I was once lucky enough to be in a book where Harvey Fierstein wrote a foreword. I posted about that here in 2009, and the title of the book was "Best Gay Love Stories 2010," released through Alyson Publications. It was an ongoing anthology series about gay love and romance Alyson did for several years in a row. I think I was part of several but don't recall the details right now.
In any event, It was a nice surprise to turn on the TV last night and see Harvey Fierstein in the new NBC TV show, "Smash." I'm a huge fan and he's going to be guest-starring all season. I started watching "Smash" by accident last year and wound up loving it. But like a lot of TV shows, I forgot all about it until I saw the title while I was flipping through channels last night. For those who don't know, this is what "Smash" is all about, from Broadway World:
"Smash" is a musical drama that celebrates the beauty and heartbreak of the Broadway theater as it follows a cross-section of dreamers and schemers who all have one common desire - to be a Broadway star.
Read more about Photo Flash: First Look - Harvey Fierstein & More in New SMASH Season 2 Photos by broadwayworld.com
I've posted before about how I'm not the biggest fan of Broadway, or show songs. However, I think this show is different because it doesn't focus on tired old Broadway shows like West Side Story that have been redone so many times in the past fifty or sixty years. "Smash" is also different because it's more contemporary and there's a mixture of characters from gay to straight. The songs won't make you gag.
And unlike "Glee," a show I honestly can't even watch anymore with the fast forward button, the only trendy politics you'll find in "Smash" has more to do with insider theater industry politics than all those politically correct storylines you'll find in "Glee." In other words, it's not self-indulgent and the characters are likable.
For those who don't know anything about Harvey Fierstein, shame on you, and here's a wiki link. I've always thought of him more as a gay icon because of all the positive things he's achieved so far in his life...during a time when it wasn't easy to achieve these things if you were gay. I've also always thought he was one of the artists who revolutionized gay films and plays with "Torch Song Trilogy," and not that person who wrote the flawed quasi gay romance story about broken backs and mountains in some awful place up in the middle of nowhereland. If you've never seen Torch Song, you might want to rent it and check it out. It was the very first play I ever saw where I realized that gay men can have lasting monogamous marriages, and it left a huge impact on me as a young gay man. I also had a good friend in New York who had a chance to invest in it and he didn't.
Harvey Forbes Fierstein (born June 6, 1954) is an American actor and playwright, noted for the distinction of winning Tony Awards for both writing and originating the lead role in his long-running play Torch Song Trilogy, about a gay drag-performer and his quest for true love and family, as well as writing the award-winning book to the musical La Cage aux Folles. He has since become a champion for gay civil rights.
Michele L. Montgomery's New Release with Silver Stream Press:
I've read and reviewed Michele's gay romantic fiction before on this blog, and the one thing I've always found in her books is the element of surprise. Seriously. I can never predict what's going to happen from one page to the next, and it's almost impossible to write a review because I don't want to give spoilers.
And now she has a book out with SP Silver Publishing titled, "River of Tears." I will be reading it and writing more about it in the future. As a side note, though I've never worked with Silver Publishing, I have read many of their books and I've always enjoyed them. It's the overall feel of a publisher I like sometimes, and I've always thought Silver did things a little differently than others. And, once again, I never found them to be too political or self-indulgent. It's all about the fiction.
From Silver's Blog:
Michele runs a review site called Top 2 Bottom Reviews. She lives in Colorado surrounded by the beautiful wonders of the mountains, her family, and her pets. Abby is a Golden Retriever, and Skyler is a Chesapeake Bay retriever who should have been named Linus because he drags a blanket around with him wherever he goes.
Michele has a very serious on-going relationship with her coffee pot, which keeps her company from the time she gets up until the time she goes to bed, and to fill in the gaps, she is obsessed with KitKats, Twix, and Haribo Gummy Bears.
Here's a description of "River of Tears:"
River of Tears is about a woman’s struggle as she searches for her missing husband, which leads to shocking revelations about him, his family, and the crime of adult kidnapping.
Abby meets Caiden when she is sixteen years old at nineteen they marry and after seven years of marriage it ends. She is left alone with her children and the bloody clothes Caiden was last seen in.
Knowing her husband isn’t dead, Abby begins a search that takes her from Arizona to Arkansas and lasts for a span of eight years.
More determined than ever to locate her husband, before he’s killed, Abby hires a private investigator who opens the doors to Caiden’s private world of hell.
Abby meets Caiden when she is sixteen years old at nineteen they marry and after seven years of marriage it ends. She is left alone with her children and the bloody clothes Caiden was last seen in.
Knowing her husband isn’t dead, Abby begins a search that takes her from Arizona to Arkansas and lasts for a span of eight years.
More determined than ever to locate her husband, before he’s killed, Abby hires a private investigator who opens the doors to Caiden’s private world of hell.
The release date will be February 16, 2013, and you can order it here. From what I'm gathering Silver Publishing is launching a new imprint, "Silver Stream Press," where they will focus on fiction in various genres. You can also read more about Silver Publishing and Sliver Stream Press here.
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