Mark Stay's Creative Differences

Jeremy Szal tells us how he has grown as a writer while creating the Common Trilogy, an epic space opera with 'messy, difficult emotional conflicts'.

WE ALSO DISCUSS:

Tips for writing short stories
And his experiences of Worldcon in China
And much more!

LINKS:

Jeremy's website: https://jeremyszal.com
Tickets for the live show with Julie Wassmer: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/escalate-arts-literature-festival-mark-stays-creative-differences-podcast-tickets-1980991706521?


Ghost of Yotei: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_of_Yōtei
Stardew Valley: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stardew_Valley
Attack on Titan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Titan_(TV_series)
Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Knight_of_the_Seven_Kingdoms_(TV_series)
Marty Supreme: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marty_Supreme
Avatar: Fire and Ash: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar:_Fire_and_Ash
Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky: https://amzn.to/3N6BcYI (this is an affiliate link and I can earn commission if you use it)
Strength of the Few by James Islington: https://amzn.to/4ue7cLo (this is an affiliate link and I can earn commission if you use it)
Beastars (manga): https://amzn.to/4uh3xMX (this is an affiliate link and I can earn commission if you use it)
Mono (band): https://www.monoofjapan.com
Sigur Ros (band) https://sigurros.com
Oasis (band): https://www.oasisinet.com
Small Prophets: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Prophets
Spectators by Brian K Vaughan and artist Niko Henrichon: https://okcomics.co.uk/products/spectators-hardcover-by-brian-k-vaughan-and-niko-henrichon

A huge thanks to Emily Stay-Newton for production assistance, to Kai Stay-Newton for the edit, and Dominic Currie for the jingle.

Support the show:

Visit https://markstaycreativedifferences.com/
Join The Green Room: https://ko-fi.com/markstaywriter/tiers
Buy my books here: https://witchesofwoodville.com/#bookshop
And there’s more about me at: https://markstaywrites.com/

Support the show

Thanks to:

Dom Currie for the jingle

Emily Stay-Newton and Kai Stay-Newton for the edit

Visit https://markstaycreativedifferences.com/
Join The Green Room: https://ko-fi.com/markstaywriter/tiers
Buy my books here: https://witchesofwoodville.com/#bookshop
And there's more about me at: https://markstaywrites.com/

Ellis Blackwood is the author of the brilliant Samuel Pepys Mysteries and had a previous career writing about his love of Doctor Who, David Bowie and once made a very strange video with me on Youtube (we were young and needed the money)...

WE ALSO DISCUSS...

Rapid Publishing & Series arcs

Historical accuracy versus story

And why he hates plotting (but does it anyway)...

LINKS

Ellis Blackwood's books: https://ellisblackwood.com/

Dalek, I Loved You: https://youtu.be/fdV_EAU9UiU?si=-rWkwoUcejAO2hoU  

Plottr: https://plottr.com/

The End of Gods Unboxing Video: https://youtu.be/wxNBVxpn2_A

Shire Books: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/series/shire-library/

The Traitors: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Traitors_(British_TV_series)

Ski Sunday: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006v8fc 

The Winter Olympics: https://www.olympics.com/en/milano-cortina-2026

Public Service Broadcasting: https://www.publicservicebroadcasting.net/ 

Ben Elton (this is an affiliate link, so I earn money if you buy using this)

A huge thanks to Emily Stay-Newton for production assistance, to Kai Stay-Newton for the edit, and Dominic Currie for the jingle.

Support the show

Thanks to:

Dom Currie for the jingle

Emily Stay-Newton and Kai Stay-Newton for the edit

Visit https://markstaycreativedifferences.com/
Join The Green Room: https://ko-fi.com/markstaywriter/tiers
Buy my books here: https://witchesofwoodville.com/#bookshop
And there's more about me at: https://markstaywrites.com/

Caimh McDonnell is the author of the Bunny McGarry trilogy (not a trilogy) and the Stranger Times series (definitely a series) and his latest RING THE BELLS is one of my favourite books of the year.

In this festive special, we discuss:

• How travel triggers story ideas
• The value of short stories
• Why calling something a trilogy is a bad idea
• And why it's crucial to take note of when you're writing good stuff, and much more!

LINKS
Caimh's website: https://whitehairedirishman.com

Joe Abercrombie backlist: https://joeabercrombie.com
Down Cemetery Road: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_Cemetery_Road
Raye: Where is my husband? https://youtu.be/rK5TyISxZ_M?si=MrCHrv-qT5utGNGp
Scriptnotes book: https://scriptnotesbook.com
Death by Lightning: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_by_Lightning
Wish You Were Here 50th Anniversary: https://youtu.be/K6qj09OHvjw?si=yy0U7jHlvzIDqUgu

A huge thanks to Emily Stay-Newton for production assistance, to Kai Stay-Newton for the edit, and Dominic Currie for the jingle.

Support the show

Thanks to:

Dom Currie for the jingle

Emily Stay-Newton and Kai Stay-Newton for the edit

Visit https://markstaycreativedifferences.com/
Join The Green Room: https://ko-fi.com/markstaywriter/tiers
Buy my books here: https://witchesofwoodville.com/#bookshop
And there's more about me at: https://markstaywrites.com/

Gavin G Smith writes gripping science fiction and his latest is ALIEN CULT, a terrific murder mystery noir set in the ALIENS universe.

We Discuss:
Writing for other people's IP, including games and film novelisations
The crucial difference between a consistent universe and fan service
Why he might enjoy research too much
And why it's more important than ever for authors to value their work

LINKS
Gavin's website: https://www.gavingsmith.com/   
Pre-Order The End of Gods paperback: https://witchesofwoodville.com/product/the-end-of-gods-paperback/
Mark's comic con playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLo_4ntDELMUt20rTdaXBuENcRk5y4wtQX&si=--4DAUYlIHdEYzR1

WHAT'S GIVING US JOY
Baldur’s Gate 3: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldur%27s_Gate_3
Where Eagles Dare: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_Eagles_Dare
Bond: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_Your_Eyes_Only_(film)
Paddington: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddington_(film)
The Holiday: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holiday
Die Hard: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Hard
Young Sherlock Holmes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Sherlock_Holmes
Roofworld: (I earn commission if you buy via this link) https://amzn.to/4aloBKv
The Holly King by Kate Rusby: https://youtu.be/cGHkq2rE57M?si=9L2x-1S4FmVo0Rjb
The Holdovers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holdovers
The Beatles Anthology: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles_Anthology_(TV_series)


A huge thanks to Emily Stay-Newton for production assistance, to Kai Stay-Newton for the edit, and Dominic Currie for the va-jingle.

Support the show:

Support the show

Thanks to:

Dom Currie for the jingle

Emily Stay-Newton and Kai Stay-Newton for the edit

Visit https://markstaycreativedifferences.com/
Join The Green Room: https://ko-fi.com/markstaywriter/tiers
Buy my books here: https://witchesofwoodville.com/#bookshop
And there's more about me at: https://markstaywrites.com/

Jeevani Charika writes award nominated romantic women’s fiction and romcoms. She’s written books on how to write romcoms, and sustaining a career as a writer and she also has an amazing YouTube channel teaching authors how to use Canva to make marketing graphics Her latest book How Can I Resist You is out now!

We Discuss:

• What she's learned from her love of Korean dramas
• How 'writing tighter' has been good for her prose style
• How oversleeping led to a breakthrough in her career
• Why she enjoys doing funky things with Canva and much more...

LINKS
Jeevani's website: www.rhodabaxter.com 
Jeevani's Canva Tips Youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/@jeevanicharika
Jeevani's Substack: https://substack.com/@canvatips4author

What's Giving Us Joy...

A Merry Little Ex-mas (Netflix): https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81735104
T Kingfisher's books with the Paladins  (I earn commission if you click on this link): https://amzn.to/49ZV358
A Mind of My Own, Kathy Burke (I earn commission if you click on this link): https://amzn.to/4ovrNGJ
Cole Haddon’s 5am Storytalk: https://colehaddon.substack.com
50 Years of Shit Robots: https://shows.acast.com/fifty-years-of-shit-robots
Film Stories: https://filmstories.co.uk/category/podcast/
Pluribus: https://tv.apple.com/gb/show/pluribus/umc.cmc.37axgovs2yozlyh3c2cmwzlza

A huge thanks to Emily for production assistance, to Kai Newton for the edit, and Dominic Currie for the jingle.

Support the show

Visit https://markstaycreativedifferences.com/
Join The Green Room: https://ko-fi.com/markstaywriter/tiers
Buy my books here: https://witchesofwoodville.com/#bookshop
And there's more about me at: https://markstaywrites.com/

Support the show

Thanks to:

Dom Currie for the jingle

Emily Stay-Newton and Kai Stay-Newton for the edit

Visit https://markstaycreativedifferences.com/
Join The Green Room: https://ko-fi.com/markstaywriter/tiers
Buy my books here: https://witchesofwoodville.com/#bookshop
And there's more about me at: https://markstaywrites.com/

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??

WE DISCUSS:

Discovering your voice

Hygge

Hero drafts

Finding your tribe

Writing on HRT and why you should lock yourself in a room with a glass of wine when writing... and much more!

LINKS

Pernille's website: www.pernillehughes.com 

Writing Regency England by Jayne Davis: https://www.jaynedavisromance.co.uk/writing-regency-england/

What's Giving us Joy...

Celebrity Traitors: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Celebrity_Traitors 

Slow Horses: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_Horses

The Great Pottery Throw Down: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Pottery_Throw_Down

Ludovico Einaudi: https://ludovicoeinaudi.com/ 

Vitamin String Quartet: https://www.vitaminstringquartet.com/

Mr MC Grammar: https://www.mrmcgrammar.com/ 

Christmas on Fifth Avenue by Julie Caplin: (I earn commission if you click on this link) https://amzn.to/4paxDP1

Christmas at the Scottish Lodge by Donna Ashcroft: (I earn commission if you click on this link) https://amzn.to/48zsM3V

Cressida McLaughlin, The Secret Mistletoe Promise: (I earn commission if you click on this link) https://amzn.to/49Af4yT

Human Croquet by Kate Atkinson: (I earn commission if you click on this link) https://amzn.to/4og65Gy

Alan Partridge: How Are You?: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002hcb7/how-are-you-its-alan-partridge 

Katherine Priddy: Matches: https://www.katherinepriddy.co.uk/home/ 

A huge thanks to Emily for production assistance, to Kai Newton for the edit, and Dominic Currie for the jingle. 

Support the show

Thanks to:

Dom Currie for the jingle

Emily Stay-Newton and Kai Stay-Newton for the edit

Visit https://markstaycreativedifferences.com/
Join The Green Room: https://ko-fi.com/markstaywriter/tiers
Buy my books here: https://witchesofwoodville.com/#bookshop
And there's more about me at: https://markstaywrites.com/

Lucy Strange is an award-winning children’s author whose books feel like classic children’s literature, but are written in a style that is engaging and accessible for today’s younger readers. Most recently she’s collaborated with artist Pam Smy on their spooky, funny new series Lockett & Wilde’s Dreadfully Haunting Mysteries!
Often inspired by folklore and fairy tales, Lucy combines historical settings with touches of magic and fantasy to create utterly convincing worlds in which anything might happen.

And before becoming a professional writer, Lucy worked as an English teacher for fifteen years. Having also trained and worked as an actor, Lucy narrates her own audiobooks, winning the 2019 Audie Award for The Secret of Nightingale Wood.

WE DISCUSS:
Collaborating with illustrators
What Lucy learned from abridging Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Writer's Block and how to deal with it
And how scary is too scary when writing for children?
And much more!

LINKS
Lucy's Website: https://www.lucystrange.org
The Episode with GB Ralph: https://markstaycreativedifferences.com/2024/12/12/episode-5-with-gb-ralph-share-the-excitment/

What's Giving Us Joy...
Essex Serpent, Sarah Perry: https://serpentstail.com/work/the-essex-serpent/
Instead of a Letter, Diana Athill: https://granta.com/products/instead-of-a-letter/
Once Upon a River, Diane Setterfield: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/437745/once-upon-a-river-by-diane-setterfield/9781784163631
Death at the Sign of the Rook, Kate Atkinson: https://www.kateatkinson.co.uk/books/death-at-the-sign-of-the-rook/
Buckingham Nicks: https://www.roughtrade.com/product/lindsey-buckingham-and-stevie-nicks/buckingham-nicks
Superstore: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superstore_(TV_series)
Robert Redford: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Redford

A huge thanks to Emily for production assistance, to Kai Newton for the edit, and Dominic Currie for the jingle. 

Support the show

Thanks to:

Dom Currie for the jingle

Emily Stay-Newton and Kai Stay-Newton for the edit

Visit https://markstaycreativedifferences.com/
Join The Green Room: https://ko-fi.com/markstaywriter/tiers
Buy my books here: https://witchesofwoodville.com/#bookshop
And there's more about me at: https://markstaywrites.com/

GD Wright is the author of the bestselling AFTER THE STORM and INTO THE FIRE, and he’s genuinely one of the nicest guys in the business with an extraordinary tale to tell: he was a copper, then due to health issues had to retire aged 30, and if you know Gary at all you’ll know that he’s had a few challenges this year… but he’s come through and was an amazing guest on the livestream. He talks frankly his strange route to publication, creating a writing habit, how his work was optioned when he was self-published and much, much more...

LINKS
GD Wright's website: https://authorgdwright.com
Love Never Dies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Never_Dies_(musical) 
Alien: Earth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien:_Earth
Fisk: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisk_(TV_series)
Ring the Bells: https://thestrangertimes.co.uk/ring-the-bells/
Brett McKenzie: https://bretmckenzie.os.fan

A huge thanks to Emily Stay for production assistance, to Kai Newton for the edit, and Dominic Currie for the jingle. 

Support the show

Thanks to:

Dom Currie for the jingle

Emily Stay-Newton and Kai Stay-Newton for the edit

Visit https://markstaycreativedifferences.com/
Join The Green Room: https://ko-fi.com/markstaywriter/tiers
Buy my books here: https://witchesofwoodville.com/#bookshop
And there's more about me at: https://markstaywrites.com/

Bestselling and award-winning author Rowan Coleman joined me to discuss her new book Never Tear Us Apart, revealing how a family photo inspired her to research in Malta, why she wrote her next book, The Good Boy, under a pen name, then there was something about quantum physics, and ultimately she asks the question we all want an answer to in any situation: What would Charlotte Brontë do? This was a really fun chat with tons of great advice for writers.

LINKS
ROWAN'S WEBSITE https://rowancoleman.co.uk
ROWAN'S SUBSTACK ON QUANTUM PHYSICS: https://substack.com/home/post/p-168285742
ROWAN'S CURTIS BROWN COURSE: https://www.curtisbrowncreative.co.uk/course/writing-romantic-and-commercial-fiction
MURDERBOT: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murderbot_(TV_series)
SINNERS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinners_(2025_film)
INVINCIBLE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invincible_(TV_series)
HOW TO WRITE A FANTASY BATTLE BY SUZANNAH ROWNTREE: https://suzannahrowntree.weebly.com/nonfiction.html
CMAT: https://cmatbaby.com 

Support the show

Thanks to:

Dom Currie for the jingle

Emily Stay-Newton and Kai Stay-Newton for the edit

Visit https://markstaycreativedifferences.com/
Join The Green Room: https://ko-fi.com/markstaywriter/tiers
Buy my books here: https://witchesofwoodville.com/#bookshop
And there's more about me at: https://markstaywrites.com/

I had a wonderful time chatting to Nicola Whyte the debut writer of 10 Marchfield Square about how she was inspired by the nooks of London and Douglas Adams's whodunnits. We also discuss planning the middle of a novel, "soft boiled crime", designing author websites, and we get nostalgic about the Ottakars book chain and much, much more!

LINKS
NICOLA'S WEBSITE: http://nicolawhyte.com 

PERSON OF INTEREST: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Person_of_Interest_(TV_series)

ALL THE LOST SOULS BY AMIE JORDAN: https://amzn.to/4kY7nVZ

MASSIVE ATTACK AND TONY COLLIER: LIVE WITH ME: https://youtu.be/o_mi7rD-_9c?si=XwCdYrJQ8T9we5Xv

CULTURES: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultures_(video_game)

MOTHERING SUNDAY: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothering_Sunday_(film)

ROSALINE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosaline_(film)

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM THEIR FRIENDS BY STUART MACONIE: https://amzn.to/4newlSE

POKER FACE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poker_Face_(TV_series)

THE BOOKS BESIDE MY BED BY PAUL ARMFIELD: https://paularmfield.com/shop/

Mark Stay's Comic Con dates...
PORTSMOUTH – SUNDAY 22ND JUNE
TENTERDEN STEAMPUNK FESTIVAL – SAT 28TH JUNE
BASILDON – SUNDAY 29TH
LFCC FRIDAY 4TH, SAT 5TH, SUN 6TH JULY
MIDLANDS COMIC CON SAT 12TH, SUN 13TH JULY
GUILDFORD SAT 19TH JULY

For more dates in pop over to https://markstaywrites.com/diary-and-appearances/ 

Support the show

Thanks to:

Dom Currie for the jingle

Emily Stay-Newton and Kai Stay-Newton for the edit

Visit https://markstaycreativedifferences.com/
Join The Green Room: https://ko-fi.com/markstaywriter/tiers
Buy my books here: https://witchesofwoodville.com/#bookshop
And there's more about me at: https://markstaywrites.com/