207: Mark Stay

Nostalgia Interviews with Chris Deacy

It was a great pleasure for this week’s Nostalgia Interviews podcast to meet screenwriter, author and award-winning podcaster Mark Stay.
We begin by talking about Herne Bay and its cultural dynamics and learn that Mark has always been drawn to creativity, with Star Wars playing a formative influence. His teachers encouraged him, and Mark discusses the importance of reaching out to people in the know, and the time Mark bottled it when a director once rang him. We chat about what happens when you interact with ‘famous people’ and we find out why it’s the people two thirds up the ladder who can be the most useful.
We discover why Mark gave up on acting and prefers writing, and we learn that Mark is a fan of Mike Leigh. We also hear about the three short films that Mark made and that he has written a full length screenplay.
While learning his craft, Mark would make the most of every spare minute to write, and we find out what keeps Mark going, as well as why one can only run one’s own race, and Mark talks about the importance of resilience and persistence. Mark also gives advice on the best strategies with, say, writing a novel.
Mark has kept a diary since 2006, and we learn that his diaries and books are handwritten and then subsequently typed up.
We talk about the Witches of Woodville books which Mark says are a cross between Dad’s Army and Bedknobs and Broomsticks set during the Battle of Britain with a trio of bickering witches. They are grounded in reality.
We also learn whether Mark’s younger self would be surprised to discover what he is doing now, and how one can start out as an author in one’s 50s. We learn why there is no such thing as an overnight success.
We discuss the art of self-mythologizing and we find out why Mark is so wary of nostalgia, seeing it as a slippery slope towards fascism. Things weren’t actually better in the past.
Then, at the end of the interview Mark explains why he believes things are getting better and how it is important to live in the now and to have the imagination to look forward.