July 22, 2025 • 4 mins
What does it take to stay at the top of your game for 25 years in one of fiction’s most competitive genres?Apparently, if you’re Mark Billingham, it takes talent, wit, resilience… and a little bit of stand-up comedy experience.This weekend at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writers Festival, we had the honour of sitting down with the legendary Mark Billingham, whose name has become synonymous with British crime fiction. Celebrating 25 bestselling novels in 25 years, Mark opened up about everything from his roots in TV and comedy, to the changing face of the crime genre, to how he keeps things fresh after two decades at the top.🎙️ In this interview, we dig into:* Why his characters still surprise him.* How the genre has evolved (and where it’s going)* The secret to keeping readers—and himself—hooked.* How he rocks the people attending The Harrogate Crime Writers Festival.There are few voices in the crime world as influential—and as humble—as Mark’s. This one’s not just for fans of his work, but for anyone who wants to understand the staying power behind a brilliant writing career.👉 Watch the full interview on YouTube here:And if you enjoy it, hit like, leave a comment, or share it with a fellow crime fiction fanatic.
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This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thewccs.substack.com/subscribe
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi. So this is Chris at the Writing Community chat
the show at how I Got a Crime Writers Festival.
Lots of atmosphere and people are moving around, but I'm
here with Mark Billingham, the man himself, absolute Royalty here
at the Crime Writers Festival. So Mark, how are you
finding this festival?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Eight's always it's always the best weekend of the year,
you know, I don't think I've missed one. So this
is about twenty two in a row or something, and
it's the first weekend you mark out the indiary every year.
It's all sorts of things combined into one weekend. Obviously,
had a chance to meet readers, you know, which is
a brilliant thing. And there are some festivals where you know,
you've got the readers here and the writers there and
never the twins shall meet. This festival isn't like that,
(00:38):
So you get to meet lots of readers. You also
just get to catch up with all your mate's fellow writers.
So it's sort of our agm as well, kind of
annual get together. And you'll know, it's a very friendly,
relaxed festival. You'll knackered by the end of it. Don't
get me wrong. We're absolutely wiped out. But it's no
it's a joy to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Yeah. And as you said, twenty two years, but twenty
five years. This year is the massive celebration. Twenty five
best sellers in twenty five years. So I guess the
question is how do you do it?
Speaker 2 (01:06):
A lot of luck. Although I'm a big believer in,
you know, the harder I work, the luckier I get,
you do have to seize onto you your bit of luck,
and your bit of luck is often getting the book
deal in the first place is so much luck involved,
you know, your manuscript landing on the desk of the
right agent at the right time, and then the right
publisher at the right time. And I had a lot
of that early on, and you've just got to keep
(01:26):
doing it. I write full time, so I've got no
excuse not to write a book here. And all of
us here are writers of commercial fiction, so we have
to produce the books. We can't go. This one's going
to take seven years, you know, my masterpiece. But boy,
it does not feel like twenty five years. It really
really doesn't. And my wonderful publicist, who is just great,
has devised a way of reminding people and me that
(01:47):
I'm actually quite old, and I've been doing it for
a while with doubt saying it. She will say something like,
once a young maverick of the crime genre, he's now
a statesman of the genre. You just mean, I'm really
old and I'm still getting away with it. But thankfully
I'm still getting away with it.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Yeah, So with the Thorn books, and how do you
actually do that in terms of, you know, having a
prolonged character of a series of time, you know, reinventing
that character in terms of different adventures, different ideas. What's
that like? Can you talk us a little bit through
that process?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Well, I think the important thing is to is to
step away from it every so often, you know. I
think I wrote maybe five Thorn books on the bounce
before I wrote a standalone. And I was a bit
scared to do it. But you know, you learn from
the best. You learn from people like Michael Connolly who
did that in holand Coben. Write a series, then step
away and right a standalone, and that means you then
come back to your character kind of fired up. So
I've done that, and the last couple of years I
(02:36):
stepped away for a couple of years and started a
new series. So going back to Thorn was I was
really excited and I couldn't wait. I have to remind
myself when I do that, where did I leave him?
You know, where did I leave him? What kind of
you know? Is he in a good place or a
bad place? Usually a bad place. And I wanted this
book when I returned to Thorn, to be kind of
a special book. And it's special because it's my twenty
(02:57):
fifth book, and it's special because it's it's quite shocking.
And the feedback I've got has all been like, how
could you do that. I'm not gonna tell you what
it did, but you know, because it's the first time
I've ever written a note at the back of the
book begging readers not to tell people what happens at
the end, because there are two big shocks and twists
at the end, and of course it will get out
some reviewer or spoil it. But as long as I
(03:17):
can keep those secret secret, I will.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Yeah. And some of the writers that we've had here
at the Crime Writer's Festival, we've been asking them, what
is your obviously murder characters? On a regular basis? Do
you have a favorite murder?
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Do I have a favorite murder. Wow, I don't think
I've not done that thing of murder some somebody in
a kind of bizarre you know, like a medieval way,
a serial killer who is using medieval torture to I've
not really done that. There's only so many times. I mean,
you know, they end up they're stabbed and they're strangled,
and i mean, actually, I'm very fond of the murders
(03:49):
at the top of this new book What the Night Brings,
where four people murdered at the same time with donuts.
I'm not going to say any more than that, So yeah,
that's probably my fav They don't not murders.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Brilliant love that they doughnut murder as well. Mark. It's
been absolute pleasure to chat to you. Thank you for
chatting to us. Obviously, if you're watching this and you're
at the Harrigut Crime Forrits Festival, or if you haven't
been before. As Mark said, it's absolutely brilliant. Twenty five
years celebrating Mark as well. This year he's on the
lanyards and everything, so it's definitely royalty. But thank you
very much, Mark, and we're looking forward to seeing you
(04:22):
in the band later.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yes, indeed, yes you're dancing.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
I will be dancing, We'll all be dancing. Thank you
very much, Jessy Love
Hi. So this is Chris at the Writing Community chat
the show at how I Got a Crime Writers Festival.
Lots of atmosphere and people are moving around, but I'm
here with Mark Billingham, the man himself, absolute Royalty here
at the Crime Writers Festival. So Mark, how are you
finding this festival?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Eight's always it's always the best weekend of the year,
you know, I don't think I've missed one. So this
is about twenty two in a row or something, and
it's the first weekend you mark out the indiary every year.
It's all sorts of things combined into one weekend. Obviously,
had a chance to meet readers, you know, which is
a brilliant thing. And there are some festivals where you know,
you've got the readers here and the writers there and
never the twins shall meet. This festival isn't like that,
(00:38):
So you get to meet lots of readers. You also
just get to catch up with all your mate's fellow writers.
So it's sort of our agm as well, kind of
annual get together. And you'll know, it's a very friendly,
relaxed festival. You'll knackered by the end of it. Don't
get me wrong. We're absolutely wiped out. But it's no
it's a joy to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Yeah. And as you said, twenty two years, but twenty
five years. This year is the massive celebration. Twenty five
best sellers in twenty five years. So I guess the
question is how do you do it?
Speaker 2 (01:06):
A lot of luck. Although I'm a big believer in,
you know, the harder I work, the luckier I get,
you do have to seize onto you your bit of luck,
and your bit of luck is often getting the book
deal in the first place is so much luck involved,
you know, your manuscript landing on the desk of the
right agent at the right time, and then the right
publisher at the right time. And I had a lot
of that early on, and you've just got to keep
(01:26):
doing it. I write full time, so I've got no
excuse not to write a book here. And all of
us here are writers of commercial fiction, so we have
to produce the books. We can't go. This one's going
to take seven years, you know, my masterpiece. But boy,
it does not feel like twenty five years. It really
really doesn't. And my wonderful publicist, who is just great,
has devised a way of reminding people and me that
(01:47):
I'm actually quite old, and I've been doing it for
a while with doubt saying it. She will say something like,
once a young maverick of the crime genre, he's now
a statesman of the genre. You just mean, I'm really
old and I'm still getting away with it. But thankfully
I'm still getting away with it.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Yeah, So with the Thorn books, and how do you
actually do that in terms of, you know, having a
prolonged character of a series of time, you know, reinventing
that character in terms of different adventures, different ideas. What's
that like? Can you talk us a little bit through
that process?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Well, I think the important thing is to is to
step away from it every so often, you know. I
think I wrote maybe five Thorn books on the bounce
before I wrote a standalone. And I was a bit
scared to do it. But you know, you learn from
the best. You learn from people like Michael Connolly who
did that in holand Coben. Write a series, then step
away and right a standalone, and that means you then
come back to your character kind of fired up. So
I've done that, and the last couple of years I
(02:36):
stepped away for a couple of years and started a
new series. So going back to Thorn was I was
really excited and I couldn't wait. I have to remind
myself when I do that, where did I leave him?
You know, where did I leave him? What kind of
you know? Is he in a good place or a
bad place? Usually a bad place. And I wanted this
book when I returned to Thorn, to be kind of
a special book. And it's special because it's my twenty
(02:57):
fifth book, and it's special because it's it's quite shocking.
And the feedback I've got has all been like, how
could you do that. I'm not gonna tell you what
it did, but you know, because it's the first time
I've ever written a note at the back of the
book begging readers not to tell people what happens at
the end, because there are two big shocks and twists
at the end, and of course it will get out
some reviewer or spoil it. But as long as I
(03:17):
can keep those secret secret, I will.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Yeah. And some of the writers that we've had here
at the Crime Writer's Festival, we've been asking them, what
is your obviously murder characters? On a regular basis? Do
you have a favorite murder?
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Do I have a favorite murder. Wow, I don't think
I've not done that thing of murder some somebody in
a kind of bizarre you know, like a medieval way,
a serial killer who is using medieval torture to I've
not really done that. There's only so many times. I mean,
you know, they end up they're stabbed and they're strangled,
and i mean, actually, I'm very fond of the murders
(03:49):
at the top of this new book What the Night Brings,
where four people murdered at the same time with donuts.
I'm not going to say any more than that, So yeah,
that's probably my fav They don't not murders.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Brilliant love that they doughnut murder as well. Mark. It's
been absolute pleasure to chat to you. Thank you for
chatting to us. Obviously, if you're watching this and you're
at the Harrigut Crime Forrits Festival, or if you haven't
been before. As Mark said, it's absolutely brilliant. Twenty five
years celebrating Mark as well. This year he's on the
lanyards and everything, so it's definitely royalty. But thank you
very much, Mark, and we're looking forward to seeing you
(04:22):
in the band later.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yes, indeed, yes you're dancing.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
I will be dancing, We'll all be dancing. Thank you
very much, Jessy Love
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