Betty Neels (September 15, 1910 - June 7, 2001)

Evelyn Jessy "Betty" Neels (b. 15 September 1909(1909-09-15) in Devon, England - d. 7 June 2001(2001-06-07) (aged 91) in England) was a prolific English author of romance novels. She wrote over 134 titles (first publication entirely for Mills & Boon in England and later reprinted in the United States by Harlequin), beginning in 1969 and continuing until her death. Her work is known for being particularly chaste.

Betty Neels was born on September 15, 1910 in Devon to a family with firm roots in the civil service. She said she had a blissfully happy childhood and teenage years, which stood her in good stead for the tribulations to come with the Second World War. She was sent away to boarding school, and then went on to train as a nurse, gaining her SRN and SCM, that is, State Registered Nurse and State Certificate of Midwifery.

In 1939 she was called up to the Territorial Army Nursing Service, which later became the Queen Alexandra Reserves, and was sent to France with the Casualty Clearing Station. This comprised eight nursing sisters, including Betty, to 100 men! In other circumstances, she thought that might have been quite thrilling! When France was invaded in 1940, all the nursing sisters managed to escape in the charge of an army major, undertaking a lengthy and terrifying journey to Boulogne in an ambulance. They were incredibly fortunate to be put on the last hospital ship to be leaving the port of Boulogne.

But Betty's war didn't end there, for she was posted to Scotland, and then on to Northern Ireland, where she met her Dutch husband. He was a seaman aboard a minesweeper, which was bombed. He survived and was sent to the south of Holland to guard the sluices. However, when they had to abandon their post, they were told to escape if they could, and along with a small number of other men, he marched into Belgium. They stole a ship and managed to get it across the Channel to Dover before being transferred to the Atlantic run on the convoys. Sadly he became ill, and that was when he was transferred to hospital in Northern Ireland, where he met Betty. They eventually married, and were blessed with a daughter. They were posted to London, but were bombed out. As with most of the population, they made the best of things.

When the war finally ended, she and her husband were repatriated to Holland. As his family had believed he had died when his ship went down, this was a very emotional homecoming. The small family lived in Holland for 13 years, and Betty resumed her nursing career there. When they decided to return to England, Betty continued her nursing and when she eventually retired she had reached the position of night superintendent.

Betty Neels began writing almost by accident. Her hobbies were reading, animals, old buildings and, of course, writing. She had retired from nursing, but her inquiring mind had no intention of vegetating, and her new career was born when she heard a lady in her local library bemoaning the lack of good romance novels. There was little in Betty's background to suggest that she might eventually become a much-loved novelist.

Her first book, Sister Peters in Amsterdam, was published in 1969, and by dint of often writing four books a year, she eventually completed 134 books. She was always quite firm upon the point that the Dutch doctors who frequently appeared in her stories were *not* based upon her husband, but rather upon an amalgam of several of the doctors she met while nursing in Holland. The main male and female characters (usually "vast" or "splendidly built") are often brought together by circumstances before love flourishes. The male protagonist is often a Dutch surgeon. A character will often have an expertise in antiques. Family pets are common.

To her millions of fans around the world, Betty Neels epitomized romance. She was always amazed and touched that her books were so widely appreciated. She never sought plaudits and remained a very private person, but it made her very happy to know that she brought such pleasure to so many readers, while herself gaining a quiet joy from spinning her stories. It is perhaps a reflection of her upbringing in an earlier time that the men and women who peopled her stories have a kindliness and good manners, coupled to honesty and integrity, that is not always present in our modern world. Her myriad of fans found a warmth and a reassurance of a better world in her stories, along with characters who touched the heart, which is all and more than one could ask of a romance writer. She received a great deal of fan mail, and there was always a comment upon the fascinating places she visited in her stories. Quite often those of her fans fortunate enough to visit Holland did use her information as an itinerary for their travels!

Betty Neels died peacefully in hospital on June 7, 2001, aged 91. Her career with Mills & Boon and Harlequin spanned 30 years, and she continued to write into her 90th year.

Betty Neels's Books on Amazon: Betty Neels

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Neels

Betty Neels (September 15, 1910 - June 7, 2001)

Evelyn Jessy "Betty" Neels (b. 15 September 1909(1909-09-15) in Devon, England - d. 7 June 2001(2001-06-07) (aged 91) in England) was a prolific English author of romance novels. She wrote over 134 titles (first publication entirely for Mills & Boon in England and later reprinted in the United States by Harlequin), beginning in 1969 and continuing until her death. Her work is known for being particularly chaste.

Betty Neels was born on September 15, 1910 in Devon to a family with firm roots in the civil service. She said she had a blissfully happy childhood and teenage years, which stood her in good stead for the tribulations to come with the Second World War. She was sent away to boarding school, and then went on to train as a nurse, gaining her SRN and SCM, that is, State Registered Nurse and State Certificate of Midwifery.

In 1939 she was called up to the Territorial Army Nursing Service, which later became the Queen Alexandra Reserves, and was sent to France with the Casualty Clearing Station. This comprised eight nursing sisters, including Betty, to 100 men! In other circumstances, she thought that might have been quite thrilling! When France was invaded in 1940, all the nursing sisters managed to escape in the charge of an army major, undertaking a lengthy and terrifying journey to Boulogne in an ambulance. They were incredibly fortunate to be put on the last hospital ship to be leaving the port of Boulogne.

But Betty's war didn't end there, for she was posted to Scotland, and then on to Northern Ireland, where she met her Dutch husband. He was a seaman aboard a minesweeper, which was bombed. He survived and was sent to the south of Holland to guard the sluices. However, when they had to abandon their post, they were told to escape if they could, and along with a small number of other men, he marched into Belgium. They stole a ship and managed to get it across the Channel to Dover before being transferred to the Atlantic run on the convoys. Sadly he became ill, and that was when he was transferred to hospital in Northern Ireland, where he met Betty. They eventually married, and were blessed with a daughter. They were posted to London, but were bombed out. As with most of the population, they made the best of things.

When the war finally ended, she and her husband were repatriated to Holland. As his family had believed he had died when his ship went down, this was a very emotional homecoming. The small family lived in Holland for 13 years, and Betty resumed her nursing career there. When they decided to return to England, Betty continued her nursing and when she eventually retired she had reached the position of night superintendent.

Betty Neels began writing almost by accident. Her hobbies were reading, animals, old buildings and, of course, writing. She had retired from nursing, but her inquiring mind had no intention of vegetating, and her new career was born when she heard a lady in her local library bemoaning the lack of good romance novels. There was little in Betty's background to suggest that she might eventually become a much-loved novelist.

Her first book, Sister Peters in Amsterdam, was published in 1969, and by dint of often writing four books a year, she eventually completed 134 books. She was always quite firm upon the point that the Dutch doctors who frequently appeared in her stories were *not* based upon her husband, but rather upon an amalgam of several of the doctors she met while nursing in Holland. The main male and female characters (usually "vast" or "splendidly built") are often brought together by circumstances before love flourishes. The male protagonist is often a Dutch surgeon. A character will often have an expertise in antiques. Family pets are common.

To her millions of fans around the world, Betty Neels epitomized romance. She was always amazed and touched that her books were so widely appreciated. She never sought plaudits and remained a very private person, but it made her very happy to know that she brought such pleasure to so many readers, while herself gaining a quiet joy from spinning her stories. It is perhaps a reflection of her upbringing in an earlier time that the men and women who peopled her stories have a kindliness and good manners, coupled to honesty and integrity, that is not always present in our modern world. Her myriad of fans found a warmth and a reassurance of a better world in her stories, along with characters who touched the heart, which is all and more than one could ask of a romance writer. She received a great deal of fan mail, and there was always a comment upon the fascinating places she visited in her stories. Quite often those of her fans fortunate enough to visit Holland did use her information as an itinerary for their travels!

Betty Neels died peacefully in hospital on June 7, 2001, aged 91. Her career with Mills & Boon and Harlequin spanned 30 years, and she continued to write into her 90th year.

Betty Neels's Books on Amazon: Betty Neels

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Neels

Event: Pride Month @ Barnes & Noble (Upper West Side)

Date: Thursday, Jun 9
Time: 7:00 pm
Place: Barnes & Noble Bookstore
2289 Broadway at 82 Street New York City.

Hosted by Lou Pizzitola

Michael Bronski with Martin Duberman: A Queer History of the United States. Author Michael Bronski talks about his new book, A Queer History of the United States, an engaging, accessible and scholarly work about gay life in America, with writer and activist Martin Duberman.

A Queer History of the United States (Revisioning American History) by Michael Bronski
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Beacon Press (May 10, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0807044393
ISBN-13: 978-0807044391
Amazon: A Queer History of the United States (Revisioning American History)
Amazon Kindle: A Queer History of the United States (Revisioning American History)

The first book to cover the entirety of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender history, from pre-1492 to the present.

In the 1620s, Thomas Morton broke from Plymouth Colony and founded Merrymount, which celebrated same-sex desire, atheism, and interracial marriage. Transgender evangelist Jemima Wilkinson, in the early 1800s, changed her name to “Publick Universal Friend,” refused to use pronouns, fought for gender equality, and led her own congregation in upstate New York. In the mid-nineteenth century, internationally famous Shakespearean actor Charlotte Cushman led an openly lesbian life, including a well-publicized “female marriage.” And in the late 1920s, Augustus Granville Dill was fired by W. E. B. Du Bois from the NAACP’s magazine the Crisis after being arrested for a homosexual encounter. These are just a few moments of queer history that Michael Bronski highlights in this groundbreaking book.

Intellectually dynamic and endlessly provocative, A Queer History of the United States is more than a “who’s who” of queer history: it is a book that radically challenges how we understand American history. Drawing upon primary documents, literature, and cultural histories, noted scholar and activist Michael Bronski charts the breadth of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender history, from 1492 to the 1990s, and has written a testament to how the LGBT experience has profoundly shaped our country, culture, and history.

A Queer History of the United States abounds with startling examples of unknown or often ignored aspects of American history—the ineffectiveness of sodomy laws in the colonies, the prevalence of cross-dressing women soldiers in the Civil War, the impact of new technologies on LGBT life in the nineteenth century, and how rock music and popular culture were, in large part, responsible for the devastating backlash against gay rights in the late 1970s. Most striking, Bronski documents how, over centuries, various incarnations of social purity movements have consistently attempted to regulate all sexuality, including fantasies, masturbation, and queer sex. Resisting these efforts, same-sex desire flourished and helped make America what it is today.

At heart, A Queer History of the United States is simply about American history. It is a book that will matter both to LGBT people and heterosexuals. This engrossing and revelatory history will make readers appreciate just how queer America really is.

Event: Pride Month @ Barnes & Noble (Upper West Side)

Date: Thursday, Jun 9
Time: 7:00 pm
Place: Barnes & Noble Bookstore
2289 Broadway at 82 Street New York City.

Hosted by Lou Pizzitola

Michael Bronski with Martin Duberman: A Queer History of the United States. Author Michael Bronski talks about his new book, A Queer History of the United States, an engaging, accessible and scholarly work about gay life in America, with writer and activist Martin Duberman.

A Queer History of the United States (Revisioning American History) by Michael Bronski
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Beacon Press (May 10, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0807044393
ISBN-13: 978-0807044391
Amazon: A Queer History of the United States (Revisioning American History)
Amazon Kindle: A Queer History of the United States (Revisioning American History)

The first book to cover the entirety of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender history, from pre-1492 to the present.

In the 1620s, Thomas Morton broke from Plymouth Colony and founded Merrymount, which celebrated same-sex desire, atheism, and interracial marriage. Transgender evangelist Jemima Wilkinson, in the early 1800s, changed her name to “Publick Universal Friend,” refused to use pronouns, fought for gender equality, and led her own congregation in upstate New York. In the mid-nineteenth century, internationally famous Shakespearean actor Charlotte Cushman led an openly lesbian life, including a well-publicized “female marriage.” And in the late 1920s, Augustus Granville Dill was fired by W. E. B. Du Bois from the NAACP’s magazine the Crisis after being arrested for a homosexual encounter. These are just a few moments of queer history that Michael Bronski highlights in this groundbreaking book.

Intellectually dynamic and endlessly provocative, A Queer History of the United States is more than a “who’s who” of queer history: it is a book that radically challenges how we understand American history. Drawing upon primary documents, literature, and cultural histories, noted scholar and activist Michael Bronski charts the breadth of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender history, from 1492 to the 1990s, and has written a testament to how the LGBT experience has profoundly shaped our country, culture, and history.

A Queer History of the United States abounds with startling examples of unknown or often ignored aspects of American history—the ineffectiveness of sodomy laws in the colonies, the prevalence of cross-dressing women soldiers in the Civil War, the impact of new technologies on LGBT life in the nineteenth century, and how rock music and popular culture were, in large part, responsible for the devastating backlash against gay rights in the late 1970s. Most striking, Bronski documents how, over centuries, various incarnations of social purity movements have consistently attempted to regulate all sexuality, including fantasies, masturbation, and queer sex. Resisting these efforts, same-sex desire flourished and helped make America what it is today.

At heart, A Queer History of the United States is simply about American history. It is a book that will matter both to LGBT people and heterosexuals. This engrossing and revelatory history will make readers appreciate just how queer America really is.

Do closeted actors smell our desperation? A response

Last week Steve Callahan and Matthew Montgomery did a wonderful video to support Trailblazer Campaign sponsored by James Duke Mason on Youtube:

it's a nice video, simple and effective, and full of hope for a better future. So it's with a deep sadness that I read how that same video was pointed out in a very hurtful way on the Queerty's website:

http://www.queerty.com/can-closet-actors-smell-our-desperation-20110603/

I gave my opinion on this matter (I don't like mystery, and sincerely I don't care for this type of mystery at all: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1300386.html), but I wanted also to share and have more opinionated comments on the same. I have many friends in the community, and some of them related to the movie industry field. I'm glad the response was immediate and sincere, and I'm glad to share that with you:

Do closeted actors smell our desperation? I'd much rather they smell our desperation than the stench of self loathing. This Trailblazer campaign is affirming; maybe didactic, but not desperate. Desperate is a person who will hide who they authentically are in order to be popular. The closet only exists if we allow it to - and as long as any of us allow it to persist, all of us are subject to its discrimination. What's wrong with a campaign urging people to live more authentic lives? This article was written by and for those who identify with the oppressor. Actors should remain "ambiguous" to appeal to a wider audience? It's the very Stockholm Syndrome that has too many of our community writing "straight-acting only" on their profiles, shunning drag queens and only watching gay films when the roles are portrayed by certifiably straight actors. That's self-loathing and it stinks. --Jesse Archer

(Jesse Archer is an award-winning writer, actor, and rabblerouser. Since graduating from the University of Southern California, Jesse traveled the world before landing in the East Village of New York City. He has appeared in the Off-Broadway hit Birdy's Bachelorette Party and on film in Boy Culture. Jesse also stars in gay romantic comedy favorites Slutty Summer and A Four Letter Word (which he co-wrote with director Casper Andreas). In 2010 he produced, co-starred, and scripted the hit comedy Violet Tendencies. His latest, Half-Share, set on legendary Fire Island is due out mid-2011. Jesse has penned features and pithy, promotional copy for various websites and print zines. He also wrote a popular column on urban gay life for OUT magazine. His first book, "You Can Run", was based on the two intrepid years he spent traveling through South America and was published by Haworth Press in 2007. Jesse grew up in Oregon. He has since lived and worked in Los Angeles, Paris, Buenos Aires, Capetown, and New York City. He enjoys long distance running, gummi bears, and impromptu cartwheels. Jesse currently resides in Sydney, Australia.)

SO sick of the post-gay articles on this site (which is called QUEERTY!). Why question the validity of public figures being out? It’s not desperation, it’s liberation, and it’s good for them (it’s their choice, they’re in the videos) and good for others to see more gay faces.

More mystery is never, EVER going to happen. So why not root for an equal amount of openness, gay or straight or bi? --Matthew Rettenmund

(Matthew Rettenmund is the author of the novels Boy Culture and Blind Items: A (Love) Story, as well as the non-fiction books Encyclopedia Madonnica, Totally Awesome '80s, and Hilary Duff: All Access. He is currently the Editor in Chief of Popstar! Magazine. He grew up in Flushing, Michigan and after he graduated from the University of Chicago, he moved to New York City, where he still lives. His novel Boy Culture was adapted into an award-winning movie in 2006.)

Kudos to Steve and Matt, and congrats on your pending nuptials! For years, I was a closeted actor trying to make a living in New York City. Once I embraced my sexuality and CHOSE to seek-out gay roles, I thought things would get easier and I would start working more. They didn’t – and I didn’t. But none of this, I firmly believe, was MY fault or had anything to do with MY acting ability.

I blame my lack of “success” on other GLBT individuals working in the entertainment industry. For example, my openly gay agent who advised me to NOT be open about my sexuality when going on auditions or working on set. Or the openly gay casting director who wouldn’t even grant me an audition for a production of a well-known gay-themed play (currently revived on Broadway), and then went so far as to cast all but ONE of the play’s gay roles with straight actors – which I was later told by a (straight) friend who appeared in the play that the gay playwright “loved it” that this happened.

In my opinion, this is yet another case of self-loathing gays getting off on having the so-called power. Why help out your gay brethren when you can get the approval that you never received while growing up from the straight guys? So many people have a problem with “obviously” gay actors being cast as straight (Jonathan Groff in GLEE, as that reporter from Vanity Fair recently pointed out)… But why doesn’t anyone seem to mind when, say, obviously straight Bobby Cannavale, is cast to play Will’s gay b/f on WILL & GRACE? Because Bobby Cannavale is totally hot! By which I mean: “masculine.” Which is what this all comes down to…

The fear for most closeted gay actors, I think, (apart from their not getting work) is that they will be perceived as being “less than a man.” This is why it’s important for someone “important” to come out and prove this theory wrong. Steve and Matt and both fine examples… Now where are the others?

Just commenting on this topic makes me happy that I am no longer pursuing an acting career. I can’t imagine being a closeted writer… What would be the point? --Frank Anthony Polito

(Frank Anthony Polito is a Brooklyn-based author and playwright. He can be seen in the films One True Thing with Meryl Streep and Renee Zellweger, Hitch with Will Smith, and The Peacemaker with George Clooney. On TV he has appeared on Spin City, The Sopranos and One Life to Live. On stage he has worked off-Broadway at Primary Stages and Revelation Theater and played the role of James in the Washington, D.C. premiere of Corpus Christi by Terrence McNally. Frank's first play, JOHN R, was produced in New York City in 2001 and is the basis for BAND FAGS!. His following novel, DRAMA QUEERS!, is a Lambda Award-winning book as “Best Gay Romance” in 2009. Other plays have been seen at the New York International Fringe Festival, Bailiwick Repertory Theatre in Chicago, Mill Mountain Theatre in Roanoke, VA, and at The Dayton Playhouse in Dayton, OH. His teleplay, Blind Faith, was a finalist for the Alfred P. Sloan teleplay competition at Carnegie Mellon University where he received his M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing in 2006. Frank grew up in the Detroit suburb of Hazel Park, near 10 Mile and John R. He began playing trumpet in 6th grade (but later switched to French horn) and is proud to have been a Band Fag.)

Do closeted actors smell our desperation? A response

Last week Steve Callahan and Matthew Montgomery did a wonderful video to support Trailblazer Campaign sponsored by James Duke Mason on Youtube:

it's a nice video, simple and effective, and full of hope for a better future. So it's with a deep sadness that I read how that same video was pointed out in a very hurtful way on the Queerty's website:

http://www.queerty.com/can-closet-actors-smell-our-desperation-20110603/

I gave my opinion on this matter (I don't like mystery, and sincerely I don't care for this type of mystery at all: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1300386.html), but I wanted also to share and have more opinionated comments on the same. I have many friends in the community, and some of them related to the movie industry field. I'm glad the response was immediate and sincere, and I'm glad to share that with you:

Do closeted actors smell our desperation? I'd much rather they smell our desperation than the stench of self loathing. This Trailblazer campaign is affirming; maybe didactic, but not desperate. Desperate is a person who will hide who they authentically are in order to be popular. The closet only exists if we allow it to - and as long as any of us allow it to persist, all of us are subject to its discrimination. What's wrong with a campaign urging people to live more authentic lives? This article was written by and for those who identify with the oppressor. Actors should remain "ambiguous" to appeal to a wider audience? It's the very Stockholm Syndrome that has too many of our community writing "straight-acting only" on their profiles, shunning drag queens and only watching gay films when the roles are portrayed by certifiably straight actors. That's self-loathing and it stinks. --Jesse Archer

(Jesse Archer is an award-winning writer, actor, and rabblerouser. Since graduating from the University of Southern California, Jesse traveled the world before landing in the East Village of New York City. He has appeared in the Off-Broadway hit Birdy's Bachelorette Party and on film in Boy Culture. Jesse also stars in gay romantic comedy favorites Slutty Summer and A Four Letter Word (which he co-wrote with director Casper Andreas). In 2010 he produced, co-starred, and scripted the hit comedy Violet Tendencies. His latest, Half-Share, set on legendary Fire Island is due out mid-2011. Jesse has penned features and pithy, promotional copy for various websites and print zines. He also wrote a popular column on urban gay life for OUT magazine. His first book, "You Can Run", was based on the two intrepid years he spent traveling through South America and was published by Haworth Press in 2007. Jesse grew up in Oregon. He has since lived and worked in Los Angeles, Paris, Buenos Aires, Capetown, and New York City. He enjoys long distance running, gummi bears, and impromptu cartwheels. Jesse currently resides in Sydney, Australia.)

SO sick of the post-gay articles on this site (which is called QUEERTY!). Why question the validity of public figures being out? It’s not desperation, it’s liberation, and it’s good for them (it’s their choice, they’re in the videos) and good for others to see more gay faces.

More mystery is never, EVER going to happen. So why not root for an equal amount of openness, gay or straight or bi? --Matthew Rettenmund

(Matthew Rettenmund is the author of the novels Boy Culture and Blind Items: A (Love) Story, as well as the non-fiction books Encyclopedia Madonnica, Totally Awesome '80s, and Hilary Duff: All Access. He is currently the Editor in Chief of Popstar! Magazine. He grew up in Flushing, Michigan and after he graduated from the University of Chicago, he moved to New York City, where he still lives. His novel Boy Culture was adapted into an award-winning movie in 2006.)

Kudos to Steve and Matt, and congrats on your pending nuptials! For years, I was a closeted actor trying to make a living in New York City. Once I embraced my sexuality and CHOSE to seek-out gay roles, I thought things would get easier and I would start working more. They didn’t – and I didn’t. But none of this, I firmly believe, was MY fault or had anything to do with MY acting ability.

I blame my lack of “success” on other GLBT individuals working in the entertainment industry. For example, my openly gay agent who advised me to NOT be open about my sexuality when going on auditions or working on set. Or the openly gay casting director who wouldn’t even grant me an audition for a production of a well-known gay-themed play (currently revived on Broadway), and then went so far as to cast all but ONE of the play’s gay roles with straight actors – which I was later told by a (straight) friend who appeared in the play that the gay playwright “loved it” that this happened.

In my opinion, this is yet another case of self-loathing gays getting off on having the so-called power. Why help out your gay brethren when you can get the approval that you never received while growing up from the straight guys? So many people have a problem with “obviously” gay actors being cast as straight (Jonathan Groff in GLEE, as that reporter from Vanity Fair recently pointed out)… But why doesn’t anyone seem to mind when, say, obviously straight Bobby Cannavale, is cast to play Will’s gay b/f on WILL & GRACE? Because Bobby Cannavale is totally hot! By which I mean: “masculine.” Which is what this all comes down to…

The fear for most closeted gay actors, I think, (apart from their not getting work) is that they will be perceived as being “less than a man.” This is why it’s important for someone “important” to come out and prove this theory wrong. Steve and Matt and both fine examples… Now where are the others?

Just commenting on this topic makes me happy that I am no longer pursuing an acting career. I can’t imagine being a closeted writer… What would be the point? --Frank Anthony Polito

(Frank Anthony Polito is a Brooklyn-based author and playwright. He can be seen in the films One True Thing with Meryl Streep and Renee Zellweger, Hitch with Will Smith, and The Peacemaker with George Clooney. On TV he has appeared on Spin City, The Sopranos and One Life to Live. On stage he has worked off-Broadway at Primary Stages and Revelation Theater and played the role of James in the Washington, D.C. premiere of Corpus Christi by Terrence McNally. Frank's first play, JOHN R, was produced in New York City in 2001 and is the basis for BAND FAGS!. His following novel, DRAMA QUEERS!, is a Lambda Award-winning book as “Best Gay Romance” in 2009. Other plays have been seen at the New York International Fringe Festival, Bailiwick Repertory Theatre in Chicago, Mill Mountain Theatre in Roanoke, VA, and at The Dayton Playhouse in Dayton, OH. His teleplay, Blind Faith, was a finalist for the Alfred P. Sloan teleplay competition at Carnegie Mellon University where he received his M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing in 2006. Frank grew up in the Detroit suburb of Hazel Park, near 10 Mile and John R. He began playing trumpet in 6th grade (but later switched to French horn) and is proud to have been a Band Fag.)

Reverb by Jet Mykles

I’m used to the “pop culture” novels by Jet Mykles, actually the Heaven Sent series was probably the first yaoi style novels I read, and I like them. They are probably a must read for me, and that is the reason why I picked up Reverb as soon as it was out; and of course the cover by Laura Carboni was a nice bonus pushing me. True, Jet Mykles advised her fans that Reverb was a little more “dark” than the Heaven Sent series, this is a real sex, drugs and rock and roll themed novel, and the drugs IS a main part of the story, something that, odd as it sounds, in Heaven Sent was not, actually that series was pretty “vanilla”, and it’s saying a lot since it’s probably more on the erotica side than the romance one.

Indeed Reverb starts with a bump: Marlowe, the sexy singer who is “corrupting” young and naïve Nick to the dark side, goes to jail after causing an accident in which Nick is injured. Two years in prison, even if it’s more a rehab than anything else. But Marlowe is inside and Nick is outside, hating Marlowe for being the one who put a stop to his burgeoning career. If you are expecting, or are worried, this is a highly dramatic novel, with two starcrossed lovers suffering from separation, don’t worry. The two years go like a blow (no pun intended), and Marlowe and Nick have to face what is between them: is it sex? Love? Hate? It’s for them to decide.

There is a definitive change in mood from the first to the second part of the novel; the second part is more sweet and tender, more romantic. That is clear also in the change the character of Marlowe had undergone: after the rehab, Marlowe is more “present”, he has a stronger perception of reality, he has no more the drugs clouding his minds, and in this way he has a more raw approach to life and relationship. He is less “star” and more “man”; this change is not unnoticed to Nick, and in a way it was at first not a good change for him: Nick was fascinated by Marlowe, the star, Marlowe was like a hurricane, and it was difficult to refuse him something, even your body. The second Marlowe is a man who something needs to be reassured, to be comforted, he is more a taker than a giver (and yes, a little pun is intended). Nick is not sure he likes so much this second Marlowe, but in the end, it’s only with a man like that you can consider to have a future.

http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=JMREVERB

Amazon: Reverb
Amazon Kindle: Reverb
Paperback: 308 pages
Publisher: MLR Press (May 14, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1608202585
ISBN-13: 978-1608202584

Reading List:



http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle


Cover Art by Laura Carboni

Reverb by Jet Mykles

I’m used to the “pop culture” novels by Jet Mykles, actually the Heaven Sent series was probably the first yaoi style novels I read, and I like them. They are probably a must read for me, and that is the reason why I picked up Reverb as soon as it was out; and of course the cover by Laura Carboni was a nice bonus pushing me. True, Jet Mykles advised her fans that Reverb was a little more “dark” than the Heaven Sent series, this is a real sex, drugs and rock and roll themed novel, and the drugs IS a main part of the story, something that, odd as it sounds, in Heaven Sent was not, actually that series was pretty “vanilla”, and it’s saying a lot since it’s probably more on the erotica side than the romance one.

Indeed Reverb starts with a bump: Marlowe, the sexy singer who is “corrupting” young and naïve Nick to the dark side, goes to jail after causing an accident in which Nick is injured. Two years in prison, even if it’s more a rehab than anything else. But Marlowe is inside and Nick is outside, hating Marlowe for being the one who put a stop to his burgeoning career. If you are expecting, or are worried, this is a highly dramatic novel, with two starcrossed lovers suffering from separation, don’t worry. The two years go like a blow (no pun intended), and Marlowe and Nick have to face what is between them: is it sex? Love? Hate? It’s for them to decide.

There is a definitive change in mood from the first to the second part of the novel; the second part is more sweet and tender, more romantic. That is clear also in the change the character of Marlowe had undergone: after the rehab, Marlowe is more “present”, he has a stronger perception of reality, he has no more the drugs clouding his minds, and in this way he has a more raw approach to life and relationship. He is less “star” and more “man”; this change is not unnoticed to Nick, and in a way it was at first not a good change for him: Nick was fascinated by Marlowe, the star, Marlowe was like a hurricane, and it was difficult to refuse him something, even your body. The second Marlowe is a man who something needs to be reassured, to be comforted, he is more a taker than a giver (and yes, a little pun is intended). Nick is not sure he likes so much this second Marlowe, but in the end, it’s only with a man like that you can consider to have a future.

http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=JMREVERB

Amazon: Reverb
Amazon Kindle: Reverb
Paperback: 308 pages
Publisher: MLR Press (May 14, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1608202585
ISBN-13: 978-1608202584

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Cover Art by Laura Carboni

Times Square Cutie by Mykola Dementiuk

As almost all the production by Mykola Dementiuk, Times Square Cutie is set in a lost and forgotten New York City, a place that, even if in broad daylight, it seemed to be always in the shadows, dirty and smelly, apparently with a danger behind each corner. Thinking at today NYC is like thinking to fashion and exclusivity, writing of that NYC is writing about desperate men and women, trying to reach the end of the day with something to eat and a roof atop your head; most of the time, the roof is always different, and what you wear is all your possession.

Billy is a transvestite young guy who wants to change his life, maybe or maybe not; he is tired to be used and abused, and for once he would like to be the one in power. When he meets Rebecca, a girl with a big heart, but with some missing wheels in her brain, he decides that he will be the one to take advantage of the situation. Sure, it’s not nice from his side, Rebecca is obviously not totally aware of what she is doing, but in the end Billy is doing nothing more than what many other men before him did, and, well, he is probably a lesser evil than most. Only that a not so innocent but mostly harmless game will take a dark turn, and the result for both Billy than Rebecca will be tragic.

This is probably a little piece of recent history, a novella describing lost time, lost people, lost hope; is Billy a victim or a villain? Maybe both, maybe none of them. Billy is like all the other characters from Mykola Dementiuk, older before his age, a young man that will probably not see his old age, unless he doesn’t leave NYC, since that city is like a trap; but that same city is also the only place where someone like Billy can live, even if it will be a short life.

http://shop.renebooks.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=DEMENTIUK%2D01

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