Today is Faye Bright’s 100th birthday. Yes, Woodville’s youngest witch was born the day before *Halloween* in 1923. This illustration is by Emily Stewart and you can see more of her work in the limited edition comic book The Wish Demon available from the Woodville Village Bookshop here.
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!
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.
*Apparently, this isn’t French for eggs…
Once again, Mr Harry Goldhawk has done us proud with the cover art for THE HOLLY KING…
I love it. It’s a little different to the previous Witches of Woodville books, but without straying too far from the established style. I won’t say much more about it (other than to say that’s not Faye with the sword), but would love to know what you think.
There are just a few copies of the 10-page Witches of Woodville comic book left. You can grab your copy (one per customer!) by clicking here.
I was at the MDC comic con a couple of weekends ago and a few people spotted something on my table that they hadn’t seen before…
If you’re a newsletter subscriber, you’ll know that THE WISH DEMON is a free ten-page comic book about how a simple wish on Faye’s 18th birthday goes disastrously wrong. It’s illustrated by the brilliant Emily Stewart, and here’s page one…
Emily and I decided it would be fun to create a print version, which we’ve limited to 50 copies. They’re all numbered and signed (which you can see us doing here)…
Most have already gone to newsletter subscribers (they get first dibs on everything, so if you want to subscribe you can do that here), but we still have a few left and if you want one, they’re just a fiver (plus P&P) and you can get yours by clicking here.
Just a quick note to announce that The Crow Folk, Babes in the Wood and The Ghost of Ivy Barn are now available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited in the USA and Canada. Simply click on your country’s flag below to be whisked straight to some witchy digital goodness…
The third Witches of Woodville GEISTERZAUBER (Ghost Magic — aka The Ghost of Ivy Barn) is out today in Germany! I love what they’ve done with the covers and they all look amazing together. Grab your copies from all good German bookshops. There’s more info on the Heyne website here.
I was delighted to be invited by Yvonne Battle-Felton to read three extracts from The Ghost of Ivy Barn on her splendid podcast Bookable Space. I reveal the real locations that inspired the Witches of Woodville and why the series might not be as cosy as it first looks.
Download from your preferred podcast provider, or click on the link below to listen…
There’s a new FREE short story for subscribers to the Woodville Village newsletter…
This story was previously published in November 2021 as part of the Everyday Kindness anthology compiled by LJ Ross in support of the charity Shelter. All of us were still reeling from Covid and lockdown and the idea was to put a little good out into the world.
The result was an amazing anthology with stories from a wide range of incredible authors. I do urge you to check it out and support the good work of Shelter here: https://ljrossauthor.com/book/everyday-kindness/
Regular newsletter subscribers also know that I usually record an MP3 audio version of the story for them to download. Well, in this instance someone beat me to it. And that someone is only Dame Julie Bleedin’ Bloody Walters* herself! It’s part of the same anthology over on Audible and she gives a beautiful and heartfelt reading.
I was blown away when I heard that she chose to read my story, especially as I have a wee bit of history with Julie that you can read about here.
Laura Long Arms is based a little on the legend of Jenny Greenteeth and other such nymphs who lurk at the bottoms of ponds and wells and lure people (especially children) to their doom. I grew up in a time when children were bombarded with public information films warning us about the dangers of deep and still waters, so her legend has always resonated with me, and there’s no reason why she can’t return in another tale from Woodville.
I really hope you enjoy this story where Faye learns that a little kindness can go a long way…
*To give her full honorific.
It’s been two years since The Crow Folk was unleashed upon an unsuspecting public! And to celebrate I’m selling the paperback for half price for one week only exclusively at the Woodville Bookshop. That includes signed copies and the bundles of the three Woodville books and the complete collection.
THE CROW FOLK paperback is half price exclusively in the Woodville Bookshop from now until 10th February while stocks last and all that! Click on the images below to grab your copy…
Mark Stay Writes 