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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