An Interview with Noah Oliver
from Joe Cosentino’s Drama Daddy,
the 17th Nicky and Noah mystery
now an audio book performed by Brian Cheney
Noah, congratulations on the release of the seventeenth audio book in your award-winning and popular Nicky and Noah gay cozy comedy mystery series, Drama Daddy.
Thank you. Nicky is sure my daddy.
Noah, in this story you are truly Thomas Jefferson to Nicky’s John Adams.
And we sure make fireworks.
Since the readers can’t see you, tell them what you look like.
Nicky says I’m tall, with silky golden blond hair, true-blue eyes, milk and honey skin, and a body he loves to hold all night long. Nicky is tall with dark hair and sexy long sideburns, a cleft chin I love to kiss, Roman nose, emerald eyes, and a muscular body thanks to the gym on campus (he calls a torture chamber). And Nicky has a huge heart. Oh, another of his organs is huge. And that’s just fine with me. (smile)
Tell us about Drama Daddy, the seventeenth book in your popular, award-winning series and your first novelette.
It stars Nicky and me! It’s a novelette, but nothing is short about Nicky. The seventeenth mystery has our theatrical troupe back at Treemeadow College staging an original musical production of the founding of our nation entitled, I Do Declare.
As usual, calamity ensues.
Of course, it’s a Nicky and Noah mystery! It’s summer stock time at Treemeadow College. Professor of Play Directing sexy Nicky Abbondanza directs the show and takes on the leading role (What else did you expect?) of John Adams. Nicky’s gorgeous and faithful husband, Associate Professor of Acting Noah Oliver (that’s me!), is cast as Adam’s love interest, Thomas Jefferson. Our best friend and department chair, Martin Anderson, grabs (among other things) the plumb role of Adams’s beard Abigail. Electricity sparks fly as Martin’s long-suffering husband, Ruben Markinson, plays a frisky Benjamin Franklin. Our son, Taavi, and Martin and Ruben’s son, Ty, threaten to call Child Protective Services until Nicky casts them as the Couriers. Nicky’s nemesis, the oblivious Detective Manuello, worms his way into the cast as King George III with a roving eye for muscular male servants. Our dog, Asterisk, shows his molars until he secures the treat role of the king’s dog Georgie.
Who are the new characters in book seventeen?
New to the cast are hunky Sami Zaman, Graduate Assistant of Music, Musical Director, and Edward Rutledge, who has a yen for handsome Haku Yamato, Assistant Professor of Dance, Choreographer, and John Dick-in-son. Hot Theatre majors, Hector Alvarez and Philippe Laurent, play the father of our country George Washington and his French kiss lover Guy Raffleur III, giving new meaning to the term, “Sugar Daddy.” When the actor playing John Hand-cock finds snarky Professor of Music Hank Tobias (Caesar Rodney) murdered in the theatre wing, Nicky and I take flight to solve the case—before the murderer clips our wings.
Who was your favorite new character?
Theatre majors Hector Alvarez and Philippe Laurent are an adorable couple as George Washington and his lover Guy Raffleur III. Of course they each carry an interesting secret.
Which new character do you like the least?
Professor of Music Hank Tobias is a force to be reckoned with.
Which new character is the sexiest?
All of them, however, Nicky is sexier.
What do you think of the new audio book version?
I love it! I think the audio book is wonderful—like Nicky (smile)! Brian Cheney is the most talented performer around, after Nicky and me. He creates over 20 character voices, has perfect comic timing, displays his acting chops in the dramatic scenes, and sings beautifully. Brian is the perfect man—after Nicky.
What makes the Nicky and Noah mystery series so special?
Nicky and me! Actually, 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 Mormon getting out of his magic underwear. At the center is the touching relationship between Nicky and me. You watch us go from courting to marrying to adopting a child, all the while head over heels in love with each other. 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 Joe is “a master storyteller.” Who am I to argue? Even though Nicky and I tell Joe everything to write.
How are the books cozy?
Many of them, like this one, 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.
For anyone unfortunate enough not to have read them, tell us the titles of the novels in the series.
The Nicky and Noah mysteries are Drama Queen, Drama Muscle, Drama Cruise, Drama Luau, Drama Detective, Drama Fraternity, Drama Castle, Drama Dance, Drama Faerie, Drama Runway, Drama Christmas, Drama Pan, Drama TV, Drama Oz, Drama Prince, Drama Merry, and now the Drama Daddy novelette. Drama Merry will be available as an audio book soon.
What do you like about the regular characters in the series?
I love Nicky’s never give up attitude and sense of humor in the face of adversity. He’s genuinely concerned for others, and he’ll do anything to solve a murder mystery. He’s also a one-man man, and I’m proud to admit that man is me. I make the perfect Watson to his Holmes. I’ll admit I have a large heart and a soft spot (no pun intended) for others. I also enjoy using improvisation to create the wild and wonderful characters for our role plays to catch the murderer. I think it’s terrific how Martin and Ruben throw riotous zingers at each other, but they’re so much in love. You don’t see a lot of older gay characters in books nowadays. Our sons Taavi and Ty fit perfectly into our world of thespian crime-solving.
How about your parents?
I get a kick out of my mother’s fixation with taking pictures of everything, and my father’s fascination with seeing movies and television. I also love how my father is a bit of a ham and an amateur sleuth like Nicky. As they say, men marry their fathers. Nicky’s mother’s mafia ties and church Bingo addiction are also a riot. Both sets of parents fully embrace their sons and their sons’ family, which is refreshing.
I’m sure Joe has 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! Joe has written a teleplay of the first novel and treatments for the remaining novels!
How can your readers get their hands on Drama Daddy, and how can they contact you?
The purchase links are below, as are Joe’s contact links, including his web site. Nicky and I love to hear from readers via Joe! He tells us everything you say about us! https://JoeCosentino.weebly.com
Thank you, Noah, for interviewing today.
My pleasure. I’m more excited, as Nicky would say, than a right-wing legislator turning women into handmaidens, to share this audio book with you. So take your seats for the fireworks. Not only Ben Franklin’s kite will rise as the men in the Continental Congress find romance, rollicking fun, and rousing murder!
DRAMA DADDY (a Nicky and Noah mystery novelette)
Nicky and Noah mystery 17 by Joe Cosentino
Now also an audio book performed by Brian Cheney
Listen to a sample of the audio book here:
Summer stock, romance, and murder blossom at Treemeadow College on July 4th when theatre professors and husbands Nicky and Noah and their thespian cohorts stage an original gay musical adaptation heralding the signing of the Declaration of Independence entitled, I Do Declare. Nicky and Noah need to use their drama skills to catch the killer before the frills on their collars are tied in a knot—around their throats. You will be applauding and shouting Bravo for Joe Cosentino’s fast-paced, side-splittingly funny, edge-of-your-seat entertaining first-time novelette (mystery #17) in this delightful series. Take your seats. It’s Independence Day! The curtain and fireworks are going up on an enamored John Adams and Thomas Jefferson who raise Ben Franklin’s kite, Daddy John Dick-in-son, John Hand-cock, George Washington and his French squeeze Guy Raffleur, and murder!
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, Drama TV, Drama Oz, Drama Prince, Drama Merry, Drama Daddy, Drama King; 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 a happily married emeritus theatre professor residing in New York State.
https://joecosentino.weebly.com/
Brian Cheney, hailed by KUSC Los Angeles as the “next great tenor”, protégé of legendary tenor Jerry Hadley, has gained international acclaim for his portrayal of characters such as Radamés in Aida, Don José in Carmen, Mario Cavaradossi in Tosca, Rodolfo in La bohème, the Duke in Rigoletto, and Canio in Pagliacci. “It is tenor Brian Cheney as the brave painter Cavaradossi who really blew me away. Cheney has that terrific tenor sound: the power, richness, and vocal color of a high baritone combined with ringing, awe-inspiring high notes” (Stage and Cinema.) Highlights from last season include Mr. Cheney’s creation of the role of Victor Frankenstein in the world premiere performance of Gregg Kallor’s Frankenstein in New York to critical acclaim and his National Philharmonic debut as the tenor soloist in Leonard Bernstein’s Mass and West Side Story. “Cheney’s ringing tenor voice carried well in the stone catacombs, conveying the fear that the deep bass sound of the monster summoned. And as the section of the sketches went on, Cheney’s voice bloomed to match the action and threats of the creature.” (Operawire) Recent engagements include Radamés in Aida with Virginia Opera, Antonin Scalia in Derrick Wang’s Scalia/Ginsburg with Toledo Opera, and Salute to Vienna performances in Miami, West Palm Beach, Nashville, and New York City (Lincoln Center). In audio books, Mr. Cheney performed several Nicky and Noah Mystery novels, All the King’s Men by Scott Leddy, Swarm by Guy Morris, The Last Ark by Guy Morris, and Pressure by Barry Napier. www.briancheneytenor.com