Category: Uncategorized

DO, meet your heroes

The adage “Never meet your heroes, for if you do, it will always disappoint” has been ingrained into us over many years. Yet, I find myself in strong…

DO, meet your heroes

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

I’ll Be At The MEDWAY LITERARY FESTIVAL Thursday 8th June

Sunyi Dean and Mark Stay
AUTHORS TALK: 7pm-9pm.
Chatham Library and Community Hub, Dock Rd, Chatham ME4 4TX


Fantasy authors, Sunyi Dean whose Sunday Times bestseller ‘The Book Eaters’ is a unique take on the vampire myth, and Mark Stay (The Witches of Woodvile series), whose film ‘Robot Overlords’ starred Gillian Anderson and Ben Kingsley and is available on Amazon Prime, will be in conversation with Sam Hall.

Sunyi Dean is a biracial fantasy author who was born in Texas, grew up in Hong Kong, and now resides in the UK. She writes speculative fiction with a weird slant.

Mark Stay is a novelist and screenwriter. His Witches of Woodville series is published by Simon & Schuster, and his new film Unwelcome premiered at the Sitges Festival recently, and was released by Warner Bros. in 2023.
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Free, book with Medway Libraries in person, phone 01634 337799, or via your SPYDUS account.
Chatham Library is fully accessible.
Nearest bus stop: Chatham Bus Station

Jonathan Whitelaw on the Bestseller Experiment

I’m always interested in writers who pivot from one genre to another. I read all across all sorts of genres, so why should writers be expected to write the same stuff for the rest of the their careers? (Answer: to make the marketing department’s life easier, but that’s a conversation for another day) So it was a delight to speak to Jonathan Whitelaw, whose first book was Iain Banks-style contemporary fiction, followed by a couple of satirical thrillers, and now he’s returned with a series of cosy murder mysteries with a unique crime fighting duo — a son-in-law and mother-in-law — in The Bingo Hall Detectives and The Village Hall Vendetta. Jonathan was really good fun. Enjoy!

Oh, and if outtakes are your thing, then hang around to the very end of the recording…

UNWELCOME is released in the USA this week…

American friends, UNWELCOME will be in selected cinemas from this Wednesday 8th March! To find if it’s showing near you simply click here, then on the BUY TICKETS button, and a list of cinemas and showtimes will pop up!

The Ghost of Ivy Barn by Mark Stay

August, 1940. The ghost, the witch and the traitor… As the Battle of Britain rages overhead, a warlock leader from the Council of High Witches comes …

The Ghost of Ivy Barn by Mark Stay

Best Books of 2022 and chat of things to come

Happy New Year from all at The Enchanted Emporium and we wish you a magical 2023 with plenty of happiness, good health and laughter. And books, lots …

Best Books of 2022 and chat of things to come

My Favourite TV of 2022

As someone who is still catching up on The Sopranos, I struggle to keep up with all the good telly out there. So this is by no means a definitive best of 2022 (still haven’t seen The English, SAS Rogue Heroes, or Normal People). This is merely my favourite shows from what I managed to actually see in 2022. And why not start with the biggest surprise of all…

ANDOR

A prequel to a prequel that has no right to be half as good as it is. And it’s restored my faith in the Star Wars universe. All props to Tony Gilroy who has taken some complex ideas about sacrifice, rebellion and loyalty and delivered a slow burn that pays off in spades. If you want to hear me waffle on about how brilliant this is for over two hours then check out this episode of the Authorized Podcast. Oh, and an honourable mention for Obi-Wan Kenobi. I know a lot of people didn’t like it, but I did for no other reason than Ewan McGregor finally got a chance to play that character with a decent script that had some depth!

DON’T HUG ME I’M SCARED

Did you ever see a show that was so strange and twisted that you feel like it was made specifically for you? DON’T HUG ME I’M SCARED is that show. Surreal and darkly funny this is NOT a children’s show… despite looking remarkably like a lot of the warped kids’ shows I grew up on.

FOR ALL MANKIND

A simple concept: what if the Russians were first on the moon? How would that change the space race and history? Brilliantly executed, this is terrific alt history. It gets a little soapy at times, but always pulls it back. I gobbled up three seasons this year. Can’t wait for season 4.

SEVERANCE

A man called Mark has a baffling office job that’s so soul destroying he agrees to a process that separates his non-work and work memories. Hmm… what was it about this that so resonated with me? And look at that cast: Adam Scott, Christopher Walken, John Turturro and Patricia Arquette firing in all cylinders.

OUTLAWS

And speaking of Christopher Walken… I don’t know how Stephen Merchant convinced him to do two seasons of this brilliantly funny show about a bunch of community service misfits turned drug dealers, but I’m glad he did. There are a few scenes where you can see the extras beaming because they’re in a scene with The King of New York!

BETTER CALL SAUL

So… so good. Such an emotional rollercoaster. So many shocks and surprises. And what a great ending. And the fact that Rhea Seehorn hasn’t won every acting award going should be a matter for the courts. She was robbed.

SLOW HORSES

Gary Oldman has said that he could play Jackson Lamb for the rest of his career, and I kind of hope he does. He’s having so much fun and the rest of the cast playing MI5’s rejects at Slough House are having a ball. I haven’t seen season two (yet), but I plan to savour it all very soon.

WELCOME TO WREXHAM

I rarely give two hoots about football, but as a study of a community that has its identity tied up in failing team this is binge-worthy stuff. Toss in to that the disruptive influence of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McIlhenney who buy the team in an effort to restore it to its former glories and I’m suddenly on the edge of my seat with every corner kick. This will give Ted Lasso a run for its money when it comes to heartwarming footie shows.

GHOSTS

This just gets better and better and is still full of surprises while pushing the boundaries of family-friendly telly, ‘He got sucked off!’ There hasn’t been such a brilliant writing/acting/comedy combo this good since Python.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS…

PAM & TOMMY

Okay, this might have outstayed its welcome a little bit, but it has a talking penis and you can’t ask for more than that, surely?

STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS & LOWER DECKS

After the too-serious mumblecore of Discovery, Star Trek decided to be fun again!

SHE HULK and MOON KNIGHT were fun if a bit forgettable.

RINGS OF POWER and HOUSE OF THE DRAGON looked like the real thing, and almost felt like the real thing, but they lacked the little something extra that Tolkien and Martin brought to their worlds. I’ll probably come back for more, though.

ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING was fun if confusing.

And I enjoyed a couple of horror anthologies on Netflix: CABINET OF CURIOSITIES and THE HOUSE. A little hit and miss as with any anthology, but these are always great testing grounds for writers and directors and I hope there are more.

And I hope to see more of WE ARE LADYPARTS…

My Favourite Movies of 2022

Now that you’ve been dazzled by my favourite ‘bangin’ choons’ of 2022, here are my favourite movies of the year. It’s been a weird year for cinema. The big hitters are drawing in the punters, but those smaller movies are struggling to find an audience. It would be a crying shame if the interesting stuff was all regulated to the streamers. Not to denigrate streaming, but there’s nothing like sitting in the dark with complete strangers and immersing yourself in a story.

These are in no particular order, although I do have one favourite above all others and that is…

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE

I’ve seen this twice now and it’s even better the second time around. Just breathtaking on every level. It’s inventive, constantly surprising, very funny, heartbreaking and had amazing action sequences. Directed by The Daniels (friends Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) who previously made the surreal Swiss Army Man (featuring Daniel Radcliffe as a farting corpse… yes, really) this gives me hope for cinema in a very difficult year. Not only did something this strange and personal manage to get made, it also took over $100m at the box office worldwide. Let these guys make whatever the hell they want in future!

THE NORTHMAN

I’ve seen this get a lot of flack online, but I caught this in the cinema when it first came out and was completely swept away by it. It ticks so many boxes for me: Vikings, battles, blood, witches, mythology, revenge and, er, naked men battling near lava… Well, yes, the ending is a bit Revenge of the Sith, but Alexander Skarsgård is utterly compelling, Anya Taylor-Joy is always amazing, and Robert Eggers is becoming one of my favourite directors.

BRIAN AND CHARLES

I’m so glad I got to see this in a cinema with a crowd. Simply the sweetest film of the year. Brian is an inventor who creates a robot from junk lying about his home. The robot learns English from a dictionary and names himself Charles Petrescu. What follows is an adorable story about friendship, love and growing up, and flying the nest.

CATHERINE CALLED BIRDY

Based on the book by Karen Cushman and directed by Lena Dunham this is a ton of fun. When her family’s finances are revealed to be in a terrible state, young Lady Catherine must be married off to restore their fortune. It’s very funny and Bella Ramsey is superb in the lead. I particularly related to her father played by Andrew Scott who kept blowing the family’s money on useless crap like dead tigers. This has a great soundtrack too with medieval takes on contemporary hits with Misty Miller’s take on Elastica’s Connection being a favourite for me.

BELFAST

Branagh’s most personal film and my favourite of his. Young Jude Hill as Buddy is a joy as he tries to make sense of the madness around him. A child’s point of view, memory and history mingle to make something heightened and heartbreaking,

ELVIS

A classic case of ‘Print the legend’. I’ve seen some complain about the historical accuracy of this, but Baz was never going to make a gritty biopic, was he? This could have been a complete disaster, but it’s all held together by Austin Butler who does the impossible and makes you believe that Elvis is in the building. Quite enjoyed Tom Hanks as Elmer Fudd, too…

GLASS ONION

Rian Johnson and Daniel Craig are clearly having the time of their lives making these movies, but the secret weapon in this one is Janelle Monáe. Not only is she a brilliant singer songwriter and science fiction author, but as an actor she takes on a role here that’s really tricky (I can’t say more for spoiler reasons) and knocks it out of the park. We were lucky to see this in its one week in cinemas and I’m so glad we did. These films are best seen in the company of others.

FRESH

The best flesh-eating movie of the year (ignore all the hype around Bones and All. I saw that at Sitges and wasn’t impressed). Sebastian Stan is completely charming (until he isn’t), and you completely understand why Daisy Edgar-Jones falls for him (until she doesn’t). This is on Disney+ in the UK and you should definitely watch it between meals…

HONOURABLE MENTIONS…

I saw BOWIE — MOONAGE DAYDREAM at the BFI IMAX in London and it pretty much blew my mind. I’d like to see it on a smaller screen to see if it holds up, especially as a lot of the 80s and 90s footage was shot on crappy video and didn’t look good on IMAX.

I liked Jordan Peele’s NOPE, but for me it’s the least of his movies so far. I was hooked, but it didn’t quite stick the landing for me. But I always love anyone who reaches for something even if they don’t get it (see also: my entire writing career).

SEE HOW THEY RUN was a good laugh and I hope we get to see more adventures with Sam Rockwell and Saoirse Ronan’s odd couple coppers.

PREY was a great surprise: a Predator movie as good as the first one (there, I said it)!

BLACK PHONE was an excellent adaptation of Joe Hill’s short story. Back to basics horror for Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill.

TOP GUN MAVERICK was basically the trench run from Star Wars stretched out to feature length. I was never a big fan of the original, but this was terrific fun and the kind of blockbuster that Hollywood does better than anyone. Best seen on the biggest screen you can find.

NIGHTMARE ALLEY is technically a 2021 movie but it was (I think) the first film I saw in 2022. I’ll just say it: Guillermo del Toro is a bloody genius and I’m so glad he’s now in a position to make a film so visually stunning and shocking. As remakes go it’s a belter. Can’t wait for his Pinocchio.

MEN started well, and Jessie Buckley and Rory Kinnear are always great, but it unravelled a little at the end. I went in with big expectations, so it’s one I want to come back to and see how it holds up.