UNWELCOME is available to rent on digital in the UK today! A mere £4.99 for a slice of Redcap mayhem. Just pop along to Apple, Amazon, Sky or wherever you rent your digital movie! No blood sacrifice necessary… unless you *really* want to…
It should be popping up to rent across the world in other territories this week. Tomorrow is the USA and I think from Thursday we’re on Paramount+ in Australia!
Me and Mr D are in a peculiar mood in this week’s podcast. I’m recovering from a cold and he’s high on cold medication, leading to some very strange conversations about streaking… No, really. But fear not, Rosie Andrews comes to our rescue with some great insights into writing historical fiction. Her debut, The Leviathan, is face out in ever bookshop I go into these days and I think we’re seeing the beginning of superstar’s career here…
Back in January I was lucky enough to be asked to interview Dave McKean for an event at Waterstones, Canterbury. He gave an amazing talk on his career working as an artist in comics, film, theatre, music and more. It was filmed by the folk at Waterstones and you can watch it here…
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.
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!
Anyone here remember Twinterviews? Or text-based book launches on Facebook? Mark Edwards does! He was pioneering online book launches long before Zoom and Streamyard, and in doing do he’s got an amazing connection with his readers and has sustained a career writing standalone thrillers and sold over 4 million copies of his books. He’s also a delightful bloke and it was a real treat to catch up with him again…
On Wednesday 19th April from 5:00-6:00, I’ll be on this panel giving advice on what authors should do across various digital platforms to best represent themselves.
Byte the Book’s Justine Solomons will chair this discussion and she’ll be joined by Bookswarm’s Simon Appleby, Marketing Mentor and Confidence and Mindset Coach Kelly Weekes and Writer and me! The discussion will be followed by drinks and a facilitated networking. You’ll find more details here.
UNWELCOME is now available to buy on digital in the UK on the usual platforms, including Apple and Amazon.
Here’s the quick synopsis…
Londoners Maya and Jamie (played by Hannah John-Kamen and Douglas Booth) escape their urban nightmare by moving to the tranquility of rural Ireland – only to discover malevolent, murderous goblins lurking in the gnarled, ancient wood at the foot of their new garden. Additional cast includes Golden Globe nominee Colm Meaney, Jamie-Lee O’Donnell (DERRY GIRLS), Chris Walley (YOUNG OFFENDERS), and Kristian Nairn (GAME OF THRONES).
Much talk of farts in this episode of the podcast with Matt Brown, author of the splendid Compton Valance series, the Dreary Inkling School books and The Mab, a retelling of Mabinogi for children.
Matt is a former children’s TV presenter and offers some great insights into writing for children… and yes, we talk a lot about farts, Ben Elton, The Young Ones, David Williams, rejection, writing without fear and more.
Also, in the extended version of the podcast, me and Mr D get into the recent hullaballoo over editing the less progressive bits from Roald Dahl’s books. You can listen to that by popping over to Patreon and becoming a chart topper supporter.
Here’s a first for the podcast: twins! I spoke to twin brothers Zack and Michael Urlocker about their 50s noir thriller The Man from Mittelwerk, and it was refreshing to speak to a pair of writers so honestly about the ups and downs of collaboration.
The regular episode of the podcast is on all the usual providers and Youtube below… but if you’re interested in my various collaborations then do check out the extended version for our patrons as I go into working with the likes of Jon Wright and Rowan Coleman and (coming soon) my wife Claire in some depth. You can subscribe here.
Mark Stay Writes 