Monday, January 21, 2013

Drama Queens with Love Scenes by Kevin Klehr





OTHER PEOPLE’S VERSIONS
KEVIN KLEHR GUEST BLOG

They say that when we watch a movie version of a novel we’ve read and loved, we’re never truly satisfied with the result. It’s because our own little film version has played out in our head as we read the book. Nothing else seems to compare with our original concepts.

One night, two friends who had read my novel, started debating on the personal attributes of one of my characters. One saw Guy, my angel being, as strong and silent. She believed he was full of wisdom and a great friend to have. My other pal believed Guy was insecure, and needed more help from the people around him, than he could give of himself.

Somewhere in the middle of those two views, sits my version. I use the word ‘insecure’ on the promotional blurb, and have him described by one of my other characters as a bit ‘Gomer Pyle’. So as an exercise, I started asking others what they thought of this character. One reviewer saw him as someone who has always been on the outside, looking in. A slender angel who is a bit sad that he’s never had a true friend.
As an author, it’s fascinating to hear these other points of view. In fact, what that reviewer said, I had never really thought about, but agree that that is how he turned out to be. As characters find their own voice within your novel, readers hold a mirror that sheds light not only on that character, but how they view their own world as well.

Getting back to my two friends who analysed my angel, they continued to evaluate the central romance in the book. Again this was based on their own personal experience.

My female buddy saw it as a personal growth story centred on the main character, Allan. She also believed that love interest, Warwick, was self-centred. My male colleague definitely read it as a love story, with many obstacles to cross before Warwick and Allan finally get together. The reviewer I asked saw Warwick as a passionate man, who sees things the way he wants to see them, and not as they are. She also summed up Allan as a dreamer who doesn't have the confidence to go after what he wants, or to express his true feelings.

Again, somewhere in this breakdown sits my version, and as an author this feedback is invaluable. Not only because you realise that what you’ve set out to say is being understood, but also because what you’ve set out to say can be reinterpreted. Come to think of it, that’s how life works. If only our intentions were not up for review, but I digress.

We like to think as artists, we have a fundamental truth to share. We use it as the spine of our story and hope to bring the message home. What we forget is that others may take that message a different way, but like the characters in a novel, how they see another person’s motives depends on their own life experience.


Drama Queens with Love Scenes
Drama Queens Series Book One
Kevin Klehr

Genre: Gay Romance, Humour

Publisher: Cambridge Press US (division of Charles River Press)

Paperback ISBN 10: 1-936185-90-3
Paperback ISBN 13: 978-1-936185-90-0
EBook ISBN 10: 1-936185-91-1
EBook ISBN 13: 978-1-936185-91-7

Number of pages: 338
Word Count: 71,329

Cover Artist: Laurie McAdams

Book Trailer:  http://youtu.be/GhHlCK9J-jM

Amazon      BN     Queer Books    

Book Description: 

Close friends Allan and Warwick are dead. They're not crazy about the idea so to help them deal with this dilemma are Samantha, a blond bombshell from the 1950s, and Guy, an insecure angel.

They are soon drawn into the world of theatre - Afterlife style, with all the bitchiness, back-stabbing and ego usually associated with the mortal world.

Allan also has a secret. He has a romantic crush on his friend, Warwick, but shortly after confiding in his new angel pal, his love interest falls for the cock-sure playwright, Pedro.

Not only does Allan have to win the heart of his companion, he also has to grapple with the faded memory of how he actually died.

About the Author :

Kevin lives with his long-term partner in their humble apartment (affectionately named Sabrina), in Australia's own 'Emerald City,' Sydney.

He calls himself a bit of a 'media tart,' having worked both professionally and voluntarily in television, radio and online. His longest running passion is a weekly radio program he and his partner, Warren, produce for local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander station, Koori Radio. Since 2005 they have been discovering music, both new and old, and interviewing local artists and community leaders. Every Saturday night, the Rhythm Divine is heard across Sydney and via the world wide web.

From an early age Kevin had a passion for writing, jotting down stories and plays until it came time to confront puberty. After dealing with pimple creams and facial hair, Kevin didn't pick up a pen again until he was in his thirties. His handwritten manuscript was being committed to paper when his social circumstances changed, giving him no time to write. Concerned, Warren snuck the notebook out to a friend who in turn came back and demanded Kevin finish his novel. It wasn't long before Kevin's active imagination was let loose again.

Kevin is currently at work on the sequel to Drama Queens with Love Scenes.




1 comment:

Anonymous said...

As one of the very first people to read the book (and assist in a very minor way with its birth) I can guarantee a rollicking ride of love, lust, laughter and lunacy (as well as a few other 'L' words). A great read.

 
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