Welcome Guest Author: Joe Cosentino

I’m pleased and excited to welcome my next Guest Author, Joe Cosentino. He’s here to share an excerpt from his upcoming release, An Infatuation and was kind enough to answer a few questions for me about his work. Joe’s an interesting guy with a range to his career I had a lot of fun investigating. For a glimpse of him in action visit his website and click on the video link. You won’t be disappointed.

Now, let’s see what Joe has to say for himself:

Hi Joe, thanks for visiting with us today. Your career spans an impressive range of creative expression. Do you prefer one medium to another? If so, which one, and could you briefly tell us why?

When I told my mother I wanted to be an actor, she said, “Take this knife and stick it through my heart.” I did it anyway, and acted on stage and screen with stars like Bruce Willis, Rosie O’Donnell, Holland Taylor, Jason Robards, and Nathan Lane. You can see me on You Tube in the ABC-TV movie, MY MOTHER WAS NEVER A KID, about a third of the way through. As my students say, “You were cute when you were young!” Anyway, it occurred to me that acting is storytelling in the same way that writing is storytelling, so I decided to give playwriting a try. When I told my mother I wanted to write fiction, she said, “Don’t you have anything better to do?” I wonder if Shakespeare’s mother said that? Anyway, as I tell my students, whether you are painting a picture, singing, dancing, making a movie, acting, writing, or directing, you are storytelling. So for me, acting, writing, and directing are all equally as fulfilling. There’s nothing better than telling a story.

When writing, do you prefer to use real life locations, or ones you’ve created? 

I was born and raised in New Jersey, moved to NYC for a while, attended graduate school in VT, visited LA, and currently live upstate New York. So far those have been the locations for my books. As they say, write what you know about. I think it gives my writing a realistic flavor.

Which do you prefer as a reader?

As a reader I love books that take me places I’ve never been, however, that’s getting harder as my spouse and I take vacations to various locations in the US and in Europe.

What is it about this story you needed to tell?

I was thinking back to my high school days, and how difficult it was back then for a gay teen before GLSEN, PFLAG, and Will and Grace. Lab partners, gym locker rooms, and club meetings where super important. At my high school reunion, I realized things weren’t what they seemed back then. A story was born. It began as a one-act play, which I expanded and morphed into a novella. The story is personal and important to me. I love that the story spans twenty years so we see Harold (and Mario) develop and mature. I also love the theme of infatuation. Haven’t we all been infatuated with someone at some point in our lives?

Is there a scene or line in the book you ended up cutting but you really wanted to leave in?

No, it was the opposite. I kept adding and adding until I finally stopped myself and sent it to Dreamspinner Press.

What is the most surprising thing you learned about yourself while writing An Infatuation?

While the situation in the book is fictitious, Harold is based on me. I really admire his resilience, honesty, intelligence, wit, and ability to keep going in trying situations. His heart may be broken, but his spirit always stays intact. Harold’s devotion to his spouse, Stuart, is admirable, as is his honesty about his teenage infatuation with Mario. Those are pretty good traits. I hope I have them.

If we looked at your desk right now, what three things would we see?

Besides my teaching folders, you’d find three writing folders: Current Writing Project, Current Editing Project,  and Current Publicizing Project.

What can your readers look forward to next?

I am currently writing a sequel novel to my mystery/romance novel about an ex-child movie star PAPER DOLL (Whiskey Creek Press), entitled PORCELAIN DOLL. I am also working on an M/M comedy mystery series set in the world of academia. Since I am a college professor, I know that world quite well. Happily, nobody has been murdered at my college—yet. I am finishing the first three novels, DRAMA QUEEN, DRAMA MUSCLE, and DRAMA CRUISE.

I’m excited to know there’s more of Joe’s writing on the way. Here’s a look at his February 4th release: