I’ll be at the MCM Comic Con in London all weekend, flogging and signing my wares! As well as the Witches of Woodville books, I’ll also have paperbacks of The End of Magic with the new artwork by Alejandro Colucci, and maybe a few surprises!
See you there. CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS.
I first heard of Mira Shah after reading her excellent blog on how to manage the expectations of debut authors (read it here), which ended up on The Bookseller and on pretty much every bit of writers’ social media. She’s spot on when it comes to how the industry is great when it comes to the big deals and ad campaigns, but can be lacking when it comes to the rest of us and how the launch days for our books can be a bit of a damp squib.
We also discuss how her writing came about through grieving, but if all that sounds a bit heavy for a Monday, don’t be put off. Mira is a delight and this is a really uplifting chat…
And at the end of the podcast, I tell Mr D all about my night in London’s glittering King’s Cross where I was honoured to collect our award for Best Books Podcast at the inaugural Independent Podcast Awards. It was an amazing night celebrating the terrific indie podcasts and I’ve added a whole bunch of them to my pod catcher. You can find out more about the award and the evening here.
I’m going to have a table at the MCM Comic Con the whole weekend where I’ll be selling and signing copies of all my books and there will be a few surprises too (I still have loads of Holly King chocolate to give away!). So pop along for a chat or come and get your books signed.
I’ll also be at the following panels…
We’re always told to “write what we know” but satirists have always excelled in using other worlds to hold up a funhouse mirror to the foibles of our own world. Join Mark Stay (The Holly King), Gabby Hutchinson Crouch (Darkwood), David Wragg (The Hunters), Eddie Robson (Drunk on All Your Strange New Worlds) and Thomas D. Lee (Perilous Times) as they discuss the challenges and joys of writing fantastic comedy fiction.
Sat, Oct 28, 2023 • 5:00 PM – 5:45 PM
Location: Creator Stage
This will be followed by a signing at the Forbidden Planet stall:
Author Signing – Humour in Fantasy and Fiction
Sat, Oct 28, 2023 • 6:00 PM – 6:45 PM
Location: Author Signings
Everything You Wanted to Know about Indie Publishing
Are you ready to publish your book, but you’re not sure where to turn? One option chosen by an ever-increasing number of writers is to self-publish. Join this panel of experts as they discuss the process of, and challenges and opportunities, presented by independent publishing.
Sun, Oct 29, 2023 • 3:00 PM – 3:45 PM
Location: Creator Stage
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.
I’ll be at the MCM Comic Con in London on Saturday 29th October. First, I’m moderating a panel on Worldbuilding with these wonderful authors…
Then I’ll be signing books with them at the Forbidden Planet stand! If you’re there, do please come and say hello!
I had good fun chatting with Steven Hesse over at the Geek Apocalypse podcast. We discuss the kinds of people you meet at MCM Comic Cons, 2000 AD, Pat Mills, indie movies vs Hollywood movies, film tie-ins, world building, plot holes, Robot Overlords and all sorts of stuff.
You can stream it here, or if you get your podcasts from iTunes click here.
There will be a video version at some point and I’ll plonk it here when it arrives, in the meantime enjoy and, if you like drinking games, take a shot every time Steven says “super duper fun”, you’ll be plastered before you know it!
It’s been a hell of a fun year, and one of the highlights has been attending a record number (for me) of festivals and cons to plug and pimp the ROBOT OVERLORDS film and book. If I was lucky enough to meet you, then thanks for taking the time to chat, if you bought a copy of the book, then you have my undying love, and if you torrented the film, then I hope your tiny genitals shrivel and die 😉 winky face!
The year ended with the biggest one of all, the MCM Comic Con at the Excel Centre in London. I was invited by fellow author and all round gentleman Kit Cox to join him selling and signing books for the whole weekend. Make no mistake, this is a huge event; the footfall on the Saturday alone is over a hundred thousand people, and they’re all eager genre fans, many in wonderful cosplay, and the feeling of belonging and bonhomie is infectious. I started keeping a tally of how many books I sold, but then started jotting down some of the comments made by those who visited my stall. It’s a brilliant snapshot of the kinds of people who come to cons, and I’ve broken them down into three sections: THE WONDERFUL, THE BIZARRE and THE HUMBLING…
Comments to make an author’s heart swell…
“Such a cool film, there’s nothing like it.”
“You had me at Robots and explosions!”
“I sell your book in Israel!” A passing Israeli bookseller.
“He’s buying this because he torrented the film after I recommended it!” A punter making his friend buy a copy of the book.
“I’d better get some cash!” A punter, after I pitched the book to them… and they actually came back and bought it!
“I’m Chris Lunt’s agent!” Chris is the show runner on the TV version of Robot Overlords!
“This is our first comic-con…” A slightly overwhelmed father and son (who bought a copy of the book).
“Can’t remember the last time I bought a book…” And he bought a copy!
“Where does the food come from? Where’s the booze? Can you imagine a completely dry country? It’ll never work!” A punter trying to pick holes in the premise. He bought a copy after I reassured him that we’d thought all this stuff through and that there was plenty of illegal hooch in a Robot-occupied UK.
“Dystopia is, like, my favourite, evah…” A wonderfully stereotypical emo teen.
“If it’s rubbish, I’m coming back.” A punter after buying a copy. He didn’t.
“I auditioned for this!” Young actor John Otteson!
“That little guy freaked me out.” Job done, Craig Garner!
“I’m downloading it right now.” Someone who bought the audiobook from Audible right in front of me!
“I love your film!” Several people. I love you, too.
From the adorable to the baffling…
“Do you mind holding my bow while I go for a wee?” A Katniss cosplayer.
“If he finishes it, he gets fifty quid!” A father determined to get his son reading books. Who am I to argue with this carrot-on-a-stick version of parenthood?
“Everybody’s sucking Chinese dick.” A fellow writer/illustrator on the current state of Hollywood film production.
“I hate to be the person who asks where another table is…” Several people who mistook me for an information desk. I was happy to help…
“Oh my God! Monkey Magic!” A punter who was distracted mid-pitch by some fantastic Monkey Magic cosplay.
Comments to bring the ego down to Earth with a bump.
Now, bear in mind that these comments came from folks standing right in front of a table with two showcards featuring the book, big piles of the book, and a bloody great quad poster of the film shouting ROBOT OVERLORDS in big shiny, silver letters with the release date stated plainly below…
“Is the film out yet?”
“Are they going to make this into a movie?” You never know!
“Are you the writer?”
“I think I’ve heard of this…”
“And that would make you… Mark?” A punter squinting at the showcard, then the book, then me…
“That’s a bit of a cliché, isn’t it?’ A kid on the title. I somehow resisted clipping the precocious little nerk around the ear’ole… Too many witnesses.
“I can’t finish long books.” A young boy. Try writing them, mate.
“When is this in cinemas?” Sorry mate, you blinked and missed it.
“Doesn’t look anything like her…” A punter looking askance at Gillian Anderson on the poster (who clearly hasn’t seen her in anything since The X-Files).
“Free book?” No. Buy one or fuck off.
“I haven’t got any cash!” from a punter after I spent a good five minutes pitching the story.
“I only brought thirty pounds!”
“I don’t read and I’m broke.”
“I’ve run out of money!” Everyone after 5.30.
“You’ve got bread on your nose…” My son, who pointed out that I still had some of my lunchtime sandwich attached to me after I spent a long and futile five minutes pitching the book to a couple who, perhaps understandably, spent the whole time looking at me funny.
I had huge fun at these cons, and sold a ton of books. I’m surprised the major publishers don’t have a presence at these. Certainly plenty of indie authors do pretty well, and I hope to do more in the future. If we should meet, don’t hesitate to ask about the film’s release date, plot holes, the state of Hollywood’s sexual peccadilloes, or where the manga books are sold, just don’t boast about torrenting the film, because I will have to kill you with the bow and arrow that nice lady asked me to look after while she was taking a whizz.
Please note: this competition is now closed!
As part of Gollancz’s wonderful advent calendar giveaway for Christmas 2015, I am delighted to be able to offer a very special prize of a Robot Overlords quad poster signed by myself, director Jon Wright, and some of our lovely cast including Craig Garner (Mediator 452), James Tarpey (Nathan), Ella Hunt (Alex) and Gillian bleedin’ blinkin’ flippin’ Anderson!
Getting these signatures was no easy task. Jon, Ella and I attended the MCM Comic Con in Birmingham in March, and we signed a few for punters then, but they were all gone before I could grab a spare.
And this was the first I had seen of the posters, which meant that when I was in the company of living legend Sir Ben Kingsley the previous week for his publicity stint, I didn’t have one for him to sign!
I did get manage to get some for EasterCon in April, and clung on to the three I had left over with a cunning plan to get as many of the Robot Overlords stars to sign them over the coming year of cons and festivals.
Next up was the London MCM in May, and this was when I hit Robo-star paydirt. We were interviewing some of the actors for DVD extras, and I was lucky enough to nab Craig and James in between shooting and they were gracious enough to sign my posters. Next up was Gillian Anderson, but her schedule was so incredibly tight that there was no guarantee she would have the time to sign. Indeed, the very second after she arrived, she was swept away for a series of interviews, such is the nature of these high-pressure press days: everything is timed to the minute, and I would have to choose my moment carefully if I was to crash in. Next she had a panel with Jon, where she received fan-love, chocolates, and a proposal from James…
And then after that she was swept away for an interview with James for the DVD. By now, her car had its engine running (she was about to fly off to make something called The X-Files… you may have heard of it), and my window of opportunity was rapidly closing.
Luckily, our publicist Marek came to the rescue and somehow found a gap of 76.5 seconds in the schedule. We threw the posters on the floor, threw a bunch of silver Sharpies at Gillian and while I held the posters flat she kneeled down and scribbled her autograph on them. There was even time for a fanboy pic…
I carefully rolled the posters into their tube… But I wanted more!!
My other targets were Ella, Callan McAuliffe (Sean) and Milo Parker (Connor). But they were all off making other movies: Callan’s made five films since Robots, Milo was away with Gandalf making Mr. Holmes, and Ella had a big costume drama lined-up… But then it got bumped to next year! Her delay was my good fortune, and she kindly popped into the Gollancz offices where we put the world to rights over tea and brownies, and she signed the posters.
So there you have it, fair reader. If you are the lucky winner of this poster, please bear in mind all the times I had to lug a poster tube on the underground, all the miles and miles of Sharpie ink, and all the nerves and tension wondering if I would get those rare signatures. Frame it, prostate yourself before it every morning, give it a dust every now and then, and then flog it when you’re old and grey and I’ve won all those Oscars.
Click here to go to the Gollancz blog to enter (UK-only, I’m afraid, but I’m sure you overseas folk have friends in the UK who can enter on your behalf, and if they win they can pop it in the post after they’ve first gazed upon its awesomeness, yes?)
Good luck!
I’ll be in the Comic Village at the mega MCM Comic Con at the Excel in London. Come along and say hi, ask me about the behind-the-scenes secrets of the Robot Overlords, and get yourself a signed copy of the book (or, if you’ve already got a copy, or a DVD, or Blu Ray, then bring them with you!) this will be your last opportunity before Christmas! (After this I’m having a lie down…)
I’ll be in the company of the splendid author and illustrator of the Union-verse books Mr. Kit Cox (who kindly invited me along with the promise of good times and tea and biscuits).
Now, here comes the complicated bit… I’ll be there all day Friday, Saturday afternoon, and all day Sunday. I won’t be there Saturday morning, because I’ll be here instead…
London Screenwriters’ Festival, Saturday 24th October, 9-10am (Yes! A.M.!).
Join me for a post-breakfast panel (bring your own croissants!) – should be good fun. Here’s the blurbery…
Robot Overlords is an unusual beast: a British indie family science fiction adventure movie starring Sir Ben Kingsley and Gillian Anderson, with a hefty (for the UK) VFX budget.
Join co-writer Mark Stay to see how this idea evolved from a two-page pitch to a finished film that premiered at the London Film Festival and topped the home entertainment charts.
Topics Mark will cover in-depth include:
Writing pitch documents
Working and writing with a director
Writing for VFX
The perils of British distribution!
Read the script (available in the booking & submissions page) then watch the movie on DVD/Blu-Ray or digital download ahead of the session to get the very most out of this in-depth dissection of one of the most ambitious UK genre films of the year.
For more info click here.
Bit of a last-minute confirmation (mainly due to me being an awkward pain-in-the-butt), but I am delighted to confirm that I’ll be at the MCM Comic Con at the Kings Hall Pavilion in Belfast this weekend.
I’ll be signing copies of the Robot Overlords novelisation at the Dept. 51 stand at 2pm.
Then from 3-4pm I’ll be on a ‘From script to screen’ panel with Nvizible’s Dan Churchill. We’ll be showing how the film went from Jon’s initial idea through to the finished the film. There’ll be a Q&A afterwards and then hopefully we’ll be able to sign a few posters and there may even be a handful of those ultra-rare Robot Overlords T-shirts (for those bold enough to ask a question!).
The Birmingham MCM Comic Con was great fun, but because we filmed in Belfast I’m sure this will be an even bigger blast. I hope to see many of our crew and extras friends there!
Mark Stay Writes 