the final straight.
While Claire and the kids rested, I went for a drink with dad and Kevin. Ella was playing piano and singing in the hotel bar — and very good she was too. Had a quick chat with Ella and her mum before turning in. Early start tomorrow.
Thursday 9th July – Douglas to Epsom
We did our longest school run ever today. Up at 4.45am to get to Douglas airport (where George and I saw the actor John Rhys Davies queuing in security. We somehow held back from sidling up to him and whispering, ‘Asps… very dangerous…’). We were on a plane a couple of hours later, then dashed from Gatwick to a local supermarket for packed lunches and quick change into school uniform and both in school by 10am.
Damn, we’re good. And knackered.
I did a little writing in the afternoon, but kept nodding off. Back on track tomorrow hopefully.
Oh, and I bought a new office chair. Exciting!
Also got a very nice text from Jon. I’d thanked him for letting us join in all the fun, and he replied saying that he hoped I liked the finished film, and that he was putting everything into it. I don’t doubt him for a second and am massively impressed with his efforts.
This was an insane few days, and we still talk about it now and yes we all made it into the final film. Sort of. Here are some screen grabs from the finished movie…
George’s growing pains really wore the poor lad down and he was exhausted and spent a lot of the afternoon’s filming with a nurse. He’s made up for it since. He’s six foot two inches tall, studying acting at university, and has his mother’s looks and talent so has the potential to go far!
Here are a few behind-the-scenes pics from the day…
I could show you the photo of Dad in his moo moo, but he’s threatened me with legal action, so sorry folks.
And yes, we really did see John Rhys-Davies on that long school run which just added to the surreal nature of our little adventure. I had used up all my allotted on-set days by now (there was budget to have me on location for eight days only, including the rehearsals), so these were my last days on the shoot, meaning I did miss out on the day when they filmed the Spitfire, but I wouldn’t have missed these days on the Isle of Man for anything. Making movies is insane and fun and I’d like to do more, please.
Katherine Faulkner and “Light Americanisms” on the Bestseller Experiment
There comes a point in this week’s interview with Katherine Faulkner, author of excellent domestic thrillers like Greenwich Park and The Other Mothers, where she talks about making changes to her British prose for the American market: replacing pavements with sidewalks, trousers with pants etc. This is a commonplace practise now, particularly in the commercial thriller genre, but it does wind me up that this is very much a one-way street. Growing up, I devoured all kinds of American culture, including the likes of Stephen King and Mad Magazine which were stuffed with Americanisms. If I didn’t get a joke about Spiro Agnew (Mad were always making fun of this guy) then I had to find out for myself who he was. This usually meant asking my parents or going to the library. It opened my mind to a new culture and I learned a lot. So why is it that publishers and agents don’t think that the good folk of the United States can’t cope with pavements, nappies, biscuits and other Britishisms? I’ve got lots of American friends, and I’ve been there a couple of times, and the people I met were smart and curious about the world. I’m fairly sure they could cope with a few words outside of their own experience. I know authors fear getting one star reviews from people who can’t cope with the word ‘colour’ spelled with a U (I saw one such example just the other day), but I think living in fear of folk who are so blinkered isn’t exactly the artistic ideal we should be striving for.
When it came to writing Back to Reality, me and Mr D agreed to not make any such changes, but instead we would have a glossary in the back explaining what some of the stranger terms meant (including Colin the Caterpillar Cake and a Cheeky Nando’s) and we’ve never had any complaints. And I’ve just published the Witches of Woodville books in the US on Kindle and I’ve not changed a word. No puzzled readers yet. Mind you, my stuff has never been big in the US, so maybe that’s why? It’s possible that I might be working on a thriller with another writer late this year and I’m sure this will come up, so watch this space. In the meantime, enjoy this interview with Katherine. And in the extended version, me and Mr D discuss keeping the reader in the forefront of your mind and I offer a few tips for editing your first draft.
If you want to support the podcast and get your hands on the extended episodes and over 130 Deep Dive specials, then pop along here and become a Chart Topper supporter.
The Jewel of the Nile on the Authorized Podcast
In a follow-up to last week’s Romancing the Stone podcast, I was invited back by the Authorized Podcast gang to discuss the sequel The Jewel of the Nile. The film itself was off to a bad start in that the original screenwriter and creator of these characters, Diane Thomas, was not involved. At first she was working on Spielberg’s Always, then an Indiana Jones sequel, before tragically passing away in a car crash. This meant the film was scripted by Mark Rosenthal and Lawrence Konner who would later go on to write one of my favourite Star Trek movies, The Undiscovered Country, but they only had a couple of credits to their name on this one, and from digging into to making of this film it seems there was interference from all sides, so I guess they were hobbled from the beginning. So anyway, this is my long way of saying we weren’t fans of this one. I feel for the novelist Catherine Lanigan who did her best to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. Have a listen here…
Every little helps
I finished the first draft of Entrapment this week. There’s still a long way to go – one thing I’ve discovered about myself in the last year is that …
Every little helps
Mark Stay Writes 