Paperback:
194 pages
Publisher:
Lethe Press (June 6, 2015)
Language:
English
Cover Design: Ben Baldwin
ISBN-10:
1590214676
ISBN-13:
978-1590214671
Release date:
June 6, 2015
It could be
curtains for college theatre professor Nicky Abbondanza. With dead bodies
popping up all over campus, Nicky must use his drama skills to figure out who
is playing the role of murderer before it is lights out for Nicky and his
colleagues. Complicating matters is Nicky’s huge crush on Noah Oliver, a
gorgeous assistant professor in his department, who may or may not be involved
with a cocky graduate assistant...and is also the top suspect for the murders!
You will be applauding and shouting Bravo for Joe Cosentino’s fast-paced,
side-splittingly funny, edge-of-your-seat, delightfully entertaining novel.
Curtain up!
Buy Links: Paperback form Lethe Press * Paperback from Amazon
Other works by Joe Cosentino include...
The local suspects include Jana’s down-on-his-luck husband with a dislike for living off the fruits of his wife’s young labor, Jana’s sister and male friend (who both have eyes for Jana’s husband), Jana’s show business father, her deranged loyal fan, and Jana's young Guy Friday who covets her fame and shares an uncanny resemblance to Jana.
Forced to summon up the lost courage she had as a child, Jana visits the California movie studio she once called home. This sends her on a whirlwind of visits with former and current movie studio personnel. It also leads to a romance with the son of her old producer—Rocco Cavoto—the devilishly handsome filmmaker who is planning Jana’s comeback both professionally and personally. With Rocco’s help, Jana uncovers a web of secrets about everyone she loves, including the person who destroyed her past and threatens to snuff out her future.
INTERVIEW
Thank you, Joe, for being here today and answering a few
questions. Drama Queen published June
6th and is a Nicky and Noah Mystery. So, I have a few questions
about this book.
Thanks so much, Meredith, and thank you for your support! In
Drama Queen (book one), Nicky and Noah have to uncover
why college theatre professors are dropping like stage curtains while Nicky
directs the college play production—a murder mystery. In Drama Muscle (book two), Nicky and Noah have to find out why
musclemen are dropping like weights in the Physical Education department while
Nicky directs the Student Bodybuilding Competition. In Drama Cruise (book three), Nicky and Noah go on a cruise to Alaska,
and discover why college theatre professors are going overboard like lifeboats
while Nicky directs a murder mystery dinner theatre show onboard ship. All
three novels are written and awaiting publication. This fall I plan to start
the fourth Nicky and Noah mystery, Drama
Aloha, where Nicky and Noah will go to Hawaii to direct a luau show, and
figure out why muscular male dancers are dropping like grass skirts.
I loved those shows too! I’ve also read every Agatha
Christie mystery, Alfred Hitchcock Magazine mystery, and Sherlock Holmes
mystery. There’s nothing better than a good brain teaser with a fun puzzle to
solve. The reader or viewer works right along with the sleuth to solve the
crime. My favorite sleuths are accidental or amateur sleuths, like Nicky and
Noah, who stumble upon murder and are called upon to use their skills to solve
it. In this series, Nicky and Noah use their theatrical skills (like playing
other people) to get their clues.
I don’t enjoy mysteries with no clues, or clues presented at
the end of the novel. I also don’t like mysteries where the murderer is
suddenly revealed at the end with no possible way to have guessed his/her
identity. To me a good mystery lays out clues, red herrings, plot twists and
turns, likeable characters, and a surprising ending that is justified. Also, I
don’t think a mystery is just a mystery. There should also be humor, romance,
adventure, and an interesting location. I kept all this in mind when plotting
the Nicky and Noah mysteries. I did the same with my Jana Lane mysteries, about
an ex-child star (beginning with Paper
Doll). Since I was an actor, I start with a character biography on each
character then I add his/her secrets. This leads to the outline, where I mark
exactly where each clue and red herring will be revealed. Once the characters
come along and start talking in my head, I write the first draft, sometimes
deviating from the outline when the characters want me to do so. Next I do a
second draft. After my spouse reads it and offers me a critique, I do a third
draft. Then it’s ready for the publisher.
You are so right! When I thought about creating a gay
mystery series, it was obvious to me it would include the worlds of show
business and academia, since I live in both as an actor and college theatre
professor/department head. It’s great fun using my knowledge of theatre and
universities to navigate through the theatre department at Treemeadow College.
Though the college and characters are fictitious, their actions are based on my
knowledge of acting, directing, and teaching. When the Nicky and Noah series
comes to television, I want to play Martin Anderson, the department head!
The characters in the series, and in all my books, are real
to me. They live in my head and heart, and I can talk to them at will. Since
you always need new suspects in a mystery, each book will have some of the same
characters and some different characters. As the series progresses, we’ll also
get to meet Nicky’s parents and Noah’s parents who are hysterically funny. In
addition to solving more murders, Nicky and Noah will also have some personal
issues to resolve. However, they will always be together solving mysteries and sharing
their love with one another.
A lot of authors struggle with naming their characters. For
me the names come easily when I think about the characters’ personalities.
Sometimes the names tell us a bit about their personalities. An example of this
is David Samson the Technical Theatre professor in Drama Queen, since Samson was a big, strong guy in the bible story.
Since An Infatuation
was so well received, I have another Bittersweet Dreams romance remembrance novella
coming from Dreamspinner Press this fall, A
Shooting Star. It also is set in the theatre department at a university,
but a very different one from Treemeadow College. Dreamspinner Press is also
publishing my short holiday romance novella, A Home for the Holidays, in December. It takes place in one of my
favorite places, Capri, Italy. Of course the next two Nicky and Noah mysteries,
Drama Muscle and Drama Cruise, will be released, as will the next two Jana Lane
mysteries, Porcelain Doll and Satin Doll. I also wrote a book of gay
fairytales, and I just started a new gay romance novel to write over the summer.
As I mentioned, next up for me to write beginning this fall is the fourth Nicky
and Noah mystery, Drama Aloha, and
the fourth Jana Lane mystery, China Doll.
This should take me to retirement. Hah.
Thank you for being here today Joe, and I am sure I speak
for everyone when I say we can’t wait for more Nicky and Noah!
Thank you again, Meredith. Your support means so much to me,
as does the support of your readers. I’d love to hear from them. They can
contact me via my web site at http://www.JoeCosentino.weebly.com.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joe Cosentino
is the author of An Infatuation (Dreamspinner Press), Paper Doll the first Jana Lane mystery
(Whiskey Creek Press), and The Nutcracker
and the Mouse King (Eldridge Plays and Musicals). He has appeared in
principal acting roles in film, television, and theatre, opposite stars such as
Bruce Willis, Rosie O’Donnell, Nathan Lane, Holland Taylor, and Jason Robards.
His one-act plays, Infatuation and Neighbor, were performed in
New York City. He wrote The Perils of Pauline educational film (Prentice
Hall Publishers). Joe is currently Head of the Department/Professor at a college
in upstate New York, and is happily married. His upcoming novels are Drama
Muscle the second Nicky and Noah mystery (Lethe Press), A Shooting Star (Dreamspinner Press
novella), A Home for the Holidays
(Dreamspinner Press holiday novella), and Porcelain
Doll the second Jana Lane mystery.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoeCosen
GIVEAWAY
One reader will get the chance to experience Joe's work. He will gift one person an ebook copy of An Infatuation. Simply enter the rafflecopter. The contest will run until July 10th. Winner will be contacted via email so make sure to check your spam!
Good luck to you all and once again I'd like to thank Joe for being here today to talk to us about his amazing work!
I've always been a fan of British mystery series and I guess I can blame my library for stocking lots of Agatha Christie when I grew up.
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