Friday, September 27, 2024 - Read Previous Newsletters

Hello 'Unputdownables!'

I'm thrilled to announce that Marilyn's Secret Lipstick is available for preorder on all retail sites, plus my online bookstore. The book will be released on Tuesday, October 29th.

Writing this novel has been another blast for me, a wild rollercoaster ride that I myself didn't know how would turn out until I reached the very end. It has a few jaw-dropping twists that I can't wait for you to read.

If you missed any of the Sneak Peeks I've published over the last few newsletters (3 in total), here's a link to them. There are no serious spoilers in them - mostly just the setup of the story.

Sneak Peek #1

Sneak Peek #2

Sneak Peek #3

Now, while you're waiting for that, I want to plug another book set I'm very proud of, a romantic thriller called Forbidden: A Novel of Love and Betrayal. I co-wrote this series with a romance author by the name of Devika Fernando, who proposed the plot to me. The idea instantly hit my hot button and we both dove into it, with her writing the romantic elements and me writing the thriller and suspense parts.

The result is a fast paced, twisty ride that readers love. Book 1 alone has over 800 reviews — here is what Amazon's new AI review summarizer has to say about them:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Customers find the story well-paced, addictive, and suspenseful. They describe the book as a great, interesting, and enjoyable read. Readers praise the writing style as beautiful, amazing, and catchy. They also appreciate the great characters.

If you haven't read the Forbidden series, you're missing out.

Casting Contest Winner

For the past two weeks, I've been running a contest for readers to cast the actors for the Lust, Money & Murder Series if and when it becomes a movie or TV series. I also allowed you, the readers, to choose the best cast.

The winning entry is Patricia's Cast, which received twice as many votes as any of the others, which were all good, I thought, and received roughly the same number of votes:

Winner - Patricia's Cast!

Elaine Brogan - Charlize Theron

Nick LaGrange - Ryan Gosling

Luna Faye - Zoe Saldana

Giorgio Cattoretti - Javier Bardem

Dmitry - Mads Mikkelsen

Tony - Stanley Tucci

Congratulations, Patricia! I hope you enjoy your free book. And thanks to everyone who submitted a cast and for voting. Without your enthusiastic participation, this fun project would not have taken place.

Reader Spotlight

Time for our Reader Spotlight, where I give a shout-out to one of my amazing readers and offer you the chance to enjoy your 'moment in the spotlight.' All you have to do is answer a few simple questions. Here's this week's edition!

Meet Gwen!

Where you're from/hometown: London, England
Favorite book of all time: The Stand - Stephen King
Favorite author: Mike Wells
Favorite Mike Wells Book: The Russian Trilogy (Lust, Money & Murder)
Last book read: The Baby Talk set
Favorite reading format/place/time: Ebook in my armchair at home, anytime I can.
Fun fact: I love humourous videos on YouTube
Question: Have any of your books been adapted into films or TV shows, or would you like them to be? What would be your dream casting or production scenario?

Nice to meet you, Gwen! I love funny YouTube videos as well —they're a great stress reliever.

About your question, my books Wild Child and The Drive-By Wife were both optioned by movie producers, but neither one was able to successfully line up the director, actors, and raise the funding to execute the project. This is common in the movie business—only about ten percent of the books and screenplays optioned are actually made into films. (An option is a small amount paid to the author to reserve the rights while the producer tries to pull it all together).

Unlike Wild Child and The Drive-By Wife, Lust, Money & Murder would be a very expensive film to make due to all the exotic international locations and other elements. The more expensive a story is to tell on film, the less chance it will ever be made, so I’m not holding my breath about that one.

Which brings me to the last part of your question—I don’t really have a dream cast or production scenario for any of my books. This is probably because I have trained myself not to think that way—why become attached to something you have no control over? When you sell the rights to a novel, the producers can usually do whatever they want with it—it’s out of your hands, which is how I think it should be. A movie is not a book, and the job of Casting Director and all the others involved in making a good film require years of experience to do well, just like in any other field. I wouldn’t welcome any of them telling me how to write my books, either. 😃 On top of that, I believe there are many different actors who could do a great job with any of the characters I have created—all the suggestions given in the recent casting contest would probably work. In short, with such small odds at play, just having any of my books made into movies would make me happy, as long as they are reasonably well done.

I hope that answers your question, Gwen!

Thanks to those of you who have forwarded this newsletter to other reader friends and family who you think would enjoy it!

Have a great week,

Mike