Charlie and Mark Stay (The Witches Of Woodville) discuss writing humour into wartime, using period-correct language as well as slang, why community is important and how much we've lost over the decades, and the metric ton of projects he has on the go.

Please note there are various uses of very minor curse words.

A transcript is available on my site

General references: The Bestseller Experiment Claire Burgess' YouTube video about jam roly polyThe Fortean Times Mark's newsletter The Witches Of Woodville website I spoke to Jacquie Bloese in episode 101 I spoke to Lucy Barker in episode 96 A Canterbury Tale (Powell and Pressburger) Went The Day Well Threads The Day After When The Wind Blows Chernobyl The Last Of Us The transcript for Scriptnotes episode 403 Ben Aaronovitch's episode on The Bestseller Experiment Unwelcome Nautilus

Books mentioned by name or extensively: Becky Brown: Blitz Spirit C K McDonnell: The Stranger Times Constance Miles: Mrs Miles's Diary Dennis Knight: Harvest Of Messerschmitts Mark Stay: The Crow Folk Mark Stay: Babes In The Wood Mark Stay: The Ghost Of Ivy Barn Mark Stay: The Holly King Mark Stay: The Corn Bride Mark Stay: The End Of Magic Mark Stay: The End Of Dragons Mark Stay and Mark Oliver: Back To Reality Nella Last: Nella Last's War

Buy the books: UK || USA

Release details: recorded 19th June 2024; published 28th October 2024

Where to find Mark online: Website || Twitter || Facebook || Instagram || TikTok

Where to find Charlie online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || TikTok

Discussions

02:25 Where the series might go in terms of number of books 03:14 Jam roly poly, getting bell ringing correct, and the forthcoming inclusion of the Morris Dancers in a pivotal role 05:34 The very first beginnings of the Witches of Woodville series 10:05 All about Faye and her relative immaturity 13:10 Widening the scope beyond humour to be more serious 16:02 Creating Miss Charlotte and Mrs Teach 18:10 Does Mark have future plots in mind? 18:49 The characters of the community of Woodville, starting with a question about the librarian 22:45 On Bertie's Battle of Britain diary 26:35 The language in the books - repetitions, and old-fashioned phrases 30:34 Mark's inclusion of the work of German artist, Hannah Höch 32:57 Grief as a theme 36:39 Miss Charlotte's sight and not wanting to make people invincible 41:19 Mark's use of real people in the series, and where you might find pieces of himself in his work. Mark also talks about how we've lost a sense of community 48:05 Mark's time co-hosting The Bestseller Experiment Podcast, why he moved on, and the various projects he's planning 53:54 More about Mark's current film project

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