As revealed on tonight’s livestream, here’s the amazing cover art for THE END OF DRAGONS by Alejandro Colucci...
Isn’t it just stunning?!
There’s no confirmed publication date yet (June is looking realistic), but before then if you order any book from the Woodville Village Bookshop you’ll get a free double-sided postcard with Alejandro’s artwork for both books. CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE BOOKSHOP.
You can catch up with the livestream with special guest ROWAN COLEMAN here…
Who wants an End of Dragons cover reveal? Yes, I can finally reveal the stunning new artwork by mega-talented artist Alejandro Colucci! And I’m delighted to be joined by one of my favourite authors ROWAN COLEMAN! We’ll be discussing her latest novel From Now Until Forever, and we might be able to discuss a couple of the top secret projects we’ve been working on… maybe. I’ll also have updates on the edit for The End of Dragons and all sorts of fun stuff. Bring your favourite beverage and see you there!
My son George and his friend Jack are prepping to shoot a short film showcasing all they’ve learnt in their stage fighting lessons at uni in the last three years.
It’s the kind of film that will become part of their showreel and hopefully help get them work and more films made!
If you want to help a couple of young filmmakers, then please make a donation here: https://gofund.me/c3ee3df5
The End of Magic website has been given a spring clean and looks magnificent with the new artwork by Alejandro Colucci. Have a gander by visiting TheEndOfMagic.com
I’ll be at the MCM Comic Con in London all weekend, flogging and signing my wares! As well as the Witches of Woodville books, I’ll also have paperbacks of The End of Magic with the new artwork by Alejandro Colucci, and maybe a few surprises!
See you there. CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS.
Long time readers of this blog will know that I’ve been looking back at my diaries from ten years ago, during the making of Robot Overlords. Some of the diary entries you’ll see are the ones featured in the back of the film’s novelisation (and if you want a signed and dedicated copy of the paperback, then please step this way and click here).
There were many magical moments during the making of Robot Overlords, but the recording of the score at AIR studios is one that still lingers ten years on. For a start… AIR studios! George Martin’s palace of sound. Hallowed ground and a genuine thrill just to be there. And the day there came hot on the heels of another screening at Pinewood the night before. There was a moment when Jon (Wright, director) and Matt (Platts-Mills, editor) were strolling through Pinewood, and it was quiet and dark and it felt like we owned the place, and I had one of those little out-of-body moments where it felt like I was in a dream. The screening had been to see the latest edit, with the pick-ups from the previous Pinewood shoot and some almost-finished VFX etc. It’s hard to describe just how floaty I felt in that short walk. All I can say to anyone lucky enough to have a moment like this is to just soak it in. Take a mental Polaroid and treasure it forever.
Anyway, back to AIR studios…
An incredible day, watching and listening to the recording of the score for Robots at AIR Studios in Hampstead. Situated in Lyndhurst Hall, an old mission house designed by Alfred Waterhouse (who also designed the Natural History Museum), the studios aren’t as big or as famous as Abbey Road perhaps, but the sound in that hall is incredible.
When I arrived at 9.30 most of the musicians were assembling and getting ready. I found Paddy in the studio cafe and we made our way to the sound-proofed control room room. Christian Henson (composer) and his team were raring to go. He gave a short introduction, explaining that we only had the budget for one day of recording, and there was lots to do, and then they were off.
That was when my jaw dropped.
The score is amazing.
I’d had a taste of it last night at the Pinewood screening, but it was Christian’s demo, recorded with synths and samples. It was great and it gave the film a whole new feel. But nothing beats the English Session Orchestra going at full pelt.
As they rattled through cue after cue, we watched the scenes on the monitors, each one of them elevated to another level by the soaring music.
Jon arrived about 10.30ish and him, me, Paddy and Piers sat looking on with silly grins on our faces.
We discovered that the musicians hadn’t had any rehearsals. They were all sight-reading the music and often nailing it on the first take, all playing in time to a click track synchronised with a timecode on the screen. It certainly put my amateur fumblings on the guitar into perspective.
The main orchestra played from 10 till 1, then after lunch it was reduced to a smaller group of strings who played overdubs that made the orchestra sound even bigger than it was. The afternoon ended with a quartet playing a Haydn piece that will be heard on Monique’s gramophone player during a scene set in her room.
Just as we thought it couldn’t get any better, the choir arrived. Just eighteen voices (including, we were told, the deepest bass in Britain), but in that hall they sounded legion. One of my favourite parts of the score is a ‘Day in the life’ style crescendo of strings and horns (Christian’s tribute to AIR studios’ founder and Beatles producer George Martin). But then they added eerie, Kubrickian-2001 voices to it and it was transformed into something spine-tingling. By now Tim Haslam, Chris Clark and Steve Milne had joined us and we were all agog.
The day ended just before 10pm. A crammed session, but the score is not yet complete: guitars and flutes will be recorded at Christian’s studio tomorrow. Sadly, I can’t make it, but I can’t wait to hear the results.
You can listen to the Robot Overlords score on Spotify and Apple Music…
I was very excited to be asked to attend Cymera this year, and over the moon when they asked me to chat with the legendary Charles Stross! The great thing about Cymera is if you can’t make it in person (it’s in Edinburgh!), then they also live stream the events. More details below, and you can grab your tickets here.
Saturday, June 1, 2024, 10:15 AM 11:15 AM
The Pleasance, 60 Pleasance, Edinburgh, EH8 9TJ
Running time: 55 minutes followed by a book signing
Venue: Upper Hall
Price: £11/£8 concession – In Person – or £5.50 Live Stream – (plus 50p booking fee)
This event takes place in person and is broadcast via live stream.
A recording of this event will be available to catch-up on our YouTube until Sunday 14th July 2024. Ticket holders and weekend pass owners will receive the catch-up link automatically after the festival. Please keep an eye on your SPAM.
Find out more about ACCESS to our events here, and for information about TICKETS, click here.
This week, I start one last line edit before sending The End of Dragons to my copy editor. She will go through the manuscript forensically, checking not just punctuation, grammar and style, but also continuity errors and plot holes. Trust me, when I say it’s a fun part of the process. No, really! In the meantime, here’s what the lettering will look like (cover to follow… soon-ish)…
I’ve been lucky enough to be a guest on the Authorized Podcast a few times now, but this novelisation of the 1969 WWII movie Play Dirty has been the most fascinating. The film stars Michael Caine*, was directed by Andre de Toth, with a screenplay co-written by Melvyn Bragg. The novelisation is by the mysterious Zeno, and we do some digging to discover who he really was. I have to explain Melvyn Bragg to Americans, and we spend about ten minutes getting confused about the difference between a ‘presenter’ and a ‘host’. And it’s all fun! Enjoy…
*It’s his 91st birthday, today, 14th March. Happy birthday, Sir Michael!
This is it! The last author interview I did for The Bestseller Experiment podcast has been released and it’s with the brilliant Jacqueline O’Mahony and we discuss stuff like coming up with the title before the book, writing about ‘intangible things’, writing about tragedies like the Great Famine, winning awards at a young age, and the excellent advice, “Keep writing and something will come.” Enjoy!
Mark Stay Writes 