Macbeth Monday: Drunk Shakespeare

It is no secret that my favorite Shakespeare play is Macbeth. I’ve lost count of how many live productions of it I’ve seen, plus movie and TV versions I own in various formats, not to mention all the novels, graphic novels, and non-fiction books. Macbeth Monday is intended to be an occasional feature on the blog where I discuss whatever version or aspect of the story catches my attention at a particular moment.

At some point, I’ll write a post about why Macbeth is my favorite Shakespeare play, and where my obsession with it started. But for this inaugural post, I want to discuss the production I just saw last night.

My niece/goddaughter Morgyn decided at least a year ago that for her 21st birthday she wanted a group of us to see a Drunk Shakespeare performance in New York City. Nine of us in total made the trip: Morgyn, her sister Alex, their mother Margaret, both of Morgyn’s godmothers and their significant other/spouse, her Uncle David, and me. (When it comes to seeing live theater in NYC, Uncle David and I are usually a package deal.) We had an excellent group dinner, and then went to the theater.

For those who may not be familiar, the conceit of Drunk Shakespeare is that five members of the Drunk Shakespeare Society have gathered to perform one of the Bard’s plays, with the firm belief that Shakespeare loved his libations and thus so should the audience and cast. One cast member is chosen to start the show downing four shots of something (last night, it was Mezcal) and attempting to perform a lead role while inebriated, and while getting increasingly drunk as the show goes on. The audience has no prior knowledge as to which play is to be performed, so it was sheer luck that we managed to pick the night they were doing Macbeth.

There are no physical playbills distributed, so my memory being what it is I only recall the first names of three of the actors: J.T. (the “lucky” one designated to drink and play Macbeth); Maya (Lady Macbeth and a witch); and Noah (Macduff, a witch, and others). The other two are identified on the show’s website: Sarah Goldstein (who served as the night’s Host/MC), and Preston Mulligan (Banquo, Malcolm, a witch, the Porter, and others). All of them were absolutely brilliant.

I was truly impressed that as drunk as he clearly was by the end of the show, J.T. managed to still imbue Macbeth’s “tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow” speech with all the heartbreak the speech calls for. Maya’s “out damn spot” speech (enhanced by the glow of the audience’s flashlight apps on our cell phones) was equally impressive. Sarah’s various celebrity impersonations as she broke in on the action to move the plot along (especially her Jennifer Coolidge, Moira Rose, and Gilbert Gottfried impersonations) were terrific. Noah breaking into song as Macduff (including Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now”) to motivate himself and the crowd to attack Macbeth was brilliant. And, to quote Morgyn, “I didn’t think the Porter’s speech could get any funnier, but Preston managed it!”

The show is a mix of actual Shakespeare, current topical humor, ad-libbing, and audience involvement, and the performance we saw was a near perfect balance of all of these. The humor injected into one of Shakespeare’s most notable tragedies is VERY bawdy, the reworked Porter’s Speech being the perfect example as it mixed the actual Shakespeare monologue with sexual knock-knock jokes played off an audience member.

Drunk Shakespeare runs a tight 90 minutes, and the writers and actors did a wonderful job of distilling Macbeth down to fit into that timeframe. I don’t consider any portion of the Shakespeare’s script extraneous or easily cut (with the exception of the Porter’s Speech, which while hysterical also slows the pace of the play to a crawl, except here in Drunk Shakespeare where it became one of the highlights), but the cuts and condensing done to fit in the ad-libbing and audience participation and fit the 90-minute timeframe were perfect.

I have no doubt that I’d have had fun last night regardless of the Shakespeare play being performed, this cast was just that talented. But I’m extremely glad it turned out to be Macbeth. Drunk Shakespeare also has companies in Washington DC, Houston, Chicago, and Phoenix.

Sunday Shorts: Two by Dane Kuttler

I love short fiction, and Sunday Shorts is the feature where I get to blog about it. I’ve considered promising to review a short story every day, but that’s a lot of pressure. And while no one will fault me if I miss days, I’ll feel guilty, which will lead to not posting at all. So better to stick to a weekly post highlighting a couple/three stories, as I’ve done in the past.

 

TWO BY DANE KUTTLER

Dane Kuttler is a wonderful poet (https://www.danepoetry.com/about.html), who has also had two science fiction short stories published in the past year in the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, edited by Sheree Renee Thomas. The two stories are quite different in tone and topic but are equally engaging.

“The Interspatial Accessibility Compact’s Guidelines for Cross-Cultural Engagement” (Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Winter, 2024)

On a multi-species space station where sound carries very well and certain species have a harder time communicating, a florist helps an Earthman express his affection for a coworker is from a sound-sensitive species. This far-future, outer-space story is so sweet, so endearing, so romantic and so recognizable in the awkwardness on the part of all three of the main characters. It’s not easy expressing your affection for someone who essentially speaks a different language, with completely distinct cultural landmarks and social cues. It’s also not easy being the one trying to help two people who clearly care for each other but who aren’t navigating how to communicate with each other. I’ve been in both positions and felt all of the awkwardness. But also felt all of the happily-ever-after (or at least, the happy for now). In other hands, the drama of the situation might have been drawn out into a longer piece with more roadblocks for the protagonists, but Kuttler keeps the story to a tight, fast-moving but still emotionally investing seven pages.

 

“Off the Map” (Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Jan-Feb 2023)

Ava is in danger of losing her children to the system after a second “neglect” infraction that any rational person would consider unwarranted. Then she receives an offer to relocate to a new town in Florida under the auspices of Better Days, an organization that will give her full-time work, a home, a school that works with students’ learning disabilities and alternative learning styles, and access to therapy and guidance counselors. But is it all too good to be true, especially in a post-climate change, high scarcity of resources world? This story is an incisive and biting look at corporate involvement in social issues, and how the most vulnerable are mistreated and used to further other ends. I’ve read this one multiple times since it was published a year ago, and each time I reread it the injustice and abuse the characters experience (both the abuse they know of, and the stuff they are unaware of) hits hard.

READING ROUND-UP: February 2024

Here’s what I read, listened to, and watched in February 2024!

 

BOOKS

I read 9 books in February: 5 in print, 2 in e-book format, and 2 in audio format. They were:

1.       Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: And Other Things I've Learned by Alan Alda. (AUDIOBOOK, 2024 TBR CHALLENGE, NON-FICTION CHALLENGE)

2.       The History of Sketch Comedy: A Journey Through the Art and Craft of Humor by Keegan Michael Key and Elle Key (PRINT, NON-FICTION CHALLENGE)

3.       Aftermarket Afterlife (InCryptid #13) by Seanan McGuire (E-BOOK, ARC (publishes March 2024)) Read my review HERE

4.       Batman: Wayne Family Adventures #1 by CRC Payne, Starbite, Maria Li, Lan Ma and Suzie Blake. (PRINT, GRAPHIC NOVEL)

5.       A Feast for Starving Stone (Chefs of the Five Gods #2) by Beth Cato. (PRINT)

6.       Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself by Alan Alda. (AUDIOBOOK, NON-FICTION CHALLENGE)

7.       Santa Claus and His Works by George P. Brewster and Thomas Nast (PRINT)

8.       New Super-Man Vol 1: Made in China by Gene Luen Yang, Victor Bognanovic, Richards Friends, David Sharpe and others. (PRINT, GRAPHIC NOVEL)

9.       Korak at the Earth’s Core (Dead Moon Super-Arc #1) by Win Scott Eckert. (E-BOOK, ARC (publishes March 2024, PREORDER HERE) Read My Review HERE

 

 

STORIES

I have a goal of reading 366 short stories (1 per day, essentially, although it doesn’t always work out that way) this leap year. Here’s what I read this month and where you can find them if you’re interested in reading them too. If no source is noted, the story is from the same magazine or book as the story(ies) that precede(s) it.

 

1.       “Companion Animals in Maho Shojo Kira Kira Sunlight” by Stewart C. Baker, in Lightspeed Magazine #165, edited by John Joseph Adams

2.       “Scarlett” by Everdeen Mason.

3.       “The Pearl Captain” by Christopher Rowe

4.       “But From Thine Eyes My Knowledge I Derive” by Phoebe Barton

5.       “A Sojourn in the Fifth City” by P H Lee

6.       “Further Examination and Capture of Candle Skulls Associated with the Baba Yaga” by Mari Ness

7.       “What Becomes of Curious Minds” by Wen-yi Lee

8.       “An Elegy for the Former Things” by KT Bryski

9.       “Not A Drop to Drink” by Seanan McGuire, on the Author’s Patreon

10.   “Valentine's Dave” by ‘Nathan Burgoine, Candy Hearts Charity Anthology, edited by Lee Blair

11.   “Bee My Valentine” by Beck Grey

12.   “Dreaming of you in Freefall” by Seanan McGuire, novella included with the novel Aftermarket Afterlife (InCryptid #13)

13.   “The Cut Cares Not for the Flesh” by George Sandison, from Nightmare Magazine #157, edited by Wendy N. Wagner

14.   “Dusk” by Angela Slatter, from The Dark #105, edited by Sean Wallace

15.   “The Interspatial Accessibility Compact's Guidelines for Cross-Cultural Engagement” by Dane Kuttler, from the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Winter 2024, edited by Sheree Renee Thomas

16.   “Off The Map” by Dane Kuttler, from the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Jan-Feb 2023, edited by Sheree Renee Thomas (REREAD)

17.   “Dawn of the Deathslayer” by Christopher Paul Carey, novella included with the novel Korak at the Earth’s Core

18.   “The Fallen: A Tale of Pellucidar” by Mercedes Lackey, from the Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. website

19.   “Jason Gridley of Earth: Across the Moons of Mars” by Geary Gravel, novella included with the novel Red Axe of Pellucidar

 

So that’s 19 short stories in February. Far less than “1 per day” for the month, and way off pace for the year so far. (February 29th  was the 60th  day of 2024.)

 

MOVIES

I somehow managed to watch zero movies in February, thanks largely to work travel taking me to cities where I had friends to hang out with and to a bit of a head-cold. However, I did manage to watch some television:

 

TELEVISION

·       Doctor Who Season 4, Episode 7 (1 episode, REWATCH)

·       Love, Death & Robots Season 1, episodes 1 – 18 (18 episodes)

That’s 19 episodes of television, again not quite the “1 per day” I was shooting for.

 

LIVE THEATER

No live theater in February, either.

 

Summary of Challenges:

“To Be Read” Challenge: This month: 1 read; YTD: 1 of 14 read.

366 Short Stories Challenge: This month:  19 read; YTD: 45 of 366 read.

Goodreads Challenge: This month: 9 read; YTD: 19 of 120 read.

Graphic Novels Challenge:  This month: 2 read; YTD: 6 of 52 read.

Non-Fiction Challenge: This month: 3 read; YTD: 3 of 12 read.

Read the Book / Watch the Movie Challenge: This month: 0 read/watched; YTD: 1 read/watched.

Movie Challenge: This month: 0 watched; YTD: 4 of 52 watched.

TV Shows Challenge: This month: 19 episodes watched; YTD: 40 of 366 watched

Live Theater Challenge: This month: 0 show attended; YTD: 1 of 12 attended.

Theater Thursday: ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE

I’ve always loved live theater, and in the past couple of years I’ve been making a stronger effort to see more of it. Theater Thursday is a new occasionally series where I talk about live theater, both shows I’ve seen recently and shows I’ve loved in the past.

production photo by JULIETA CERVANTES

“Hell is empty … and all the devils are here,” Patrick Page intones, tapping his chest portentously, in the Instagram ads for his one-man show tracing the history of Shakespeare’s villains. Those two lines, delivered in Page’s basso profundo growl, should be enough to get you to the DR2 Theatre in New York City before All the Devils Are Here closes on March 31st. But if the ad alone, or Page’s multiple social media appearances and online interviews about the show, haven’t convinced you, I hope this review will. Especially if you’re an actor, or a writer interested in exploring the characterizational depths of villains, or “just” a reader or theatergoer who loves Shakespeare.

I’m not the first to describe All the Devils Are Here as a Master Class in Shakespeare, and I’m sure I won’t be the last – but that’s exactly how I felt after the seeing a performance back in December (yes, I’m slow on posting reviews. If you read the blog regularly, this does not surprise you), and doubly-so since the performance I attended was followed by a “talkback” with Page where the audience got to ask him questions about performing and interpreting Shakespeare. Page packs a ton of history, biography, soliloquies, dialogue (playing both roles in the conversation), and memoir into 90 minutes of stage time. I was breathless and exhausted (in all the best ways) by the end of the performance. Page’s energy was full-on and commanding throughout, even in the quietest moments and throughout the talkback.

The play is structured mostly chronologically, following the development of Shakespeare’s villains from the early, simple “maleficent” / “deal with the devil” type characters based on the plays the Bard would have seen as a child through the more complex characterizations of characters like Shylock of The Merchant of Venice and the sociopathic Iago of Othello. Page’s thesis is that our modern fascination with villains is all Shakespeare’s fault, as the playwright worked to create antagonists who were not just one-dimensionally evil but who had depth and nuance, who had reasons (or justifications, at the least) for every evil choice they make. Along the way, Page also charts Shakespeare’s own history and how it influenced the characters he wrote and the plots he crafted. I say the play is structed “mostly chronologically,” because Page very effectively uses Macbeth to bookend the performance, opening with Lady Macbeth’s “unsex me now” speech and eventually delivering Macbeth’s “is this a dagger I see before me” soliloquy when the play turns up in true chronological order. I loved this, as Macbeth is my favorite Shakespeare play. (Like Page, I seem to gravitate to the Shakespeare plays that feature strong villains – Macbeth, Othello, Richard III.)

In between soliloquys and two-character scenes, Page’s tone turns conversational. Yes, this is a one-man show, but Page invites the audience to be a part of it by talking to us as though we were at a meet-and-greet or dinner with him instead of sitting on the other side of the footlights. Of course, this conversational tone turns into a true conversation during the post-performance talkbacks. I do not recall every question that was asked, and I’m still a little bummed that I could not think of a question I considered good enough to ask, but his response to one question has stayed with me. I’m paraphrasing, but the question was something along the lines of “how do you prepare for playing a clearly villainous role?” Page’s response focused on understanding that the villain doesn’t usually think of themselves as a villain, so the actor must figure out what it is the character wants, and he used Macbeth as an example: what Macbeth most wants is to conquer his fears: fear of the witches, fear of killing Duncan, fear of losing the power he has gained, fear of death. Page talked for several minutes about what Macbeth wants and how that leads to his ultimate end, and it gave me new insight into one of my favorite literary characters (and a role I’d love to play some day if I’m ever in a position to act again).

Page also makes effective use throughout the show of simple costume changes (the donning and doffing of a jacket, the addition of a pair of reading glasses) and a small handful of props (a staff, a goblet, an oversized leather-bound volume of Shakespeare’s works) to supplement his performance, and full credit must also be given to lighting designer Stacey Derosier and sound designer Darron L West for the way their work melds with Page’s onstage presence. It’s a shame Off-Broadway works aren’t eligible for Tony Awards, because the director, acting, and lighting and sound work are all the highest caliber. (Also, I’m not sure who decided on the pre-show playlist, but full marks on an incredibly eclectic mix of songs that feature the Devil or devils in general.)

I’m posting this on Thursday, March 7th, which gives you still a solid three weeks to catch Patrick Page’s bravura, moving, entertaining and educational show. Never mind “hie thee to a nunnery,” hie thee to the DR2 Theater!

READING ROUND-UP: January 2024

The first monthly summary of what I’ve been reading, listening to, and watching in 2024!

 

BOOKS

I read 10 books in January: 5 in print, 5 in e-book format, and 0 in audio format. They were:

1.       What Moves the Dead (Sworn Sword #1) by T. Kingfisher. (E-BOOK)

2.       Phantom on the Scan by Cullen Bunn, Mark Torres, David Sharpe. (PRINT, GRAPHIC NOVEL)

3.       What Feasts at Night (Sworn Sword #2) by T. Kingfisher (PRINT, ARC (publishes February 2024))

4.       Highlands Book One: The Portrait of Amelia by Philipe Aymond. (PRINT, GRAPHIC NOVEL)

5.       Highlands Book Two: The Survivors of Blackwater by Philipe Aymond. (PRINT, GRAPHIC NOVEL)

6.       We Are Satellites by Sarah Pinsker. (E-BOOK)

7.       Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. (E-BOOK)

8.       Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire. (AUDIOBOOK, REREAD)

9.       The Birds & Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier. (E-BOOK)

10.   Hellstrom: Evil Origins by Gary Freidrich, Herb Trimpe, Don Perlin, Bill Mantlo, and others (PRINT, GRAPHIC NOVEL)

 

STORIES

I have a goal of reading 366 short stories (1 per day, essentially, although it doesn’t always work out that way) this leap year. Here’s what I read this month and where you can find them if you’re interested in reading them too. If no source is noted, the story is from the same magazine or book as the story(ies) that precede(s) it.

 

1.       “Five Views of the Planet Tartarus” by Rachael K. Jones, in Lightspeed Magazine #164, edited by John Joseph Adams

2.       “Shadow Films” by Ben Peek.

3.       “Night Desk Duty at the Infinite Paradox Hotel” by Aimee Ogden

4.       “We Shall Not Be Bitter at the End of the World” by David Anaxagoras

5.       “A Saint Between the Teeth” by Sloane Leong

6.       “In the Tree's Hollow” by Lowry Poletti

7.       “Farewell to Faust” by Adam-Troy Castro

8.       “To Be a Happy Man” by Thomas Ha

9.       “The Silver Sea” by Seanan McGuire, on the Author’s Patreon

10.   “Ten Thousand Crawling Children” by R.A. Busby, Nightmare Magazine #136, edited by Wendy N. Wagner

11.   “The Forgetter” by Andrew Snover

12.   “The Birds” by Daphne du Maurier, from The Birds & Other Stories

13.   “Monte Verita” by Daphne du Maurier

14.   “The Apple Tree” by Daphne du Maurier

15.   “The Little Photographer” by Daphne du Maurier

16.   “Kiss Me Again, Stranger” by Daphne du Maurier

17.   “The Old Man” by Daphne du Maurier

18.   “The Carnival” by Richard Chizmar, stand-alone chapbook published by Cemetery Dance

19.   “End Game” by Martin Edwards, stand-alone chapbook published by The Mysterious Bookshop

20.   “Nothing of Value” by Aimee Ogden, from Clarkesworld #208, edited by Neil Clarke

21.   “Down the Waterfall” by Cecile Cristofari

22.   “Willow Wood” by Linda Neihoff, from Beneath Ceaseless Skies #398, edited by Scott H. Andrews

23.   “Home Bread” by R.E. Dukalsky

24.   “Miriam” by Truman Capote, Fantastic #2 (1952)

25.   “The Star Dummy” by Anthony Boucher

26.   “Most of ‘81” by ‘Nathan Burgoine, from the Author’s Website

 

So that’s 26 short stories in January. A bit less than “1 per day.” (January 31st was, of course, the 31st day of 2024.)

 

MOVIES

1.       Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), directed by James Gunn (STREAMING, Disney+)

2.       Gamera the Giant Monster (1965), directed by Noriaki Yuasa (DVD)

3.       The Birds (1963), directed by Alfred Hitchcock (DVD)

4.       Gamera vs. Barugon (1966), directed by Shigeo Tanaka and Noriaki Yuasa (DVD)

 

TELEVISION

·       Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 1, episodes 4 – 8 (5 episodes) (SEASON REVIEW HERE)

·       What If…? Season 2, episodes 2 – 9 (8 episodes)

·       Slow Horses Season 1, episodes 1 – 6 (6 episodes)

·       Slow Horses Season 2, episode 1 (1 episode)

·       A Hero’s Journey: The Making of Percy Jackson and the Olympians (1 episode)

That’s 21 episodes of television, again not quite the “1 per day” I was shooting for.

 

LIVE THEATER

1.       Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, NYC)

 

 

Summary of Challenges:

“To Be Read” Challenge: This month: 0 read; YTD: 0 of 14 read.

366 Short Stories Challenge: This month:  26 read; YTD: 26 of 366 read.

Goodreads Challenge: This month: 10 read; YTD: 10 of 120 read.

Graphic Novels Challenge:  This month: 4 read; YTD: 4 of 52 read.

Non-Fiction Challenge: This month: 0 read; YTD: 0 of 12 read.

Read the Book / Watch the Movie Challenge: This month: 1  read/watched (“The Birds”); YTD: 1 read/watched.

Movie Challenge: This month: 4 watched; YTD: 4 of 52 watched.

TV Shows Challenge: This month: 21 episodes watched; YTD: 21 of 366 watched

Live Theater Challenge: This month: 1 show attended; YTD: 1 of 12 attended.

Series Saturday: PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS Season One

This is a blog series about … well, series. I love stories that continue across volumes, in whatever form: linked short stories, novels, novellas, television, movies, comics.

 

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season One television series (2023 - 2024)

Starred: Walker Scobell, Leah Sava Jeffries, Aryan Simhadri

Produced by 20th Television, Co-Lab 21, Gotham Group, Moorish Dignity Productions, Quaker Moving Pictures, and Walt Disney Studios

Originally aired on Disney+

Count me in as one of the many viewers who are far more satisfied with this television adaptation of Book One of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series than with the previous movie attempts. (To be honest: I am also one of those folks who liked the movies fine for what they were, but faithful to the novels they were not.) Disney’s eight-episode season allowed for a much more faithful (but not slavishly so) adaptation. Is it perfect? No, of course not. No adaptation from one form of media to another ever is. But it’s a damn fine eight hours of television, in this viewer’s eyes. I’m not going to spend time talking about the changes. Rick Riordan himself has commented on most of them on his social media, and while I love the books it has been over a decade since I last read The Lightning Thief. I’ll stick to my thoughts on the show we got rather than lamenting (or lambasting) the things we didn’t.

First and foremost: kudos to the casting department, especially on the three leads. I may be one of the few people on Earth who still have not seen The Adam Project, so my only awareness of Walker Scobell was when clips from that movie started to show up on social media, but what I saw in those clips definitely fit my perception of Percy. Scobell’s excellent use of snark is not the only reason he’s a great Percy, of course. He really gets the character’s struggles to fit in, to control his anger at his absentee father, to manage his ADHD; he also embodies Percy’s loyalty to those he calls friends (and his pain when those friends betray, or seem to betray, him). Leah Sava Jeffries is pretty much his perfect match as Annabeth – she too can bring the snark, but the best moments were watching her struggle with being the smartest person in the room. Aryan Simhadri brings a loveable goofiness to Grover that never tips over into broad caricature (which it could easily have done); his sense of comic timing is spot on. (Bonus points for the casting director who found Azriel Dalman to play young Percy; I believed he and Walker were playing the same kid.)

The adults are also perfectly cast. Virginia Kull is heartbreaking as Sally Jackson while also being a bastion of parental support (however imperfect at times). The gods and monsters (Lin Manuel Miranda, Toby Stephens, Megan Mulally, Timothy Omundson, Glynn Turman, Jay Duplass, Jason Mantzoukas, Jessica Parker Kennedy, Suzanne Cryer) are all excellent in their turns, but full credit especially to Adam Copeland as Ares. I do wish the late, great Lance Reddick had had more screen time as Zeus. I am also glad that on screen and even in the credits and despite their overwhelming star power, all these wonderful adults were not allowed to overshadow the three leads. They were supporting characters or antagonists (or both) but never stole focus.

My one major complaint with the season is that it should have been one episode longer. The time Percy spends at Camp Half-Blood is given only one episode and I think the Percy/Luke dynamic suffers for it. When episode two aired, I commented that I wasn’t particularly impressed with Charlie Bushnell as Luke in comparison to the other kids (including Dior Goodjohn as Clarissa). Watching the final episode, I realized I felt that way because Bushnell just wasn’t given much to work with in the earlier episode. All of his good stuff came at the end, and half of that in flashback to stuff we should have seen earlier. It was a stylistic choice on the part of Riordan and the rest of the production team and in my opinion one of the few missteps.

My only other complaint, and it is minor, is that the nighttime and Underworld scenes were all so dark I sometime couldn’t see details that I would have liked to see and I’m sure were there (because in all the other stuff shot on the Volume stage, the FX work is stunning and immersive). Yes, I’m aware that maybe it’s my television and not the production at fault.

When I originally drafted this post, I ended with a simple “So, Disney: get on with greenlighting season two already!”  And lo and behold, just a few days before this post will go live, Disney did exactly that. I hope production on season 2, adapted from The Sea of Monsters, starts up quickly and runs smoothly and that it appears on our screens sooner rather than later.


If you enjoyed this post, check out some of my previous fantasy/superhero television-related Series Saturday posts:

Sunday Shorts: Valentine's Dave

I love short fiction, and Sunday Shorts is the feature where I get to blog about it. I’ve considered promising to review a short story every day, but that’s a lot of pressure. And while no one will fault me if I miss days, I’ll feel guilty, which will lead to not posting at all. So better to stick to a weekly post highlighting a couple/three stories, as I’ve done in the past.

At the start of the month, editor Lee Blair published Candy Hearts: An LGBTQIA2S+ Charity Anthology, an e-book collection of 16 romance novellas featuring, as one might be able to guess from the title, LGBTQIA2S+ characters. The collection is available for only a limited time, and all proceeds go to the Transgender Law Center and the National Center for Transgender Equality – in my opinion a pair of organizations that absolutely deserve our support. So I’m urging anyone who loves romance to pick the anthology up while it’s available – and even if you don’t love romance, pick it up anyway! Then gift it to someone you know who does love the romance genre while supporting an excellent cause.

Upon opening my copy, I did something I almost never do with anthologies. Instead of reading the stories in order (which I prefer to do because I know how much effort anthology editors put into determining story order), I jumped straight to ‘Nathan Burgoine’s novella – because it is set in the Little Village, and thus connects to the novellas in Burgoine’s “BitterSweets Club” series, which I reviewed a few weeks ago. (A neat little bit of timing/serendipity/whatever you want to call it, that my first “Sunday Shorts” post of the year directly connects to my first “Series Saturday” post.)

Valentine’s Dave by ‘Nathan Burgoine

Dave has had a pretty disastrous streak of Valentine’s Day dates – from the married man to the barfer to the “coffee incident” – but he’s hopeful that this year he can break the streak through a “Secret Admirer” messaging program administered by the Village Business Council and with a little help from his roommate/best friend Asher. Asher is a recent cancer survivor, coming out the other side of chemo, and seems content to help his bestie find romance rather than seek it out himself. Dave has a crush on Victor, a “silver fox” of a veterinarian. Problem is: Dave is not at his most eloquent when it comes to sending secret messages to a cute guy. Luckily, Asher has a way with words. Of course, complications ensue on the path to happily ever after.

Burgoine is not the first author to run a gay spin on Cyrano de Bergerac, to be sure (although I can honestly say I’ve never read another such book, I’m sure they must be out there). But in standard Burgoine fashion, he tweaks the original story by merging it with another standard romance trope (which, if I made it explicit here, would spoil the ending, and I am loath to do that). This combination of tropes makes the story a little twistier, adding just enough inter-character angst to keep the story interesting without causing the reader undue anxiety.

I found Dave’s verbal and physical awkwardness endearing, and his obliviousness a bit too relatable (I tend to be, shall we say, a bit blind when it comes to whether other men are interested in me). Asher’s post-chemotherapy struggles with energy, and his declaring “Are you okay” a forbidden question, was also relatable as a colon cancer survivor myself. I remember the on-set of sudden, unexpected (even though I should have expected it) fatigue in the midst of an afternoon out with friends very well, and I think Burgoine captured it perfectly. I also enjoyed the view of Dave and Asher’s friend group; I think it’s always important to recognize that love doesn’t happen in a vacuum, that outside forces, including caring support from found family, have an effect (thankfully, in this case, positive) on the way romantic relationships form.

As a regular reader of Burgoine’s work, I was overjoyed to see references to members of the BitterSweets Club, and I loved how this novella gives us a tour of the various queer-friendly (and queer-owned) businesses in the Village. If you’ve never read anything by ‘Nathan Burgoine, this novella is a great introduction to the world his characters inhabit – but not in a way that detracts or distracts at all from the main story, which is a wonderful romance.

 

I’m hoping to post about other novellas in Candy Hearts between now and Valentine’s day. In the meantime, you can read my thoughts on ‘Nathan Burgoine’s other holiday-themed romance novellas featuring the BitterSweets Club in this Series Saturday post.

I’m not a total stranger to writing romance, either. My supernatural gay love story Paradise Fears can be read free here on my website.