Join me and Caimh McDonnell! Top bloke and bestselling author of the Bunny McGarry series and the Stranger Times series, of which RING THE BELLS is the latest (and I loved it!) He even looks like Santa! It’s going to be a very special live show…
Join us live: THURSDAY 18TH DECEMBER, 8PM GMT.
Or join us on Youtube…
How about a final round of Things That People Say to Authors at Comic Cons for 2025…?
Ooh, shiny!
I’ve updated my events page with the remaining comic cons that I’ll be selling and signing m’books at in 2025. They include Croydon, Southampton, Watford, Newmarket, Hatfield, Reading, Tonbridge and the two biggies in London: the MCM and LFCC.
A couple of things to bear in mind: some of these locations are a bit like Ryanair destinations, eg: the Croydon one is actually in Carlshalton, and the Southampton one is in Eastleigh. And I’m posting this on the day that half the internet has collapsed thanks to Amazon’s monopoly of the world’s servers, so some of the Evenbrite links might need a few tries to make them work. Or, y’know, read a book instead and come back tomorrow, maybe?
Anyhoo, if you fancy a fun day out and the delightful prospect of meeting me in person (I promise to shower and shave and brush my hair) then click on the button below to find out more…
Sadly, there’s a wee delay. I explain myself here on the Youtubes…
I had a great time talking to Tom Pepperdine about my writing process in great depth. This gets very nerdy, very quickly. This is an excellent podcast for writers, so do check out the backlist, too…
There are two authors named Mark Stay on Amazon and Goodreads. Which one am I?
TRANSCRIPT
Hello folks, I’m Mark Stay… Or am I?
If you pop on to Amazon or Goodreads you’ll see that there are two authors with the name Mark Stay. It’s not much bothered me before, but the other day I noticed that the other Mark Stay had a one-star review for their latest novel, On the Leaden Shore, and I thought I’d have a look and I discovered that the poor guy had received a not great review because he wasn’t me… That hardly seems fair on the other Mark, so, to be clear, this is me: if there’s magic and witches and, occasionally robots and spaceships, it’s probably me.
This other Mark is from the suburban Midwest of the USA and in his bio says he comes from a large religious family and he does seem to write about supernatural stuff, but from a Christian perspective. Here are his books…
Me? Well, I’m from London and no fan of religion so I guess that makes me the Anti-Mark Stay.
So, once again (and this time, demonstrated via the medium of these socks that my daughter bought me a few Christmases ago): dragons and wizards and shit: me.
Christian stuff: that’s the other Mark.
Me…
Not me…
Me…
Not me…
I hope that’s clear. Always read the author bio. And happy reading.
Thanks to all those readers who helped make the publication day of The Corn Bride so amazing!🌽👰 And would you be up for a spoiler livestream? Let me know below in the comments…
This month’s special guest Gareth L Powell reveals how he keeps track of story ideas when they come late at night… and then we’re interrupted by a digital overlord.
Or watch it on Youtube…
TRANSCRIPT
MARK: How do you remember that idea that you have it, say three in the morning?
GARETH: I always have my phone next to the bed. And I can say, “Hey, Siri,” take a note, and just dictate it to the phone.
SIRI: (Interrupting) And then what do you want it to say?
(LAUGHTER)
MARK: I was waiting for that!
SIRI: I created you a note. It’s called BRA.
MARK: Oh. That’s priceless. Thanks for that, Gareth.
GARETH: I thought, my phone is off. I’ll be safe saying this, and I forgot it’s on the damn computer as well… I will go through that process — that I just demonstrated — and then in the morning, because it’s synched up with my desktop, the I just open my notes file and the notes are there waiting for me.
MARK: A comment from Usman here: “22:32. Siri gained sentence.” It’s the end times, people. Oh, fantastic.
Crikey!
TRANSCRIPT
10 years ago today this baby was published, meaning I’ve been a published author for 10 years which is a bit of a pinch me moment… Yeah, amazing. I want to thank Jon Wright who asked me to co-write the film, but for the book I really want to thank Gillian Redfearn the editor at Gollancz who held my hand through the whole publishing process and editorial process, Lisa Rogers the amazing copy editor who I still beg to be my copy editor today because she’s just the best in the business, and also Genn McMenemy in marketing who uh still has lots of embarrassing outtakes of me floundering and trying to sell the book on on camera, and everyone who read it and said nice things about it. Thank you, everyone. Like I say I am really proud of it. The Authorized Podcast did a 10th anniversary special where they talked about the book and then I talk about how it was made and everything in a lot more detail… But there are things in here, you know, there’s uh there’s the short story in the back, The Mediator Prototype, I also have my shoot diaries about the making of the film and also put the name of every member of the cast and crew in the hope that they would all buy a copy which I’m sure they did. 10 years today, still in print, which probably says something… I don’t know what, but if you want a signed copy you can get one from my store, if not I think it’s ridiculously cheap on eBook as well the audiobook… Rupert Degas reads the audio! Terrific. Anyway 10 years. Wow. Gotta get a cup of tea.
Mark Stay Writes 