Author Saturday Spotlight: Joe Cosentino #Interview #Giveaway

Happy Saturday, folks! It's Author Saturday Spotlight time and I have author Joe Cosentino hanging out with us. He's written so many wonderful books. Some series include Nicky and Noah Mysteries, Cozzi Cove Series, In My Heart Series and so many more. I'm excited to be able to talk with him, show you some of his work, and of course giveaway something fabulous! So, let's get started!

With his ten-year high school reunion approaching, Harold wonders whether Mario will be as muscular, sexy, and tantalizing as he remembers. As a teenager, it was love at first sight for Harold while tutoring football star Mario, until homophobia and bullying drove Mario deep into the closet. Now they’re both married men. Mario, a model, is miserable with his producer wife, while Harold, a teacher, is perfectly content with his businessman husband, Stuart. When the two meet again, will the old flame reignite, setting Harold’s comfortable life ablaze? How can Harold be happy with Stuart when he is still infatuated with his Adonis, his first love, Mario? Harold faces this seemingly impossible situation with inimitable wit, tenderness, and humor as he attempts to reconcile the past and the future.

On Cozzi Cove at the New Jersey shore, handsome Cal Cozzi’s seven bungalows are open for summer and love.

Mario and Harold are brothers and college students who happen to look alike, but couldn’t be more different: Mario is searching for love, and Harold is searching for lust. Josh and Greg, a wealthy older couple, are matchmakers for their son, Christopher.

When it comes to Connor, the maid, packed with muscles and a roving sponge, anything can happen. Opposites attract as wild Tim with the secret past meets shy Mark, and porn star Chuck Caliber connects with Sean, a virgin romance novelist.

And what will happen when computer-game designer Arthur has a midnight sea rendezvous with a merman? Even married Cal faces an emotional upheaval when a gay bashing turns into something quite unexpected.

What secrets and passions lie in magical Cozzi Cove?

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!

Interview

Thank you, Joe, for being here today as my Saturday Spotlight Author! It’s very exciting! You’ve made quite a mark in the field of publishing, so I’m looking forward to picking your brain.

It’s great to be with you, Mere, and with your readers. As you know, I love your blog (especially when I’m on it-hah).

In the Nicky and Noah Mystery books, you bring some good old fashion mystery and introduce it to modern day. It makes me wonder; what are some of your most favorite mystery books, movies, or TV shows?

I had terrible insomnia as a kid. Believe it or not, what finally put me to sleep was reading cozy mystery novels before bed. The cozy locations, fun characters, mystery puzzles, clues, red herrings, and surprise endings delighted me—and they still do! I’ve read every Agatha Christie novel numerous times, and seen every theatre, television, and movie adaptation of each. While his novels aren’t mysteries per se, I’ve also read every Armistead Maupin novel and seen the television adaptations. He is a master of writing funny dialogue, wild characters, and unforeseen plot changes. I am incredibly flattered when people compare my books to Christie’s and Maupin’s. I was also thrilled when DRAMA QUEEN was voted Favorite LGBT Mystery Novel, Favorite LGBT Humorous Novel, and Favorite LGBT Contemporary Novel of 2015 in Divine Magazine’s Readers’ Poll. As a college theatre professor/department head, I realized college theatre departments are ripe with mystery, humor, romance, and big surprises. So I created a cozy mystery series with lots of humor, fun clues, plot twists and turns, quirky yet endearing characters, a developing love story, and a big reveal at the end of each book. In DRAMA QUEEN college theatre professors and love interests Nicky and Noah solve the mystery of who is killing Nicky’s cast members in the school play. In DRAMA MUSCLE Nicky and Noah solve a murder mystery in the Physical Education/Bodybuilding Department as their relationship grows. DRAMA CRUISE, where Nicky and Noah solve a murder mystery while doing a murder mystery dinner theatre show on a cruise to Alaska, releases late summer. DRAMA ALOHA, where Nicky and Noah do a luau show in Hawaii and find out who is killing male hula dancers and why will follow. Speaking of television adaptations of Christie and Maupin, I think the Nicky and Noah mysteries should be adapted into a television series starring Matt Bomer and Neil Patrick Harris. Wanda Sykes would be great as Shayla, the department secretary. I want to play Martin Anderson their department head! Can you make that happen? Hah.

The Jana Lane Mysteries that you wrote are wildly popular. She’s quite the character. Do you see any particular actress in your head when you write her or is she an amalgamation of many?

I love the Jana Lane mysteries! Since I was a kid I’ve been fascinated with child stars like Shirley Temple, Hayley Mills, and Patty Duke. Jana is a combination of all of them. Jana was America’s most famous child star until she was attacked on the studio lot at eighteen. In PAPER DOLL Jana is thirty-seven and again getting attacked. She goes back to Hollywood to uncover secrets about everyone in her life, including who is after her and why. In PORCELAIN DOLL Jana makes a movie comeback in a murder mystery and figures out who is killing members of her film crew and why. In SATIN DOLL Jana heads for Washington, DC to play a Hillary Clinton type character in a movie and uncovers murder, scandal, and corruption. In CHINA DOLL Jana stars in a Broadway murder mystery and discovers who is killing members of her cast and why. Finally in RAG DOLL (not yet released) Jana stars in a TV murder mystery and once again art imitates life. Since Jana’s best friend and agent are both gay, and since the series takes place in the 1980’s, I have a great deal of fun with the music, fashion, and arts of the era. I am also able to bring in many historical elements including the government’s refusal to assist patients during the initial years of the AIDS crisis. Like the Nicky and Noah mysteries, I think the Jana Lane mysteries should be adapted into a television series. It would be important for the actress playing Jana to have been a child star. Drew Barrymore would be perfect. I’d like to see Matt Bomer as Jana’s husband Brian. (Get the idea that I like Matt Bomer-hah) Ru Paul would be fun as Jana’s best friend Jackson. I want to play Jana’s comical old world agent, Simon!

Theatre is in your blood so I want to know what your favorite musical is, and if they could bring any musical back to the stage what would you want it to be?

Yes, theatre is in my blood, my career, and in my books. Onstage I acted opposite Nathan Lane in The Roar of the Greasepaint and Bruce Willis in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, among others. In DRAMA QUEEN Nicky is directing the college’s theatre production. In CHINA DOLL Jana is starring in a Broadway murder mystery and the inept local detective is a musical theatre fan. I’ve probably seen nearly every Broadway musical and I own many of the CDs. I’ve been hoping for a Broadway revival of Falsettos, and it looks like I’m getting my wish this fall.

You’ve worked with a few different publishing companies. Where some authors stay loyal to one you tend to move about. Do you find the variety is better for you or are there other reasons for having multiple companies?

After writing a book, I research the various publishers and try to submit it to the publisher who is the most noteworthy for that type of novel. I look at it like going to a medical specialist rather than a general practitioner. So my gay romances (IN MY HEART (An Infatuation & A Shooting Star), A HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS, and THE NAKED PRINCE AND OTHER TALES FROM FAIRYLAND) are published by Dreamspinner Press. My gay mystery series is published by Lethe Press. My gay Cozzi Cove beach series is published by NineStar Press. Finally my mainstream mystery romance series, the Jana Lane mysteries, are published by The Wild Rose Press. Each publisher is quite different, and has worked out very nicely.

Can you tell us what you are currently working on?

My mother said to me, “Don’t you have anything better to do at night than write so many books?” Hm. I wonder if Shakespeare’s mother said that to him. Hah. Actually, I’ve always been a storyteller (which my mother never lets me forget), so writing stories is second nature to me. I am currently editing DRAMA CRUISE (the third Nicky and Noah mystery) and RAG DOLL (the fifth Jana Lane mystery). I am also finishing DRAMA ALOHA (the fourth Nicky and Noah mystery), and COZZI COVE: STEPPING OUT, the third Cozzi Cove beach novel. The Cozzi Cove beach series takes place at a gay resort on a beautiful cove at the New Jersey Shore owned by handsome, gay, ex-professional football player Cal Cozzi. After COZZI COVE: BOUNCING BACK released, many readers and reviewers praised its romantic, humorous, dramatic, mysterious style, and interwoven captivating stories. It was voted as Book of the Month on The TBR Pile. Having received countless requests for another visit to Cozzi Cove, I wrote COZZI COVE: MOVING FORWARD, and I am now finishing the third novel in the series. So grab your Speedos, suntan lotion, and shades and head over to Cozzi Cove. Cal’s welcome mat is out for you!

You have acted on television with some real greats! Can you tell us one of your favorite memories?

Yes, I acted with many stars in television and film including with Holland Taylor in the ABC-TV movie My Mother Was Never a Kid and Charles Keating on NBC’s Another World. My favorite story takes place when I was acting with Rosie O’Donnell in an AT&T Industrial in Albuquerque, New Mexico, playing her henpecked husband. Rosie mentioned to me that Star Search, an American Idol type television show back then, had asked her to be a contestant on the show. She was leery to do it since she was already a noteworthy professional stand-up comedian at the time. I encouraged her to do it, realizing that if the television audience saw her, she would become a huge star. And I was right!

Will you be attending any conferences or conventions this year or in 2017?

Since I am a college professor/department head, I unfortunately don’t get to many conferences or conventions. However, I plan to attend the Rainbow Book Fair in New York City in April 2017.

How can your readers follow you? Facebook, Twitter, Website?

I love to hear from readers (especially if they like my books-hah). Here are my contacts:

Web site: http://www.JoeCosentino.weebly.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JoeCosentinoauthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoeCosen

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4071647.Joe_Cosentino

Amazon: Author.to/JoeCosentino

FAST FIRE QUESTIONS:

Morning or Night? Night (when I write)

Coffee or tea? Herbal Tea (my body is a temple, but nobody wants to worship at it except my spouse-hah)

Red wine or white wine? (grape juice, see above)

Paperback or e-reader? (paperback, I’m an old fashioned guy)

Star Wars or Star Trek? Star Search

Chocolate or Vanilla? Vanilla (with banana-no pun intended)

Favorite vacation destination? Hawaii (like in my upcoming DRAMA ALOHA Nicky and Noah mystery book four)

Favorite flower? Lilacs (love the smell, probably why I like talking to grandmothers so much)

Favorite day of the week? Friday (laundry day, I actually like doing the laundry)

Okay, thank you, Joe! I really appreciate you being here!

Thanks, Mere. It’s always a pleasure. Happy reading, everyone!

Author Bio

Bestselling author Joe Cosentino won Divine Magazine’s Readers Poll of 2015 for Best LGBT Mystery Novel, Best LGBT Humorous Novel, and Best LGBT Contemporary Novel. He wrote Cozzi Cove: Bouncing Back, Cozzi Cove: Moving Forward, and the upcoming Cozzi Cove: Stepping Out in the Cozzi Cove beach series (NineStar Press); Drama Queen, Drama Muscle and the upcoming Drama Cruise and Drama Aloha in the Nicky and Noah mysteries (Lethe Press); In My Heart/An Infatuation & A Shooting Star, A Home for the Holidays, The Naked Prince and Other Tales from Fairyland (Dreamspinner Press); Paper Doll, Porcelain Doll, Satin Doll, China Doll and the upcoming Rag Doll Jana Lane mysteries (The Wild Rose 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. Joe is currently Head of the Department/Professor at a college in upstate New York, and is happily married. Joe was voted 2^nd Place for Best MM Author of the Year in Divine Magazine’s Readers’ Choice Awards for 2015.

Giveaway

Post a comment below about one of the Joe’s books. Then click that you commented on the rafflecopter. A random winner will win an e-book of Joe’s popular AN INFATUATION novella published by Dreamspinner Press, Second Place winner in Divine Magazine’s Readers’ Poll for Best Romance of 2015. http://myBook.to/AnInfatuation

Earn extra entries as well by following Joe on his social media. Contest will end June 24th.



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