Mark Stay
@markstay
Author, screenwriter and podcaster.
A bonus episode with special guest @paulardoin.bsky.social We discuss his brilliant new nonfiction book, Outlining for Novelists who don't Outline... LISTEN: www.buzzsprout.com/2399041/epis... WATCH: youtu.be/-Ylor2NWo1k
Such a treat to see @4hundredblows.bsky.social pre-Edinburgh show based around his brilliant book The Umbrella Man. No conspiracy theories here, but human stories about the people who just happened to be in Dealey Plaza when those shots rang out.
I’m selling and signing m’books at the Maidstone Museum Steampunk Festival today! Cheeky photo courtesy of @thetunnelsbook.bsky.social
I’m going to be in Maidstone Faversham, Tunbridge Wells, Canterbury and For the Love of Fantasy and Scifi at the Excel in London! More here…  markstaywrites.com/diary-and-ap...
Marathon Man tonight. A far more controlled performance from Olivier in this, and the dentistry scenes are still excruciating to watch. “Is it safe…?”
Something has died in the garden (we live in the country: it happens) and the whiff of death has been distracting me, so it’s time to light up the Nag Champa Dragon’s Blood incense for a smoking writing session this morning…🔥
A research rabbit hole (about former fascists absconding to South America) has brought me to The Boys from Brazil, which I haven’t seen in decades and I realise now has been mashed up in my mind with Marathon Man, which I’ll also have to rewatch.
When a friend sends you a book they rescued from a library clear out because they know it will go to a good home!🧙♂️👻📚
Join me and TIM SULLIVAN, author of the brilliant DS George Cross series tonight: MONDAY 2OTH JULY, 8PM BST FB fb.me/e/glqNk75n3 YT www.youtube.com/live/xTQbsXK...
I’m at the Watford comic con today, flogging my wares! Find me by the fire escape and mixed recycling bin (oh, the glamour!)😁📚
Just come blinking out into the sunlight having gone on something of a… what’s the word? The Odyssey has its lulls (handy for loo breaks) and some of it feels a bit Pythonesque, but it delivers on the spectacle. Samantha Morton especially good as Circe. Be warned: there’s a sad bit with a dog.
Very sad to hear of the death of Sam Neill. So many great films, but Hunt for the Wilderpeople is one of my favourites and shows him at his best. RIP.
The tall banners behind me are from Vistaprint. The boards on my table are printed on card by a local printer. All designed on Canva.
Bugonia: a George and Lenny duo kidnap Emma Stone’s CEO thinking that she’s an alien from Andromeda. That’s all you need to know going in. It’s absolutely mental and I loved it.
This might be the best pic I took on my research trip yesterday. Waited bloody ages for those swans to glide into shot…
I don’t know how The Sheep Detectives works, but it does: funny and strange and the winter lamb arc is 😢
One of many pics taken on today’s research trip to Chiswick House and Gardens. Specifically for a moment in a chapter titled “Isn’t it Ionic.”
Went to see Backrooms at the Gulbenkian Arts Centre, which has a touch of liminal space about it, adding to the disorienting sensation left by the movie. Highly recommended, though I’m not sure the 20 mins+ post credit scene is essential…
Obsession takes the monkey’s paw wish thing and has a lot of fun with it. And great to be in such a busy cinema *weeks* after release. Hope that Curry Barker and his cast and crew go on the greater things.
Elwood Flynn, author of Pulp Western Hot Lead, insists that he doesn't know where the brutal violence in his books comes from and that he's a perfectly nice person really. LISTEN: www.buzzsprout.com/2399041/epis... WATCH: youtu.be/_xQq79xsXLA
Hoppers: not quite top tier Pixar, but very funny and inventive and the death of one character made me think of my mum and led to a short and intense bout of blubbing, so it’s a thumbs up from me.
There is an exclusive Witches of Woodville short story — Elderflower Cordial — included in the horror anthology OF DREAD, DECAY AND DOOM. It’s set in 1981 and features a character introduced in The Corn Bride. Grab a copy now! www.starsandsabers.com/books/of-dre...
Finally got around to seeing Eggers’ Nosferatu. Very much a game of two halves, Brian. First half felt very familiar (though stunning to look at), but the second half gets very bitey and bloody and thrilling with a moving ending. Looking forward to Werewulf, now.
When Claire and I auditioned for our drama school grants (back in the 90s!) I had to perform my monologues before some hippy dude, but Claire got Penelope Keith who clearly recognised talent and a kindred spirit when she saw one (Claire got the grant!) >>
For a better perspective on the 1976 heatwave, grab a copy of the late, great Graham Joyce’s The Year of the Ladybird. The heat wasn’t the only similarity between now and then. It’s also a chilling ghost story. Highly recommended.
The ending of this week’s Star City was a jaw dropper. Gets better and better…