Deleted Scenes - The Last Birthday Party by Gary Goldstein

Hi there, please introduce yourself and tell us which book we are talking about today.

Hi, Gary Goldstein here and we’re talking about my L.A.-set romantic comedy The Last Birthday Party.

Getting a book to fit the length it should be can be a challenge as you end up cutting things out so please do tell us about the books deleted scenes -

The first draft of the manuscript was on the long side for the genre so my editor (shoutout to Kate, she was awesome) found so many smart ways to trim the text without altering the story in any way. It was pretty masterful. Essentially, we lost several scenes that, although entertaining, weren’t pivotal to moving the story forward. They made sense to include in the initial writing, but in retrospect ended up ballooning the word count.

How hard was it to cut out the deleted scenes and was it harder with any specific ones?

Honestly, it wasn’t hard to cut most of the scenes. As a screenwriter, I’m so used to the process of rewriting, rearranging and cutting scenes, that Kate’s recommendations made total sense. I’m usually okay with “killing my darlings” if the story can survive as well without them. Plus, I always figure if there’s anything that great in those deleted scenes, maybe I can repurpose them for something else I write later on.

There was only one brief scene that was hard to cut. The Last Birthday Party, which is about a screenwriter at a life crossroads, takes a wry look at Hollywood and moviemaking. I had a short scene in which my main character, Jeremy, is asked a few basic, kind of “out of the mouths of babes” questions about screenwriting by a ten-year-old tourist he meets. I felt the scene encapsulated a bit of the amusing illogic of the screenwriting business and was just a fun, pointed snapshot at a low moment for Jeremy.

My editor’s note was, that though she liked the scene, she felt it was maybe tonally off and delayed the action at hand. I asked to keep it in anyway because I loved the irony of the scene. My publisher said the choice was mine. But eventually, I did cut it because I agreed that, yes, it did stop the propulsive nature of the sequence it was in and we could easily do without it. No one would know the difference.

It’s important not to be too precious with your words. Best to think of the reader--and the read.

If you could go back and change things would you leave any of the deleted scenes in?

No, I think we made the right decisions by cutting what we did. I think the book reads as well and as swiftly as, I hope, it does because of all the judicious trims.

Where can we purchase the book?

It’s available through any local bookstore (if they’re out, they’ll order it for you) and via all online booksellers. Amazon page is https://amzn.to/3lwGOd0. 

Where can people connect with you?

Please feel free to reach out and/or follow me on Twitter and IG at @GaryGoldsteinLA. Also, please check out my website: www.GaryGoldsteinLA.com for more about my work and The Last Birthday Party.