Q&A with Joe Cosentino, author of Drama Pan,
the 12th Nicky and Noah mystery/comedy/romance novel
Joe Cosentino, congratulations on the release of the twelfth novel in your award-winning and popular Nicky and Noah gay cozy comedy mystery series.
Thank you. I’m cheaper by the dozen. (smile)
So many readers loved your Jana Lane mystery series (The Wild Rose Press) and Player Piano mystery series (Dreamspinner Press). What do you say to readers who might be surprised that the Nicky and Noah mysteries are quite different?
I’d tell them that my Nicky and Noah mysteries have won many awards, and they sell just as well if not better. I’d ask them to give Nicky and Noah a chance, as my mother said to me as a kid about pea soup—now my favorite soup (though to my mother’s horror I no longer put bacon in it, so she calls me a Communist).
What makes the Nicky and Noah mystery series so special?
It’s a gay cozy mystery comedy series, meaning the setting is warm and cozy, the clues and murders (and laughs) come fast and furious, and there are enough plot twists and turns and a surprise ending to keep the pages turning (as Nicky would say) “faster than a Republican president removing environmental regulations.” At the center is the touching relationship between Professor of Play Directing Nicky Abbondanza and Associate Professor of Acting Noah Oliver. We watch them go from courting to marrying to adopting a child, all the while head over heels in love with each other (as we fall in love with them). Reviewers called the series “hysterically funny farce,” “Murder She Wrote meets Hart to Hart meets The Hardy Boys,” and “captivating whodunits.” One reviewer wrote they are the funniest books she’s ever read! Another said I’m “a master storyteller.” Who am I to argue?
How are the novels cozy?
Many of them take place in Vermont, a cozy state with green pastures, white church steeples, glowing lakes, and friendly and accepting people. Fictitious Treemeadow College (named after its gay founders, couple Tree and Meadow) is the perfect setting for a cozy mystery with its white Edwardian buildings, low white stone fences, lake and mountain views, and cherry wood offices with tall leather chairs and fireplaces.
Tell us about Drama Pan, the twelfth novel in the series.
I always loved the story of Peter Pan, the boy who could dance with his own shadow, fly, save mermaids and Native American princesses, and protect his band of lost boys from pirates. I’ve read the original J.M. Barre play countless times, and each theatrical, film, and television version has delighted me. So after writing eleven popular Nicky and Noah cozy comedy mystery MM novels, I decided the twelfth novel would center around a very unusual production of Peter Pan.
In Drama Pan the merry theatrical crew at Treemeadow College create their own musical version of Peter Pan entitled, Every Fairy Needs a Big Hook! Enter the belligerent Couture family of avant-garde technical designers as guest artists. In no time the Coutures are hung out to dry by a mass murderer. For the twelfth time our thick as thieves thespians (Try saying that three times fast while eating peanut butter) Nicky and Noah use their drama skills, including playing outrageous characters, to catch the killer before they get thrown to the crocodiles.
It’s great to see our favorite characters back.
Of course! Hunky and hilarious Nicky Abbondanza, Professor of Play Directing, does double duty (Try saying that three times fast wearing dentures) as Mr. Darling and Captain Hook. Nicky’s loving and loyal husband Noah gets the title role of Peter Pan. Their witty and wild best friends Martin Anderson, Theatre Department Chair, and his husband Ruben camp it up as a tiger of a Tiger Lily and swarmy Smee the pirate respectively. Nicky and Noah’s stagestruck son Taavi tries to steal the show as Michael Darling, and Martin and Ruben’s cocky son Ty holds his own as John Darling. Martin’s sassy secretary Shayla plays Mrs. Darling, and Nicky’s longsuffering detective Manuello hits the ground as Nana and the Crocodile. Nicky has his hook full as technical dress rehearsals for the show get off to a start more rocky than Captain Hook’s boat, and Taavi and Ty fall unrequitedly in love with the same person.
Who are the new characters/suspects/victims for book twelve?
Graduate assistant and technical director Jax Jun insists the play violates his “religious freedom.” Santino Thirio, senior theatre major and stage manager, pumps his muscles while pumping others to invest in his dream to become a producer. Twink Tripp Taleb, the sophomore theatre major playing Tinker Bell, has his fairy dust aimed at Santino. Oscar Romero, tall and brawny sophomore theatre major with the loud singing voice playing the Merman, has his fins in the water over Tripp. All of the actors are exasperated over the avant-garde technical aspects of the show, none more than Tiara Moore, junior theatre major playing Wendy.
For anyone unfortunate enough not to have read them, tell us the titles of the first eleven novels in the series.
You don’t need to twist my arm. I’m already twisted. (smile) The titles are Drama Queen (Divine Magazine’s Readers’ Choice Award for Favorite LGBT Mystery, Humorous, and Contemporary Novel of the Year), Drama Muscle (Rainbow Award Honorable Mention), Drama Cruise, Drama Luau, Drama Detective (Rainbow Award Honorable Mention), Drama Fraternity, Drama Castle (Rainbow Award Honorable Mention), Drama Dance (Rainbow Award Honorable Mention), Drama Faerie, Drama Runway, Drama Christmas.
Many of your characters are of various ethnicities and sexual identities. Is that deliberate on your part?
Sure. We live in a diverse world. A story taking place at a college would be unbelievable if everyone were the same.
I’m sure you’ve been told that the books would make a terrific TV series.
Many many times. Rather than Logo showing reruns of Golden Girls around the clock, and Bravo airing so called reality shows, I would love to see them do The Nicky and Noah Mysteries. Come on, TV producers, make your offers! I’ve written a teleplay of the first novel and treatments for the remaining novels!
How would you cast the TV series?
Here’s my wish list: Matt Bomer as Nicky, Neil Patrick Harris as Noah, Rosie O’Donnell and Bruce Willis as Noah’s parents, Valerie Bertinelli and Jay Leno as Nicky’s parents, me as Martin Anderson (nepotism!), Nathan Lane as Martin’s husband Ruben, Wanda Sykes as Martin’s office assistant Shayla, and Joe Manganiello as Nicky’s brother Tony.
You’ve written other mystery series.
Yes, my Player Piano mysteries center around a young music teacher, Andre Beaufort, who buys an antique player piano inhabited by the ghost of a wealthy, handsome, playboy from the Roaring Twenties, Freddy Birtwistle. Andre and Freddy fall in love and solve mysteries in exotic locations like Key West and Tuscany. My Cozzi Cove series has some mystery elements in it as well. It takes place on a gorgeous cove at the New Jersey shore, where ex-football player Cal Cozzi runs a gay resort. The Found At Last series also includes some mystery, since it revolves around new young lovers, Theo and Jamison, searching for and reuniting elderly gentlemen who were young lovers separated as youths due to homophobia. And there’s a mystery story in my Tales from Fairyland Anthology. Finally, my Jana Lane mysteries feature a former child star and gay advocate, Jana Lane, making a comeback as she solves murder mysteries on film, television, and theatre sets.
How can your readers get their hands on Drama Pan, and how can they contact you?
The purchase links are below, as are my contact links, including my web site. I love to hear from readers! So do Nicky and Noah. I tell them everything!
Thank you, Joe, for interviewing today.
It was my pleasure. As a past professional actor and current college theatre professor/department chair, I know first-hand the hysterically funny antics, sweet romance, and captivating mystery in the worlds of theatre and academia. The Nicky and Noah mysteries are full of them! I know you’ll laugh, cry, feel romantic, and love delving into this crackling new mystery with more plot twists and turns than a congressional hearing to impeach a treasonous ex-president. I’m more excited than a Republican governor taking Democrats off the voter rolls to share this twelfth novel in the series with you. So take your seats and throw the fairy dust. The stage lights are coming up in Never Land on a lad who won’t grow up without Viagra, a pirate with a huge hook, a twink called Tink, a Lily who’s a tiger, a Merman perplexed at what’s between his legs, and murder!
And I love to hear from readers. So drop me a line. I’ll share it with Nicky and Noah! http://www.JoeCosentino.weebly.com
It’s spring break at Treemeadow College, and Theatre professors and spouses Nicky Abbondanza and Noah Oliver, their best friends Martin and Ruben, and their sons Taavi and Ty are sprinkling on the fairy dust in an original musical extravaganza of Peter Pan entitled Every Fairy Needs a Big Hook! Pirates shout more than “Yo, ho!” when a family of visiting technical designers, the Coutures, drop like yesterday’s fashions. Once again, our favorite thespians will need to use their drama skills to catch the killer before they get the hook. You will be applauding and shouting Bravo for Joe Cosentino’s fast-paced, side-splittingly funny, edge-of-your-seat entertaining twelfth novel in this delightful series. So take your seats and believe in fairies. The stage lights are coming up in Never Land on a lad who won’t grow up without Viagra, a pirate with quite the hook, a twink called Tink, a Lily who’s a tiger, a Merman surprised at what’s between his legs, and murder!
DRAMA PAN (the 12th Nicky and Noah mystery)
a comedy/mystery/romance novel by JOE COSENTINO
Joe Cosentino was voted Favorite MM Mystery, Humorous, and Contemporary Author of the Year by the readers of Divine Magazine for Drama Queen, the first Nicky and Noah mystery novel. He is also the author of the remaining Nicky and Noah mysteries: Drama Muscle, Drama Cruise, Drama Luau, Drama Detective, Drama Fraternity, Drama Castle, Drama Dance, Drama Faerie, Drama Runway, Drama Christmas, Drama Pan; the Player Piano Mysteries: The Player and The Player’s Encore; the Jana Lane Mysteries: Paper Doll, Porcelain Doll, Satin Doll, China Doll, Rag Doll; the Cozzi Cove series: Cozzi Cove: Bouncing Back, Moving Forward, Stepping Out, New Beginnings, Happy Endings; the In My Heart Anthology: An Infatuation & A Shooting Star; the Tales from Fairyland Anthology: The Naked Prince and Other Tales from Fairyland and Holiday Tales from Fairyland; the Bobby and Paolo Holiday Stories Anthology: A Home for the Holidays, The Perfect Gift, The First Noel; and the Found At Last Anthology: Finding Giorgio and Finding Armando. His books have won numerous Book of the Month awards and Rainbow Award Honorable Mentions. As an actor, Joe appeared in principal roles in film, television, and theatre, opposite stars such as Bruce Willis, Rosie O’Donnell, Nathan Lane, Jason Robards, and Holland Taylor. He received his Master of Fine Arts degree from Goddard College, Master’s degree from SUNY New Paltz, and is currently a happily married college theatre professor/department chair residing in New York State.
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
Excerpt of Drama Pan, the 12th Nicky and Noah mystery novel, by Joe Cosentino:
I felt a warm, soft, comforting arm around my shoulders. Though I was contemplating jumping off the white steeple of our local Open and Affirming church, I couldn’t resist smiling at my husband’s handsome face so full of love. “The captain always steers the ship out of turbulent waters, Nicky.”
“Tell that to the captain of the Titanic who by the way had nothing over me.”
My husband Noah, my Watson, though thirty-seven (seven years younger than me, but who’s counting) appeared as the spirit of youth in his Peter Pan moss tunic. Glancing down at Noah’s matching tights gave my little Nicky (or not so little Nicky) a stir. “Nicky, we’ve had worse tech dress rehearsals than this.”
“What could be worse?”
“Nobody’s been killed.” Noah adjusted the triangular cap over his blond curly locks, and the scent of strawberry shampoo enveloped me.
“True, but the run-through just began, and I already have five pages of notes.”
“Only five?” Noah’s crystal blue eyes sparkled. “By the way, you look delectably darling in your Mr. Darling tuxedo.”
“And you are the most fetching Peter I know.”
He patted my growing bulge. “I’ll take second place.”
“Don’t take it too hard.” No pun intended.
We shared a delicious kiss.
“Can you two get a room?”
Thanks to my younger (but who’s counting) brother Tony, Noah was in an Abbondanza sandwich. Since Tony has my dark hair, Roman nose, emerald eyes, and Abbondanza abundance, I felt as if looking into a mirror—connected to a time tunnel.
Noah gave Tony a hug. “Have I told you how much I love your choreography in this show?”
“Only three times—tonight.”
Noah grinned. “I’m glad you’re visiting with us, Tony.”
“Me too.” Tony scratched his long sideburns (another Abbondanza trait). “I don’t think I could have gotten through this without you two guys and Taavi.”
“We’re you’re family.”
I reached over Noah and placed my hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Thank you for choreographing.” I added quickly, “But I have a number of notes for you.”
Tony groaned. “Of course you do.” Then noticing our son in the row behind us, Tony mussed Taavi’s dark locks. “How’s my nephew, the star of plays and movies?”
Taavi cocked his head. “You forgot the ballet and the modeling show.”
Noah, Tony, and I said in unison, “He’s an Abbondanza.”
Taavi leaned toward me. “Pop, can I talk to you?”
“No, you can’t get billing over the title, or a solo in the show as Michael.”
Taavi turned to Noah. “Dad, can’t I even get an autograph station at the stage door?”
“Your Pop said no.”
Taavi sighed. “My fans on social media will be disappointed.”
“Leave them wanting more,” Tony said.
Taavi offered my brother a theatrical smile. “Uncle Tony, it’s so cool when you visit. I wish you could live with us all the time.”
Catching on to Taavi’s manipulation, Tony replied, “I can’t get anything for you from your pop.” Then he rose, his muscles filling his white T-shirt and black jeans. “Except dance notes.”
Taavi offered him the hang loose sign from Taavi’s native Hawaii.
Tony said, “Speaking of choreography, since we’re on a technical break, (or breakdown) I can use the time to run the dances with the pirates and the Lost Boys.”
I glanced at Taavi. “Meaning my students in the ensemble who would each burn their dormmate at the stake to play the role of Michael. So stop complaining.”
“Listen to your pop.” My younger brother sighed. “I’ve had to do it all my life.”
Post a comment about why you love a gay cozy mystery. The one that tinkers our bell the most will win a complimentary audiobook of Drama Queen, the first Nicky and Noah mystery novel, by Joe Cosentino, performed by Michael Gilboe. http://www.audible.com/pd/B012I834LS/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-039908&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_039908_rh_us
All of the covers in this series are fantastic. The wicked grins alone are worth a look! I love gay romance, gay suspense and cozy mysteries in general. Especially when they include humor.
This series promises the perfect package. All prospective readers need to do is glance at a few reviews and they’ll be hooked!