Sarah Pinborough: When is She Ready to Write?

This month’s special guest bestselling author Sarah Pinborough reveals when she knows that’s she ready to start writing…

TRANSCRIPT

MARK: What’s the thing that makes you think you’re ready to start writing on a project?

SARAH: When I’ve got the ending locked in place. I can’t start to write without… I have to see the final scene of the book in my head. So… Behind Her Eyes, the final chapter was in the pitch of the book. So I don’t have the whole book planned, obviously, but I tend to kind of have to have the characters names, a bit of a tent pegging. and the ending has to be locked so I know what I’m working towards. But you know, I’m great one for mulling… mulling for a long time. I think that’s the hardest part, isn’t it?

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

Or watch the whole interview on Youtube:

Sarah Pinborough on Writing in Short Bursts

This month’s special guest bestselling author Sarah Pinborough reveals a great tip for writing in 20-minute bursts…

TRANSCRIPT

MARK: What small thing has made a big difference to your creative process?

SARAH: Cocaine! Okay, that’s a joke. (laughs)

MARK: (laughs) You might have said that a little too quickly.

SARAH: What small things made a difference to my creative process. I mean, it’s not a small thing, but obviously… Oh, actually, I do have one for this! So I use the Freedom app. You know, which turns the internet off. And my friend Harriet Tyce… because I used to just turn it off for an hour and then dick around on my phone. Pointless. But she told me to do it… There’s that thing where you do it in 20 minute bursts. So you set it for 20 minutes, and then you work… because 20 minutes you can work for. And so three lots of 20 minutes, and you’ve done, like, nearly a thousand words. And it’s much more focused. So I do try and do these 20 minute bursts if I’m not feeling it. And that does help, you know. And also I’m not a great fan of the word count thing. You know, people say I must write 2500 words a day. I think it’s better to have a good thinking time.

MARK: Yeah, absolutely. That 20 minutes is that sort of Pomodoro timer.

SARAH: Yeah. That’s the word! Pomodoro. That’s it.

LISTEN TO THE WHOLE PODCAST

Or watch it on Youtube…

I’ll be at the MCM COMIC CON, London this weekend

I’m delighted to be returning to the MCM Comic Con at the cavernous Excel Centre in London this weekend where I’ll be selling and signing m’books.

On the Saturday, I’ll be moderating a panel on writing comedy with these amazing authors: Joanna Nadin, MJ Northwood and Veronika Dapunt (click on the image for more details)…

If you’re one of the many thousands attending the MCM do please come along and say hello. I’ll be with all the fab authors in the WRITERS’ BLOCK where you’re bound to find a new favourite author.

GET TICKETS HERE

Talking ANDOR on the Authorized Podcast

Had a great time chatting about Andor season 2 on the Authorized podcast. As is often the case when I’m guesting on Authorized, I offer the case for the defence of the writer. I clearly enjoyed this show a lot more than Hannah and Overbye, though now I’ve had a re-listen I realise that their main criticism of the show is that they wanted even more of it… and I can’t argue with that. You can find the podcast on your favourite podcast provider…

And if you want to hear us chatting about season 1 of Andor, you can find that here.

Mark Stay’s Creative Differences Episode 10 with Sarah Pinborough: THE LIES WE TELL

I chat with Sarah Pinborough, the bestselling and award-winning author of Behind Her Eyes about her new thriller We Live Here Now, spooky houses, her method of ‘triple writing’, going on tour and the lies we tell each other…

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

Or watch it on Youtube…

LINKS

The book links are affiliate links and I earn a wee bit of commission if you buy from them.

WE LIVE HERE NOW

LAUNCH AT WATERSTONES MILTON KEYNES ON WEDNESDAY 4TH JUNE

SARAH’S US TOUR

MOBLAND
THE HANDMAID’S TALE
DOPE THIEF
TUBI FOR JACK PALANCE HORROR
YOU KILLED ME FIRST BY JOHN MARRS
THE HAMLET BY JOANNA CORRANCE
PAM KOWOLSKI IS A MONSTER BY SARAH LANGHAM
THE DEVILS BY JOE ABERCROMBIE
ANDOR
IT AIN’T ME BY EMILY ZECK

COME AND MEET MARK AT A COMIC CON

Mark Chadbourn on Bluesky
The Mike Shackle episode

Edit by Kai Newton
Production assistance by Emily Stay
Jingle by Dom Currie

THE GREEN ROOM

Writers: Need advice? Pop into the Green Room…

Twice a month, I run live surgeries on Zoom where you can ask me questions about the craft of writing, your WIP, or the business of publishing. Step backstage and let’s figure out practical solutions to your writing problems! The sessions will be recorded live and saved on Kofi for exclusive access to Green Room supporters.

In tonight’s session, we’ll be looking at sales agents for indie authors, writing historical fiction, working on more than project at a time and much more! Click on the image below to discover more about the Green Room…

The Corn Bride Spoiler Night Recording

Here’s the recording of last night’s Corn bride spoiler special, though in the end we didn’t end up talking much about the book, and more about what might happen next…

Join me for the Corn Bride Spoiler Special

Join me this TUESDAY 13th MAY at 8PM BST for a spoiler special chat about my most recent Witches of Woodville novel THE CORN BRIDE.

You can ask me directly any questions you have about the ending and… the future of the Witches of Woodville series. Is it really the end for Faye, the witches and the villagers? Find out on the night.

A few things to note…

This will be a Zoom event, meaning that you can chat with me (or holler/hurl abuse etc) directly.

A few of you have got in touch to say that you couldn’t make it on the night but you had questions. So, with that in mind…

  1. I’ll record it and will share it with subscribers of this blog.
  2. If you have a question that you want to send in advance, simply pop it in the comments below, or message me here, and I will do my darndest to answer it.

But it would still be great if you could come on the night as it promises to be lively!

Click on the image below to go to the Zoom link…

I’m at the Reading Comic Con on Sunday 11th May

I’m going to selling and signing m’books at the Reading Comic Con this Sunday 11th May. It’s from 10am to 4pm at the Loddon Valley Leisure Centre and they’ve got some great guests lined up, including an actual Doctor Who. Click on the image below for more details and tickets…

For a list of forthcoming comic cons just pop over to my diary and events page by clicking on the button below…

MARK STAY’S DIARY AND EVENTS PAGE

I’m at the Beyond the Book Festival in Brighton this Saturday

I’m excited to be part of the Beyond the Book Festival on 10th May in Brighton…

It runs from 9:30 am to 6pm at the Friends’ Meeting House in Ship Street, Brighton, BN1 1AF and there’s a roster of amazing authors all day! My panel is…

RISE OF THE WORLD BUILDERS

Main Room. 2.45 –  3.45pm 

Fantasy and sci-fi have seen a huge surge in popularity in the last few years, but why do we love these genres so much? In our turbulent times do we read these books to escape this world, or to see it in a different way?

Prepare to enter a multiverse of other worlds with authors Natasha Pulley (The Hymn to Dionysus), Adam Simcox (The Dying Squad), Zulekhá Afzal (Dancers of the Dawn) and podcaster, screenwriter and author Mark Stay (Witches of Woodville) as they share their stories of fantastical realms and incredible adventures. Come and celebrate the power of speculative fiction.

GET TICKETS HERE