Join me and Jeremy Szal, who was born in the outback of Australia and raised by wild dingos (it says here!). He is the author of the Common trilogy, a dark space opera, and was a guest of honour at the 81st Worldcon in China. We’ll be discussing writing epic science fiction, forging a career as a writer in an uncertain world and much more!
Join in the conversation live on TUESDAY 17TH FEBRUARY, 8PM GMT
Or join us on Youtube…
Gavin Smith is the author and co/author of 14 books, a couple of novellas and multiple short stories. His books include (but are not limited to) Veteran and its sequel War in Heaven, the Age of Scorpio Trilogy, the Bastard Legion Series and Spec Ops Z. As well as having written for Black Library, Gavin wrote the novelisation of the Sony Pictures Bloodshot movie and Marvel’s Original Sin series.
Within the games industry he has worked with Yoozoo, Ubisoft, DPS Games and CCP. In addition, he has optioned several film scripts.
And his new book ALIEN CULT is murder mystery noir set in the ALIENS universe and I can’t wait to discuss it with him!
Join us live: TUESDAY 9TH DECEMBER, 8PM GMT
Or on Youtube…
Pernille Hughes is the author of TEN YEARS, PROBABLY THE BEST KISS IN THE WORLD and PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE; novels brimming with warmth, wit and unforgettable characters. And now she’s back with her new novel A COPENHAGEN SNOWMANCE, which is here to herald in Christmas. Yes, I said the C-word! What of it??
Join the conversation LIVE on Monday 3rd November at 8PM GMT for what promises to be another cracking episode of the podcast that dares to shop early for Christmas.
Or join on Youtube…
Pernille Hughes is the author of TEN YEARS, PROBABLY THE BEST KISS IN THE WORLD and PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE; novels brimming with warmth, wit and unforgettable characters. And now she’s back with her new novel A COPENHAGEN SNOWMANCE, which is here to herald in Christmas. Yes, I said the C-word! What of it??
Join the conversation LIVE on Thursday 9th October at 8PM BST for what promises to be another cracking episode of the podcast that dares to shop early for Christmas.
Or on Youtube…
This month’s special guest Gareth L Powell reveals how starting a novel is a bit like bath time (without the rubber ducks)…
Or watch it on Youtube…
TRANSCRIPT
MARK: What’s the thing that makes you think you’re ready to start writing on a project?
GARETH: As I was saying earlier, it is… sort of things gradually accrete, and sort of clump together and, it’s kind of… there isn’t a single kind of, oh, let’s go! But I kind of write my way into it. So I’ll start, you know, I’ll write the first line, I’ll write a paragraph and think hmm, okay. And then I’ll go back and I’ll rewrite the outline. The outline is usually about a page, just a very brief kind of high level overview of the plot. And I’ll rewrite that about ten times to fix it. And then I’ll start writing a first chapter, maybe that won’t be going anywhere, so I’ll start again. Or realise I picked the wrong character, and I just kind of write my way into the book so that by the time I’m about 5000 words in, starting to pick up steam, and I think: right. I know where we’re going now. So I might chop out the all the original stuff, but yeah, it’s kind of like easing yourself into a hot bath.
MARK: (Noting a listener comment): Elinor says this is the most British conversation ever. Tea and a hot bath. Yes. Brilliant.
This month’s special guest Gareth L Powell reveals the importance of tea in his creative process (this may be the most British conversation ever)…
What’s your favourite tipple while writing?
Or watch the whole episode on Youtube:
TRANSCRIPT
MARK :What small thing has made a big difference to your creative process?
GARETH: (thinks) Tea…
MARK: Do you have a particular brand? Because I’ve seen your pictures on social media. You’ve got that wonderful little cast iron kettle, haven’t you?
GARETH: It was my lockdown coping mechanism. I got really into tea. Loose leaf teas and different types of teas and, so now it’s like… no tea bags. It’s proper bags of loose leaf teas. I’ve got a… I made an app for my phone, which is a picture of a teapot it, and I press it and it ultimately times five minutes, which is just right for the tea to stew.
MARK: Properly brewed. Fantastic. And do you have a favourite brand of tea What should we be looking out for?
GARETH: I’m kind of in between favourite brands at the moment. I was very fond of Whittard’s English Breakfast Loose Leaf. I’m kind of looking around for a slightly less expensive version, but I’ve tried lots of different ones. So at the moment I’m on the, Sainsbury’s Red Label, which is quite good.
MARK: You’ve got me some Yorkshire gold for Christmas, didn’t you, Emily? That is first class stuff. That is really good.
My special guest on the podcast this month is LJ Shepherd, author of the stunning debut novel The Trials of Lila Dalton. We discuss first lines and …
Episode 2 with LJ Shepherd
Last night saw the launch of the first episode of MARK STAY’S CREATIVE DIFFERENCES: a monthly livestream where I talk to writer friends about those little things that make a big difference to their craft and careers in the hope that we can give readers some insight to the creative process, and writers and creative folk practical advice that they can actually use!
You can join me and my guests live and ask questions and get in on the conversation. Or you can listen back to the audio podcast. Here’s the first episode with my special guest SC Gowland, curator of The Law of Consequences, a brilliant fantasy short story anthology. Other topics include the big mistakes we’ve made, happy accidents and Japanese all girl punk bands. Yes, really…
Please subscribe here or on Youtube for details of the next episode, or find me on your preferred podcast provider…
I was delighted to be invited on the Fifty Years of Shit Robots podcast to discuss one of my favourite robot movies, Disney’s The Black Hole. This film really messed with my mind when I was a kid (still does now, to be honest) and I had a great laugh chatting with hosts Matt Brown and Stephen Murray through our favourite and not-so-favourite bits. Click here for links to listen to the podcast and click on the Tweet below for a slap-happy sample of what we discuss (best enjoyed with the sound on!)…
Ahoy!
It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve blogged and one reason for the delay is that I flopped into an exhausted heap after completing the crowdfunding for my novel The End of Magic. A huge thank you to everyone who pledged, spread the word, banged the drum, stopped strangers in the street etc. I could not have done it without you.
The next stage is the edit, which should take until mid-September, and I would reckon the book would be published Jan/Feb next year. In the meantime, here are all the things I learned from crowdfunding.
Oh, and there’s still time to pre-order the book and get your name in it. Just click here and choose from the list of options.
The Bestseller Experiment podcast has had an eventful few weeks: a live show with Orion Fiction editor Ben Willis where we went deep into metadata while eating cheese and onion crisps, I caught up with my filmmaking friend Deborah Haywood and talked about how she wrote and directed her fantastic debut feature film Pin Cushion (and it’s the only episode of the podcast where a guest has meowed like a cat), and I talked about being buried alive with Sharon Bolton (as you do). Never let it be said that we don’t offer a varied platter of awesomeness.
If you love a bit of sunshine and sci-fi, then I’ll be with my brothers in ink Kit Cox and Thom Burgess at the Sci-Fi by the Sea convention in Herne Bay on June 17th (Father’s day). It promises to be a fab day for geeks of all ages. Kit, Thom and I will be there signing our books and happy to chat about all things sci-fi and fantasy. We’d love to see you there, and you can get tickets here…
Mark Stay Writes 