Wednesday, December 11, 2013

An Interview with Kim and Abe from Silver and Gold...

For Way Back Wednesday, here's a post that I originally did for another blog back in February of 2010, where I interviewed Kim and Abe from Silver and Gold. Check it out...

********

Me: Ah yes, Kim and Abe. Since they are close friends, I've decided to talk about both of them. Or rather, let them talk about themselves.

Kim: And just so we're clear, Abe and I are not together. He's into outies.

Abe: Or they're into me.

Me: Okay then. How did you guys meet?

Kim: Um. Why does he get a picture and I don't?

Abe: Sweetheart, you're a secondary character. That means you don't get on the cover. If it makes you feel better, it isn't my most flattering look. That shirt? Please. Grey is so not my color.

Kim: At least people get a visual of you! I'm just this nebulous image floating around.

Me: Would it make you feel better if I put up a picture that looks like you? I had an interviewer ask me this week if I could cast a movie of this story, which actors I would pick to play you guys.

Abe: *claps hands* Ooh, who did you pick for me?

Kim: *gasps* No you didn't. Now you want a second picture? You bitch.

Abe: Okay, okay, just curious, so shoot me. Who did you pick for Kim? There, is that better?

Kim: *pouting* Depends on who it is. Duh.

Me: Okay, here you go:


Abe: Now girlfriend, you've gotta be happy with Eva Mendes.

Kim: She'll do. But that's a bit tousled for me. I'd be into your salon like yesterday.

Me: And since we're on the topic, here's Abe. And Kim, he's the main character, so can you let the whole two-picture thing go?

Kim: You know, I hear her talking to me like I'm totally unreasonable, and I have no idea where the attitude came from.

Abe: Much better, and see? Look how much bigger yours is. And you call me the size queen.

Me: Let me give some examples of what great friends you are? Like from when Geoff still hadn't clued in to how lucky he was to have Abe fall into his lap, so to speak, and was still living in the past.

********

Abe gratefully accepted the huge latte from Kim and tried once more to convince her to leave. He had thought he’d been successful on the phone in persuading her not to come see him, but she had bribed him with an “extra” coffee that she just happened to have.


Abe, you’re such a slut for coffee, and apparently everyone knows it.


“I’m fine,” he repeated yet again. “Really.” And he smiled to emphasize how “fine” he was.


“Abe, get that ugly excuse for a smile off your face and tell me what’s wrong. What happened with you and Geoff?”


“Tenacious little thing, aren’t you?”


“Tenacious, yes. Little, hell no. Thing?” She gave him an arch look.


“Sorry, babe. You were the one who insisted upon seeing me before I’m caffeinated.”


“Meow. That actually almost sounded like the real you.” She softened her expression. “What happened, Abe?”

********

Abe: Yeah, that was a tough day. Kim about burst a blood vessel when I told her what happened with the phone call I overheard. She threatened to quit.

Kim: I knew right away that wasn't the best move. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. And, boss of ten years or not, he was so going down if he fucked you over.

********

“Well, all I can say is my former boss won’t be getting any ass from you if it takes having to duct tape you to my bedroom door.” She pulled out her phone and dialed, her eyes flashing.


“Shit, love, don’t quit on my account!” Abe was regretting ever picking up the phone this morning.


“Don’t worry, I’m not quitting. I’ve decided I’m going to stay and make his life a living hell while I run his business into the ground.” She gave Abe an evil smile and left a terse message saying that she would be using a sick day and hung up.


Abe watched her warily. “What are you doing?”


Kim smiled more naturally. “Just going to help you pack for your trip and keep you company until you leave.” She waited a beat. “And keep you from going to his office, and him from coming up here,” she admitted.


Abe gave her a hug. “You’re a good friend, my dear.”


She hugged him back. “You don’t hate me because I fixed you two up?”

********

Me: That was so sweet.

(They both look at me in horror.)

Kim: Sweet?

Abe: Let me take this one, babe. (To me) Kim doesn't do sweet. She's more scary, hell-on-wheels, true-blue. Loyal as shit, but evil. In a good way.

Me: Do you guys still hang out now that Abe and Geoff have worked through things?

Kim: Hell, yes. Closer than ever. *smiles dangerously* I've got his back, especially since I know everything that's going on with the boss.

Abe: And I've got hers. She was insultingly underpaid until I spoke up.

Me: A lot of readers want to see more of you two. Do you think there will be another book in the future?

Abe: Babe? Isn't that up to you? You're the writer.

Me: Well, yes, but I can only write the stories you guys share with me.

Kim: Oh, you want more? Abe, get us some coffee...

********

Read more about Kim and Abe in Silver and Gold, available in e-book from Dreamspinner Press, on and ARe, and on sale right now on Kindle at Amazon.


Sunday, December 8, 2013

Revisiting My Interview With Brad, One of the Twelve Gays of Christmas Dancers!!

**I noticed this video is starting to go around, so here's my annual post a bit early! This interview was done in 2012.**

The Twelve Gays of Christmas video! You've seen it, you love it! It's become a holiday icon. And today, I'm actually interviewing one of the flexible men making your holiday merry!



If you been a follower of my blog, you've seen my annual Twelve Gays of Christmas post, or maybe you've watched it elsewhere around the internet. This year, I wanted to do something a bit different, so I'm very excited to share that I have my very dear friend, Brad--one of the Twelve Gays!--here on my blog with me today!



Hi, Brad. Kiss-kiss. So glad to have you!

Thanks, Devon, for asking me to be a part of your blog!


Thanks for indulging me! :) Can you tell us a little bit about how this routine came to happen?

I can't believe it was 6 years ago that the chorus boys of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular performed 12 gays of Christmas.

It all came about one day when we were nearing the end of our run of the show. That year the Rockettes had learned a new number called 12 Days of Christmas. It felt like it went on for 12 days. So that year the girls would comment on how hard the dance was, but loved performing it. The chorus boys would be backstage getting ready for the next number watching them and, of course, trying to do the dance moves. I'm sure the last thing the Rockettes wanted was a bunch of dancing boys backstage doing a kickline:)

Anyways, one day one of the boys decided we should surprise the girls with our version of the 12 Days of Christmas. We would present it to them on our last show day. So, in between shows, we would go up to the rehearsal hall at Radio City and put together 12 Gays of Christmas.

I must've watched this video about 100 times, and I smile every time I do. Describe for the nice people what your outfit is like so they can gawk at you when they watch it. ;)

I was in a white t shirt and blue pants [note from Dev: and a long scarf]. I'm the guy on the left in the beginning.


Who did the choreography?

Drew Franklin did the choreography and staging.

It was fabulous! What was it like being a part of the Rockettes show?

Being a part of  the Radio City Christmas show is an amazing experience. It  is one of the hardest productions I have ever been apart of. We would have 2 to 4 shows in a day. Every move had to be perfect and performed like it was opening night. We had dance captains and directors watching every show letting you know if you didn't hit your mark. 

There is nothing like being on that stage having the orchestra playing the overture and up goes the curtain. The energy is amazing and I will never forget it.

One of my favorite memories is when my family came to NY to see the show. Now, I have been performing and in the business for a long time and my family always came out to support the shows that I was in. However, I came out to meet my family and here is my dad who grew up in a small town in Oregon (kinda a country boy) sitting there in the theatre with a tear in his eye giving me a big hug and saying congrats.

I don't know why that memory sticks with me but I love it!!

That's so sweet. No wonder that stick with you. And two to four shows a day! Wow! Can you describe a typical day during the run of the show?

Oh a typical day. Well, we would get there about an hour before the show. Go to the dressing room to check in. Then go up to the green room and warm up, watch some TV and, of course, gossip about drama with in the cast. :) Just kidding--we always got along. :) Then we would have notes at half hour, start to put on makeup and get into our first costume. We would always push it to last second to get our costumes on. Our wardrobe dresser would get so anxious with the boys. "You better not be late." Then we would run to the stage hit our mark and up goes the curtain.

During the show we would be focused...however I was kinda known for putting on a side performances in between numbers.

After the show, we would be tired so we would get food and rest to start it all up again. 

That doesn't surprise me in the least that you'd be making a side-show of yourself. :)



Okay, so there are Twelve Gays. What number is yours and why? LOL!

My favorite number would be 2. I don't know why. I love the number 2!

What was your favorite move? Most difficult?
Well, the most difficult would be the jump splits. I think I'm still recovering 6 years later! My favorite move would have to be the Fosse walk, with our arms swaying from side to side while we walk.

Back to the serious questions. Tell the truth: Did you date anyone in the show? And were they cute, hot, fun, or sweet? 

Cute, hot, fun AND sweet--yes!!!! There nothing like being a chorus dancer and being gay. :)
Did I date anyone? Well, let's just say I think he is the one I let get away.

Aww. :( So, are you still in touch with any of the cast members?
I'm still in touch with the cast. Some of them are my very close friends. It is hard because we all have moved on. Some still performing in the show others, like myself, retired and started something new.
There had been talk about getting the boys back together for a reunion for the Gypsy Awards in NY. We couldn't get our schedules together. I think we are hoping for next year.

What do you think about this being a viral video so many years later?
I love it that it became something that people enjoy. I didn't even know it went viral until you mentioned it to me a few years ago. :)



You had an amazing career in New York! Tell us about what you moved on to after this show wrapped.
After the show was done, I had decided to make a change in my life. I was ready to slow down and move closer to family. I had a couple of projects to be apart of, but once I finished those, I moved back to Portland. I now direct a dance academy in Oregon.

Are you single?

Yes, single. :(


Hear that? What's wrong with you guys? Okay, Brad, so indulge us and describe your dream date for us. :)

LOL, my dream date? Well, a guy who has a passion for something, who isn't afraid to do a heel kick once and a while:)



Look at that blush! Okay, I'll let you off the hook for now. Thank you so much for coming on and making this video that much more enjoyable for us!! *air kisses* See you tomorrow, Brad!

And to all my readers, thank you for stopping by! If you have any follow-up questions for Brad, just leave them in the comments and I'll do my best to get them answered for you!

Sunday, November 10, 2013

GRL 2013 Recap, Day Two: Thursday and Nights of Neon


Black-light baby!!

Thursday morning dawned incredibly early to my poor West Coast night owl self, but I managed to pull myself together, thanking my lucky stars I'd avoided drinking the night before! No, this isn't me, but TA's pose is pretty much how I felt, lol.

RIP, TA...
 I donned my purple in honor of Spirit Day--a purple tank top and scarf with rainbow ball trim. The scarf had been spotted by my eagle-eyed 10yo daughter at a store. She immediately asked, "Mom, can I get it?" I told her, "Sure, if I can take it to Atlanta with me." She stared at me. "Wait. So basically you want to buy it for yourself." I nodded. "But you still end up getting it in the long run, soo...any more observations you want to make?" Nope. :)

With my Thorny button fundraising partner, LC Chase.


We went down to walk through the Supporting Author signing first. I loved it--it was great to meet all of the up and coming authors in the genre. I said hi to some familiar faces and met a lot of new people. Then we checked on our tables in the swag room and restocked. Our collapsible water bottles were flying off the table! Nice to know people are using them after the fact!

Kris Jacen's daughter did some recaptioning.
Archie's Voice camping--I think there are rum-soaked cherries in there!



My beloved friend Ethan Day had blessed me with a phone call a while back...to solicit me, the hussy, to moderate some of the author readings. Once he assured me that I would basically only be introducing the authors and keeping people from getting rowdy, I gave in. Around lunch time, all of the moderators and Ethan got together for a quick bite to eat and to review the safety features of our GRL aircraft, or actually how to turn on the microphones.

And your hosts for this evening are...


Didn't take long to have to put my newfound expertise in mike wrangling to use, as I moderated my first author readings ever that afternoon! My guinea pigs were the extremely gracious and awesome Deanna Wadsworth, Damon Suede and Heidi Cullinan. It was a packed house and thankfully I didn't mess up too bad or do anything to detract from the main attractions! Besides laugh like a crazy person--thanks for the lovely shot of my back fillings, Madison. I'll be sure to see my dentist before next year for some replacements.







 I managed to get to one panel that I wasn't either on or moderating and that was Amber, RJ and Stephani's Storytellers session on shifters. I noticed that all of them had a man in their life present, so I asked the guys about the gals' writing, and got some amazing and heartfelt answers that had the audience going "Awww..."

With Amber's husband, Stephani's son and RJ's hubby.

The RWA Rainbow Romance Writers had a chapter meeting that afternoon as well, and we ate Chinese takeout (which was great, kudos to whoever chose it!) and discussed...stuff. :) I think I ended up volunteering for something so hopefully someone will remind me when I need to actually do it! After that, the MLR opening reception was the first all-attendee event and featured a nice buffet of nibbles, drinks and plenty of time to visit before Ethan got up to thank everyone for coming and announced the location of next year's GRL--Chicago!
Going to Chicago!

With my dear friend Rick...
Trying to decide who's Spicy and who's Sweet!


What's your guess?


Then it was time to get ready for the first big evening event, this year's incarnation of the Juke Joint, with a blacklight neon theme and a DJ that had "Bear" and "Glow" in his name. Actually, he was a VJ, so the videos were up on the screen along with the music. We neoned ourselves up (including our neon Coach high tops) and hit the ground running. I don't think I left the dance floor once until they tried to kick us out.

Me and Jared...oh and Geoff Knight photobombing.

I call this the "before" picture since we aren't sweating yet.
Rocking neon lashes with Jo!
Jared in my OTHER neon shirt I brought. He looks much better in it than I would have!
Neon soul sistahs with Leigh!
See what I mean about getting sweaty?

With a flash...
And with just black light.

Cody and Stephani Hecht--love them!
Ethan and his harem.


Our hired DJ and our awesome volunteer one.
 
A fab addition this year was a scheduled after-party in the hotel pub closed to all guests but attendees, and Dalton (who does this sort of thing IRL) took charge of DJing for the first two nights before passing his knowledge along to Travis for the third after Dalton and Lori headed home. We were very grateful to the guys for keeping us dancing.

Aeriel view of the after-party "dance floor".

I had a great time hanging out after the after-party with a combo of old and new friends, and ended up making this a really late night. But hey...I figured I could sleep when I got home! :)

Up next: Day Three: Friday Fun Fair and an Enchanting Evening

If you missed Day One, HERE is the link.


Thursday, October 31, 2013

Halloween Style Throwback Thursday

Love this time of year and have posted pretty reliably in past years because of it. Here are a few posts from Halloweens past for your perusal, including a list of a few of my favorite things, some videos I enjoy and revisiting a past contest that had a great turnout!

Originally Posted October 28th, 2010:



Some of my favorite things about Halloween:
  • All the campy horror movies I love are all over cable.
  • Squishing around in the innards of pumpkins--my hands are soo soft afterwards. Really!
  • Costumes--from the darling to the dark! My lovely, princessey-aged little girls are going as a Goth demon (complete with horns) and a skeleton. Just painted all our fingernails black. Which leads me to...
  • It's okay to send my girls to school with black nail polish and black lipstick on.
  • Pumpkin scones, pumpkin lattes, pumpkin donuts...
  • It holds Christmas decor at bay. Seriously, I think if there wasn't Halloween, the stores would have their displays up by August.


Originally Posted October 31st, 2012:

Here are two videos that I think really put the Happy in Happy Halloween!

This is my girls' favorite. Warning! Extremely catchy song! Listen at your own risk! If you're like me, you'll be singing it for weeks.





And this is one of mine! Does anyone remember the contest I held a couple of years ago to see who could name the most classic monster movies with clips in this video?





Here's the post from November 1st, 2010, announcing the winner of the video mash-up contest if you want to check out the list and how many movies there were!!:

I've had a ton of fun with this contest, and clearly there are some rabid movie fans out there! What a great response!

After watching this so many times I can now envision the clips along with the music (and likely will for life), I've listed as best I can the movies shown in the video, with the ones that every participant named correctly in red type:

House on Haunted Hill, Frankenstein, Young Frankenstein, Fiend Without a Face, Godzilla, Destroy All Monsters, Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula, Murders in the Rue Morgue, Beginning of the End, The Creeping Terror, Earth versus The Spider, The Hypnotic Eye, The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed Up Zombies (yes, that is a really long title, lol), The Wolfman, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, The Fly, Plan Nine From Outer Space, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Mummy, Abbot & Costello Meet Frankenstein, Frankenstein meets the Wolfman, The Abominable Snowman, and The Mad Monster.

How did you do?? :)

My winner, with an amazing 20+ correct, is Andrea Speed! Andy, congratulations! Now...put the remote down and slowly back away from TCM and the Sci-Fi Channel! :) Once you pull yourself away from your popcorn, drop me a line at devonrhodes at hotmail dot com with your choice of book from my backlist (see the left sidebar if you need some help there).

And thanks to all my participants for joining in on the fun!
**************

Hope you enjoyed this look back at my Halloween fun from previous years! Be back soon with the second installment of my GRL Recap! Have a spooktacular Halloween, and don't do anything I wouldn't do!! 

Monday, October 28, 2013

GRL 2013 Recap, Day One: Atlanta Arrival, Workshop and My Crazy Ringtone


Time again for one of my favorite exercises of the year--writing my GRL recap. It was such a whirlwind of people and activity that I'm glad I took enough pics I can look back at to remember the timeline!

Rainbow nails all dolled up for GRL! With Leigh (r)


This year I flew in a couple of days early, on Tuesday, partially because it pretty much takes a full day to fly from Oregon to Atlanta (between the distance and the three hours lost), and partially so I could attend the first RRW Writers' Workshop on Wednesday. I was on the flight with Amelia Gormley, and we met up with my good friend Rick Reed at the airport to share a ride to the Melia Atlanta Hotel. Before we even left the airport, I was already getting texts asking if I was there yet!

Finally met Lorelei in person, and always great to see Rick.

When I walked into the lobby, I immediately recognized some very familiar faces and hugs abounded. Jared literally swept me off my feet, and I remember getting up close and personal with Amy, Cherie, Leigh and many others. Rick and I were invited along for dinner with a large posse that was forming, so after a quick hello to my awesome compadre and co-writer, TA Chase, who was working the registration desk, we headed out to walk to Metro Fuxon with a fun group of over a dozen peeps, all of whom I already knew either from online or one of the past two GRLs.
View from my end of the table!

Aaand, back down the other way towards me!
Da girlz.
Da guyz.
Loved meeting this lady!


Rick treated me to dinner. I'm such a cheap date, lol!

Cocktails with a kick. The food was great and really inexpensive.
Our al fresco "readings" outside Metro Fuxon.


In addition to my very inexpensive but yummy fish tacos and water (hydration time after flying all day!), we shared some of the best sweet potato fries I've ever had! After lingering and the requisite photo session (and an impromptu outdoor reading by Daniel and Jared, shown above), we headed back to the hotel, and I headed upstairs to unpack and reconnect with TA. We are each other's default roomies at events not only because we write together and are great friends, but also because we love to keep our room organized (*cough anal cough*), though I must say I slacked off a bit this year due to the after-parties...but that'll come later.

Wednesday morning came reallllllly early for me, because I'd got online and worked for a while, but forgot to set my computer time from Pacific to Eastern. Finally caught a glimpse of the room clock and about choked when I saw that it was actually 4:30am! TA had to be up and down at the registration desk early, and I (mostly) rolled out with her.

Love my Tata!
Would love to give her a quick shout-out as she was HEAD of the registration volunteers, so hats off--I think it all went great. :)

After a quick coffee and pastry at the breakfast, I headed to the first panel I was on, the Editor's Panel with Tere Michaels, Kris Jacen, Rachel Haimowitz, Sarah Franz and Heather Osborne, moderated by Kate McMurray. We had some great Q&A about what we do with our respective publishers, what we look for, where we saw the genre going and some of our personal fave tropes and worst pet peeves. All of us also took pitches later that day, and it was nice to see some of the attendees from the panel there.

I took a short break after that to continue to caffeinate, but TA and I managed to catch the last half of Kate McMurray's panel on Developing Setting. She had some great tips and reminders that I made note of, and loved her handout.

Yep, we're in the South. Sweet tea dominates!
The luncheon--omg, yay! food!--was a great gathering of those attending the Workshop, and we heard from the RRW board before the wonderful keynote speaker, KA Mitchell began. I loved listening to her talk, her anecdotes about growing up and riffs on how they affected how she got to where she in her life. I also had an extremely embarrassing moment when, though I could have sworn I had my phone on vibrate, it suddenly went off with my crazy ringtone for my British boss...a voice saying (in a loud, Brit accent), "Helloooo! This is the phone in your pocket! Please pick up the phone! You have a message... Helllooooo!" Thankfully it got a laugh, even from KA, and didn't interrupt her sweet and poignant closing. I'm also thankful that my head didn't explode when all the blood rushed to it!

With the very gracious and fun KA Mitchell.

I didn't get to any of the afternoon panels since I was alternately taking pitches and helping out in the bookseller's room. It's always great to talk to authors and prospective authors about their work. I also got to spend time with my Senior Editor and quasi-assistant, Rebecca, having met her that day for the first time in person after working together for quite some time! So wonderful to finally put a face to the wunderkind at the other end of the computer.

Bailey Bradford and Rebecca in the bookseller's room.


I wanted to make sure that Nicki and Rebecca, over from Great Britain, got to experience a bit of Atlanta and Southern cuisine, so I'd arranged for us, along with TA, to go to dinner that night at Mary Mac's, a landmark and just as great as I'd remembered. We had fun choosing our meals, and a nice breather before things really got rolling with GRL.

Me and TA with our awesome editor, Rebecca!
After we got back to the hotel, TA had to head to registration, Nicki and Rebecca headed for an early night (don't blame them!) and I popped in down at the outdoor pool-area cocktail hour closing the Workshop. Had a couple of great chats with Lori (Goodreads MM Group mod) and Eden Winters, then spent some time in the lobby chatting with the ever-increasing number of attendees before we called it a semi-early night--though the time spent up in our room was usually working on either story ideas or preparing swag, etc. :)

Roomies!! Devo and Tata forevah!

I'll be back later this week with officially kicking GRL off on Day Two: Thursday and Nights of Neon.