I’ll be signing in the Authors’ Corner all day with the wonderful Kit Cox, FMA Dixon and Tom Gaskin. If it’s like the old Herne Bay Sci-Fi by the Sea (same organisers!) it promises to be a wonderful day out for all the family! I’m particularly excited as one of the guests is Paul Warren, who played Mr Sniff, one of the Redcaps in Unwelcome! It’ll be great to finally meet him. Grab your tickets here.
So much good stuff in this week’s podcast. I got to chat with Richard Armitage about his new Audible original thriller Geneva. I think writers can learn a lot from actors in how they approach a script and develop characters, and Richard was very generous in sharing the methods he uses.
This episode also sees the return of Mr D, and in the extended version of the podcast (for subscribers) we discuss his night in Leicester Square seeing Unwelcome. If you want support and subscribe to the podcast, pop over to Patreon and become a Chart Topper supporter and you’ll get access to over 120 Deep Dives.
Before I wrote about witches, I wrote about Robots and it was eight years to the day when the novelisation of Robot Overlords was published! And so to celebrate, I’m selling the paperback at half price for one week only exclusively at the Woodville Village bookshop. That includes the DVD and Blu Ray bundles, and the bundle with all my books. Click here to grab your copy.
Here’s the film’s trailer to whet your appetite…
I had a great fun answering the questions in an interview with the good folk over at Gingernuts of Horror, where — among other things — I reveal who would win in a fight between the Redcaps of Unwelcome and the Witches of Woodville. Click here for the full interview…
One of the easiest jobs I had when I was a sales rep was selling Simon Scarrow’s books to booksellers. Of course, the writing is superb, but so much of that first book, Under the Eagle, had everything it needed to become a bestselling series. A great premise, a great package, and Simon knew exactly who his readers were. Lots to absorb in this one! I was joined by guest co-presenter Julian Barr, whose own fantastical historical fiction is definitely worth checking out. Have a look here!
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…
I’ll be popping up on a couple of panels and signing books at the MCM Comic Con on Saturday 27th May. More details to follow, but it’s a fab day out and you can grab tickets here.
Peter May has this uncanny knack of peeking into the near future, writing about it, and getting it right. He did it with his novel Lockdown, which was about a SARS-like pandemic. It was rejected by all the major publishers for being unrealistic… Those same publishers clamoured to buy it when Covid changed all our lives. He’s done it again with his novel A Winter Grave, which is set in a near future that’s been ravaged by climate change.
If this all sounds a bit grim, don’t worry. Me and my guest co-presenter Caimh McDonnell do a good job of lowering the tone with some grounded writing advice. And this is the episode where I reveal why Caimh is thanked in the credits of Unwelcome.
Oh, and if you’re watching the Youtube version, have fun spotting the moments where my internet dropped out and either me or Caimh have baffled expressions on our faces…
Finally that film what I wrote is unleashed upon an unsuspecting public! UNWELCOME is in UK cinemas today (it’s coming to the USA March 10, and the rest of the world soon after). Does this mean I’ll stop spaffing on about it? Nope. Once again for those at the back, here’s the trailer…
The question I get asked the most is, “Are you going to see it?” To which the only reply is, “No bloody way.” I had my dream screening at the Sitges Film Festival, and with all due respect to the good folk munching popcorn, slurping on vats of coke, and checking social media during the screenings at my local megaplex, it just won’t be the same. Plus, I’m a big chicken. And I really want to see The Fabelmans.
I also get asked, “Is it on near where I live?”, like I go around with a list of screenings in my head (I can barely remember what day of the week it is). It’s on 300 screens in the UK/Eire this week, and my podcast colleague Mr Desvaux reassures me that clicking on this link will give you the local screening times/places… Though when my dad tried it, he got listings in Singapore, so I’m now worried that he’s probably been hacked.
If you want to know more about the making of the film, there’s a Bestseller Experiment Deep Dive with me and director Jon Wright. We recorded this back in the summer of 2021, when we were doing what they call EPK (Electronic Press Kit) interviews and had all the cameras and mics handy…
And Jon is also on a special episode of the Film Stories podcast talking about the film and his career…
My thanks to those who were lucky enough to go to the previews on Tuesday and said kind things. I’m keeping track of of the various bits of press and publicity and have bundled them all here on a special UNWELCOME page, which I’m currently updating on a daily basis!
UNWELCOME had special previews at Cineworld and Odeon cinemas last night and already people are buzzing about it. I understand that Twitter is not the real world and Mr Musk is doing his best to turn it into a digital hellscape, but it was great to see so much love for UNWELCOME last night. Here’s a sample of my favourite comments…
Also, I was delighted to be on the Dominic King show on BBC Radio Kent last night. I’m on the show twice talking about UNWELCOME: at 42:18 and there’s an extended version at 2:38:04… Here’s a listen back link.
And we had a great first review from Ellen E Jones at The Guardian…
This is Straw Dogs by way of Fraggle Rock, essentially; but the script by Wright and Mark Stay weaves in enough anxieties, both contemporary and primal, to sustain suspense even amid the silliness. It adds up to an enjoyably unpretentious Irish-ish folk horror. And not a shamrock in sight.
Ellen E Jones, The Guardian
Mark Stay Writes 