This year, though, she also wants Genevieve Mason, a pretty starlet-in-the-making from the local university, recruited for the season’s tech crew. Genny throws her heart and soul into the place too, adding her own dreams of representation to the ‘must-have’ list, and using her sweet voice and surprising flare for pyrotechnics to draw the crowds in droves. They work so well together, it’s not long before their summer crush blossoms into a steamy affair.

Lily’s falling hard, but always feels like Genny’s holding something back. And then there’s the dreaded Brookesville Arts Council—supposed to be a support system for all things cultural, instead dragging the Playhouse down with their old-fashioned stubbornness. There are a lot of hurdles to jump and egos to deflate before they can get what they want, both for the theater and from each other.

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Katey Hawthorne is an avid reader and writer of superpowered romance, even though the only degree she holds is in the history of art. (Or, possibly, because the only degree she holds is in the history of art.) Originally from the Appalachian foothills of West Virginia, she currently lives in Ohio. In her spare time she enjoys comic books, B-movies, loud music, Epiphones, and Bushmills.

 

Hello, hello, and thanks for letting me drop in! Tomorrow, the first f/f book in my Superpowered Love series, The Playhouse, will hit the virtual shelves. I figured I’d say a few things about the inspiration behind it, and give away a copy while I’m at it.

 

Confession: I spent my childhood summers kicking around the theater that inspired The Playhouse. It was only open June-August, and it was a family affair, for us. My mom and dad were in shows, and then when we were old enough, my brother and I were too. I’m not a great actor, and definitely not a great singer, but it was entertaining anyhow—mostly because of the company. Theater people are… special. And growing up around them is even more special, lemme tell you.

 

Here’s a little snippet, the very beginning of the book, to give you some idea:

 

I tried to stop myself, but it just popped out: “But we always do five shows at the Playhouse. Since I was three years old!”

 

“Since before you were born, honey,” Mitzi Abercrombie said. She sat there waving a Chinese paper fan in front of her melting face like some kind of faux Southern belle. Not for the first time in my life, I wanted to shake her and say, You live in Appalachia, not Savannah!

 

Luckily, her sister, Lettie, slightly less melty in the face but miles more sensible, elbowed her. “Lily knows that, Mitzi. She just means she can remember it since she was three. I remember too, sweetie. Your daddy playing King Arthur. Had to sit up in that papier-mâché tree for an hour while the audience filtered in, poor thing.”

 

And we still hadn’t managed to get a curtain, seventeen years later. Not sure how I held my temper to keep from saying that, but it was probably a good thing I did.

 

—

 

Literally, one of my first memories is sitting in the front row at Camelot, waiting for the lights to come up and Guinevere to run on stage, knowing my dad was stuck in a set piece while the audience took twenty minutes to filter in, so he could surprise them by being there.

 

The Playhouse is littered with weird little life moments like that, mine and others’, as Lily and Gen’s romance gains steam. Funny what you remember from childhood, isn’t it?

 

 

If you want to win an eBook copy of the playhouse, just leave a comment here and let me know how you feel about theater—musical or otherwise. To check it out, go to my website, here:  http://www.kateyhawthorne.com/p/the-playhouse.html. It’s out tomorrow, from Loose Id!