Couverture de Novel Deep Dive: Reverse Engineering Today's Bestsellers

Novel Deep Dive: Reverse Engineering Today's Bestsellers

Novel Deep Dive: Reverse Engineering Today's Bestsellers

De : Miranda Darrow
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Join freelance fiction editor & book coach Miranda Darrow as she sits down with authors, editors, and writing professionals to unpack today's bestselling fiction—not to review it, but to reverse engineer it. Each episode explores one writing craft topic through a single novel, from character voice, pacing, tropes, point of view, story structure, & more. Check if out if you've ever finished a book and wondered "How did the author pull that off?" Whether you're drafting your first novel or polishing your tenth, you'll leave every episode with new writing tips and examples you can see in action.Miranda Darrow Art
Épisodes
  • The Overnight Guest - Writing Multiple Timelines While "Playing Fair" with Mystery Readers

    The Overnight Guest - Writing Multiple Timelines While "Playing Fair" with Mystery Readers
    Oct 27 2026
    Kelly Malacko and I dive into Heather Gudenkauf's use of split timelines and multiple POVs to maintain tension and play fair within the mystery genre in her novel The Overnight Guest. This is a craft-heavy, spoiler-friendly discussion designed to help writers see how the technique works on the page—and how they might apply it in their own fiction. 00:00 start 01:53 Intro 02:13 Q1 How much did you know about the story structure before starting 06:52 Q2 Discuss the three separate timelines 10:00 Q3 thoughts on the multiple POVs in the Y2k timeline 14:40 Q4 Tight or remote perspective in Y2K timeline 22:36 Q5 is Now timeline POV character Wily an unreliable narrator 28:47 Q6 Room timeline revealed 32:31 Q7 big mysteries from Room timeline, are they organic 37:06 Q8 which of the timelines added the most to the story 39:36 Q9 role of being a mother 46:11 Q10 list of suspects gets smaller 49:20 Q11 where there enough clues to figure out the killer 55:10 Q12 title meaning 58:40 Q13 recommendations for authors writing split timelines and POVs 1:03:55 END Follow me on all my social media pages:Website: https://www.mirandadarrow.com/Facebook: / miranda.darrow Instagram: / miranda.darrow X/Twitter: https://x.com/Miranda_DarrowThreads: https://www.threads.net/@miranda.darrowBlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/miranda-darr... Check out Kelly Malacko's Substack here: https://substack.com/@kellymalacko?r=...Check out our Book Club Booster Kit. It's our list ofQuestions available at this link so you can play along. It's on the Novel Deep Dive tab of ⁠⁠⁠https://www.mirandadarrow.com/⁠⁠
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    1 h et 3 min
  • This House Will Feed: Researching Historical Fiction & Managing Trauma

    This House Will Feed: Researching Historical Fiction & Managing Trauma
    Oct 13 2026
    Author Maria Tureaud joins me to talk about her novel, This House Will Feed, a gothic horror set in Ireland during the Great Famine. Learn about interiority, historical research, and using care when encountering traumatic events in your research.⁠00:00⁠ start ⁠01:00⁠ Does your internal editor micromanage? ⁠02:16⁠ What’s a developmental issue you caught in your own manuscript? ⁠04:44⁠ Writing voice for adult gothic horror compared to middle grade fiction? ⁠10:54⁠ How do you integrate historical detail without slipping into exposition? ⁠16:25⁠ What fascinating detail did you ultimately cut for the sake of pacing? ⁠17:43⁠ Your inspiration or comp titles when writing? ⁠20:30 Did you plan to show us the backstory in a series of flashbacks? ⁠28:26⁠ How to balance sliding those flashbacks in between scenes in the current timeline? ⁠30:22⁠ What was the biggest structural change between Draft 1 and the final version? ⁠33:18⁠ Did you end up killing a darling! ⁠36:28 What’s something you often tell clients that you had to remind yourself of? ⁠39:50 If a writer wants to elevate their gothic fiction this year, what craft skill should they focus on? ⁠44:24 What would you say to writers who are hesitant to tackle emotionally heavymaterial? ⁠48:35 Did writing this book change you as an editor? ⁠51:45 What’s one craft lesson you hope writers take from your journey with thisstory? ⁠56:53 End Follow me on all my social media pages: Website: ⁠https://www.mirandadarrow.com/⁠Facebook: / miranda.darrow Instagram: / miranda.darrow X/Twitter: ⁠https://x.com/Miranda_Darrow⁠Threads: ⁠https://www.threads.net/@miranda.darrow⁠BlueSky: ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/miranda-darr..⁠.You can find This House Will Feed and her debut novel The Last Hope in Hopetownand all things about Maria at her website: ⁠https://authormariatureaud.com/⁠
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    58 min
  • Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone - Breaking the Fourth Wall Like a Boss!

    Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone - Breaking the Fourth Wall Like a Boss!
    Sep 29 2026

    Author Jennifer Colwell and Miranda pull apart Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone to show how the author broke the fourth wall in a murder mystery and the writing craft in the humor displayed by the very voicey first person narrator who kept readers along for this wild ride. SPOILER ALERT - This video contains major spoilers for Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson. 00:00 start02:35 Q1 does this over-sharing narrator spoil or enhance the suspense09:06 Q2 breaking the fourth wall how does it work for this story and does it break immersion14:17 Q3 how does the novel avoid becoming overly self-aware and smug despite the narrative tone25:35 Q4 how does past tense and hindsight allow for emotional framing28:20 Q5 Is Ernest an unreliable narrator30:45 Menu recommendations for book clubs reading this book33:25 Q6 How does the author create a character with a unique voice who readers want to believe despite telling partial truths45:20 Q7 Who killed whom now? The breakdown of all the backstory.1:04:36 Q8 What do authors risk when they break the fourth wall and how does breaking the fourth wall impact pacing and suspense1:08:26 Q10 Advice for writing a comedic tone and what aspects of this story might be hard to pull off for newer authors1:11:53 endFollow me on all my social media pages:Website: https://www.mirandadarrow.com/Facebook: / miranda.darrow Instagram: / miranda.darrow X/Twitter: https://x.com/Miranda_DarrowThreads: https://www.threads.net/@miranda.darrowBlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/miranda-darr...
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    1 h et 12 min
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