Mark Stay got a part-time Christmas job at Waterstones in the 90s and, despite being working class and quite lippy, somehow ended up working in publishing for over 25 years. He wrote in his spare time and sometimes those writings got turned into books and films, including the Witches of Woodville series from Simon & Schuster, and the 2023 Warner Bros. horror movie Unwelcome. Nautilus, the #1 Amazon Prime TV series, was based on his treatment.

Mark was also co-presenter of the award-winning Bestseller Experiment podcast, which has inspired writers all over the world to finish and publish their books. Born in London, he lives in Kent with Youtube gardener and writer Claire Burgess and a declining assortment of retired chickens.

You can find Mark here: https://markstaywrites.com/all-the-links/

The Green Room can be found here: https://markstaywrites.com/the-green-room/

And Creative Differences podcast can be found here: https://markstaywrites.com/the-creative-differences-podcast/

His books: SF&F and horror: https://markstaywrites.com/books/
Robot Overlords, Gollancz, 2015
The End of Magic, Unbound, 2019
The End of Dragons, Unusually Tall Stories, 2024
The End of Gods, Unusually Tall Stories, coming 2025
The Crow Folk, The Witches of Woodville I, Simon & Schuster, 2021
Babes in the Wood, The Witches of Woodville II, Simon & Schuster, 2021
The Ghost of Ivy Barn, The Witches of Woodville III, Simon & Schuster, 2022
The Holly King, The Witches of Woodville IV, Simon & Schuster, 2023
The Corn Bride, The Witches of Woodville V, Simon & Schuster, coming 2025

Film & TV:
Robot Overlords, 2014, Tempo/BFI: https://markstaywrites.com/robot-overlords/
Unwelcome, 2023, Warner Bros: https://markstaywrites.com/unwelcome/
Nautilus, 2024, Moonriver, Disney, Amazon Prime and AMC (based on my treatment): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15286302/

Support the show

Join me on Substack - here - for more insights into writing and being published, as well as mindset tips and tools. You can subscribe to get access to much more from me, including workshops and coaching.

If you would like to show your love for the podcast, please consider buying me a coffee through BuyMeACoffee.com. This gives you an opportunity to make a small, one-off donation - you are not committed to regular payments. Making the podcast earns me no money, and in fact costs me a fair bit, but I do it for the love, and because I have such fun talking with wonderful authors.

Even if you can't afford to buy me a coffee, simply letting me know that you love the podcast means a lot to me. Please take a moment to leave a star rating, write a review, or share the episode with others you know who will benefit from listening in, or you can tag me in social media when you share an episode that you love with your followers.

My website is http://www.zoerichards.co.uk where you can discover how you can work with me, and you can find me on TwiX and Instagram as @zoerichardsuk

And finally my debut novel, Garden of Her Heart, is out now and you can buy your copy here.

Happy writing, and may the wo...