Friday, October 18, 2024 - Read Previous Newsletters

Hello 'Unputdownables!'

The beta reader feedback has been stellar on Marilyn's Secret Lipstick - it's even exceeding my expectations, which is rare. Now there's only a week and half to go until the book is released - you can preorder now on my bookstore as well as all the usual retail sites.

Also, if you missed last week's Deep Dive Podcast about this book, you can listen here:

My website Facebook. Twitter

Similarly, the free Sneak Peeks at the book start here: Sneak Peek #1

Signed Paperback Giveaway

To celebrate this new release, I'm giving away a signed paperback. Please complete this newsletter survey form to enter the giveaway—it will only take a minute and will help me better understand your thoughts on the newsletter's content and any tweaks I should make.

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 Frieda!

Where you're from/hometown: Berlin, Germany
Favorite book of all time: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Favorite author: Neil Gaiman, Mike Wells
Favorite Mike Wells Book: The Mysterious Disappearance of Kurt Kramer
Last book read: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owen
Favorite reading format/place/time: I prefer audiobooks these days because I'm often on the move. More audiobooks please, Mike!
Fun fact: I'm a professional pastry chef! I love creating desserts that are as intricate as the plots in my favorite books. 😃
Question for MIke: When editing, how do you choose what to cut from your books?

Nice to meet you, Frieda! The description of your pastry is making me hungry. Also, I'll share more about a new audiobook on the way in the next week or two.

About your question, knowing what to cut from a book can be challenging...but it's also a crucial step of the editing process. Wise cutting choices can transform what might be a ho-hum book into a taut, captivating one.

I once wrote a humorous blog post titled Does Bruce Willis Have a Dog? Less is More, where I discussed how unnecessary details can distract from a good story. The general rule is: if something you're writing about in the story (be it a character, object, or scene) doesn’t have some impact on the story itself, it's a distraction and should be cut.

I used to do a lot of cutting during my second drafts, but now, with experience, I have learned not to write much that needs to be cut in the first place. Which is a relief. Cutting out pieces of your story - your 'darlings' - is always painful. I've found it's better to learn not to write these pieces at all by first honestly asking yourself whether they are necessary to support the story. If the answer is no, resist the urge.

That said, there are cases when parts of a story need to be cut for other reasons. A perfect example is the set of Deleted Scenes from Outback Diamonds, which are engaging and key to the story, but did not fit well into the timeline. This is a sequence in which Giorgio Cattoretti tracks down and captures Gareth Martin. It occurs after the climax of the book, so I intially wrote it as part of the epilogue. But I've learned that readers expect a story to be wound up pretty fast after the climax--lengthy epilogues are not appreciated. So, for the official book release, I ended up summaring the scenes with a couple of sentences, cutting out quite a few pages of detail. But a few weeks later, I publshed this sequence as deleted scenes in a short, separate ebook. This is equivalent to a director's cut of a movie, the scenes that the hardcore fans want to see even if they make the film tediously long.

There's a lot more to smart cutting, but those are some basics.

Join the Adventure!

The countdown to the release of Marilyn's Secret Lipstick is on, and your enthusiasm is what fuels these exciting launches! If you've enjoyed the sneak peeks and can't wait for the full story, why not bring a friend along for the ride? Simply share this newsletter with fellow thriller enthusiasts. Together, let's build the excitement and make this release a spectacular event!

Wishing you a great weekend,

Mike