Many thanks to author Joseph Skibell for naming The Lunatic, the Lover, and the Poet one of his favorite books of 2010. I met Mr. Skibell at last year's Wordstock, Portland's annual literary festival, where he was on a historical fiction panel I moderated. I loved his novel A Curable Romantic, a brilliantly written magical realist peek into the world of Sigmund Freud. The Lunatic, the Lover, and the Poet also made Top-Ten lists for bloggers Ryan G of Wordsmithonia and Trisha of Eclectic/Eccentric.

I suppose it's a testament to how rarely I update this blog that I'm offering New Year's greetings two weeks into January. I've been working on my next book (a historical novel about Restoration playwright Aphra Behn) and it's hard to shift gears long enough to work on something else, even a blog post. Author Tom Spanbauer once described to me the process of working on a novel as "going away into another world for a while," so that even when you are not writing, part of your mind is always elsewhere, in the book. And while I know writers who thrive juggling several projects at once, for me it would be sort of like trying to maintain two part-time jobs, one in Tokyo, and one in London.

So at the moment, my head is stuck in Suriname in 1663 (before becoming a playwright, Aphra spent some time in the West Indies and Antwerp as perhaps the worst spy in His Majesty's secret service). But I do have some thoughts that I want to put down soon about Alexander Fodor's 2007 film Hamlet, an experimental, rather surreal version of the play I saw recently, in which the character of Horatio is a woman, and explicitly portrayed as in love with the prince.

Oh, and I just realized that I never posted here the link to the essay I wrote for Salon last year about my godfather, Herb, to whom The Lunatic, the Lover, and the Poet is dedicated. He was the first person to ever tell me about the mysterious "Mr. W.H." and that Shakespeare's sonnets were written to a man. The recipe for his prize-winning saffron cake is included at the end of the piece, so enjoy!

Peabody Award-winning radio host Dmae Roberts interviewed me last week for her "Stage and Studio" program on KBOO. We talked about Shakespeare, growing up in the theatre, and how I got started writing The Lunatic, the Lover, and the Poet. I had a wonderful time meeting her, and really enjoyed our talk. If you missed the show, don't despair! You can download and listen to it at the website here.


There's also a new review to report. Margaret Donsbach at HistoricalNovels.info says "The Lunatic, the Lover, and the Poet is a bawdy, madcap riff..." She continues:

Not just Hamlet but the other plays of Shakespeare and especially the sonnets are whipped like meringue into this soufflé of a novel: As-You-Like-It-like disguises and misidentifications, Falstaffian tavern-keepers, larks (not nightingales) driving lovers apart at daybreak, and just a hint of tragedy.[...] Even Shakespeare might have approved. The Lunatic, the Lover, and the Poet is an homage to him, although (or perhaps because) the playwright himself is dissolved into a mist of his characters.

And, as promised, here are some more pictures from the show at Boxcar Theatre in San Francisco with the GuyWriters. Thanks to photographer Michael Grove for sending these! And thanks again to my brilliantly talented "Ruff Trade Boys" for bringing my novel to life! They are:

Aaron Tworek and Brian Martin as Hamlet and Horatio.








And of course, our director and narrator, Donald Currie:






And now to the tango!

Home at last after my whirlwind 2-week road trip down to San Francisco for my event with the GuyWriters, a gay men's literary networking organization that includes not only poets but also many fantastic playwrights and actors active in San Francisco's underground and experimental theatrical scene. The group's co-founder, actor and director Donald Currie, was one of The Lunatic, the Lover, and the Poet's earliest fans, reading the very first draft of the novel in manuscript. (Donald is one of my original "fairy godfathers" and has been a close family friend since before I was born, when he and my parents were members together of the Gestalt Fool Theater Family, a 1960s "commune and radical performance group" that deserves its own blog post, so I won't say any more about it now.)

Those familiar with Donald Currie's recent projects may be unsurprised to learn that what began as a relatively modest "staged reading" of sonnets and scenes from the novel ended up becoming a madcap over-the-top one-act play, with actors, wild costumes (Oh so many handsewn ruffs! Talk about the pricking of my thumbs!) props, and culminating in a bawdy dance routine set to sonnets 144 ("Two loves I have of comfort and despair...") and 129 ("The expense of spirit in a waste of shame/Is lust...").

The house was packed (hardly a feat at the tiny Boxcar Theatre, which only seats about 50) and they went wild at the finale as Donald sang while I stripped down to thigh-high boots, fishnets, and a leather bustier and tangoed with each of the "Ruff Trade Boys"(actors Michael Vega, Adam Simpson, Brian Martin, and Aaron Tworek), who ended by lifting me up into the air, showgirl-style.








I'm still amazed that we were able to pull the whole thing together with only a week's rehearsal, and while it was one of the most stressful things I've done recently, I also can't remember when I last had so much fun. Thanks so much to Donald, to the brilliant and outrageous actors, to Ben Pither for running tech, to David Wilson for the gorgeous promotional photos, and to GuyWriters and Boxcar Theatre.

































Here are some rehearsal and post-show snapshots. Alas, there was no video and few pictures taken of the event itself, so we shall just have to remember Walter Benjamin: "Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be..." and contemplate the essential ephemerality of the live theatrical experience. If you were in the audience and have clips or pics, please send them to me at contactmyrlin@gmail.com and I'll post them here.

Looks like I'm not the only one out there who thinks the Prince of Denmark might have crossed his garters on the other side--GayFest NYC opens tonight with the U.S. premiere of the play "Romeo and Hamlet," a "comedy about marriage equality" featuring a romance between the titular characters. (Funny--Mercutio, not Romeo, is the one in that play who's always pinged my 'dar.) Congratulations to the cast and crew, and break a leg!

Speaking of the theatre, I've been too busy preparing for my upcoming show in San Francisco (tonight's task: finish sewing ruffs!) to post much lately, but I do have some recent media to report since my last update. First of all, The Lunatic, the Lover, and the Poet got a couple more great reviews from gay papers. Richard Labonte of the Q Syndicate calls it a "...comically giddy re-imagination of Hamlet’s younger days..." and says "even readers unfamiliar with that theatrical mainstay... can enjoy Hermes’ bawdy narrative." And Nathan Tipton of Lambda Literary says the book is ".. deft, witty, and eye-opening..."

I also did a Q&A for Popshifter with my friend, author Jemiah Jefferson. You can read it here: "More than Shakespeare Slash."

And last but not least, I've been on a Blog Tour. This is like a book tour, except that I don't actually have to travel--they just send my book to various bloggers, who review and discuss it amongst themselves. Actually, it's sort of more like a virtual book club than a reading tour. Some choice quotes:

Monday April 5^th Raging Bibliomania: "Sometimes when reading a book, it becomes apparent very early on that is going to be a tremendous reading experience. Such was the case with this book. I had a very hard time peeling myself away from it for even a moment and was very saddened to have to finally turn the last page."

Tues April 6 Wordsmithonia: "Myrlin A. Hermes has a way with words that I could only dream of one day being even close to possessing. She picks each word carefuly and has fun with them, she is a master wordsmith in every sense."

Weds April 7 BookNAround: "It's probably best for a reader to have some knowledge of Hamlet before reading this but those without that grounding might still find the romance and the tragedy of friendship, true love and loyalty appealing as well."

Monday April 12 Eclectic/Eccentric: "What a beautiful book! Hermes has created something tragic, beautiful, and moving with this novel, entirely worthy of the Shakespearean play it is based on."

April 15 Write Meg: "Hermes captures feelings of uncertainty, joy, selfishness, obsession and jealousy with a truly creative and artful pen. Her novel is a treat for fans of historical fiction and, most especially, lovers of classic tales retold. Fans of Hamlet will definitely appreciate the book in a different way than the rest of us . . . but for the rest of us? A rollicking good time."

Here's the April 2010 GuyWriters newsletter, with info about my upcoming San Francisco reading. I love the GuyWriters (a fabulous gay men's writing group) and am honored to be their first-ever featured female author! This event is going to be WILD and I hope to see you there! GuyWriters Newsletter APRIL 2010 - National Poetry Month In This Issue Poetry Open Mic Gay Straight Alliance Benefit The Lunatic, The Lover, and The Poet Join Our Writing Groups! GuyWriters hosts three writing groups -- one each for poets, prose writers and playwrights . Led by experienced writers, the groups meet monthly to create and review new work, attend readings, and discuss opportunities for getting your work out to the public. They are a lively and helpful way to advance your writing career. Please contact the group facilitators for more information: Contact: Poetry: Jay Siegel,jjsiegel25@yahoo.comProse: Eric Rose, guywritersprose@gmail.comPlays: Alan Quismorio,alan@asianamericantheater .org Facebook GuyWriters is on Facebook. Please join us and connect with other gay writers from across the country. GuyWriters Poetry Open Mic featuring Dan Bellm GuyWriters will be celebrating National Poetry Month with an open mic poetry reading at Books Inc. in the Castro on April 6 at 7PM. Members of the GuyWriters poetry group will read original work, as well as poems by their favorite poets. Featured reader for the event is Dan Bellm. Bellm is the author of three poetry collections: "One Hand on the Wheel," "Buried Treasure" and "Practice." The reading will begin at 7:30 PM, with sign up for the open mic beginning at 7PM. Everyone that signs up to read will get five minutes. Read some of your original work or share some poems by your favorite poet. Books Inc. in the Castro is located at 2275 Market St. GuyWriters Presents a Benefit for the John O'Connell High School Gay Straight Alliance The GuyWriters Prose Group will present a reading at John O'Connel High School on Sunday, April 18, from 4pm-5:30pm. The reading will feature authors Melinda Lo and Chuck Forester. All proceeds from the event will benefit the high school's gay straight alliance. The event will also feature readings from the John O'Connell High School Gay Straight Alliance and members of the Guywriters Prose Group: Eric Rose, Gabriel Lampert, Dennis Stratford, Vince Meis, Doug Henderson and Pete Kane. The John O'Connell High School Theater is located at 2355 Folsom Street. Parking available; enter on Harrison Street between 19th and 20th. Admission is a $5 to $10 sliding scale. No one turned away for lack of funds. "The Lunatic, the Lover, and the Poet" GuyWriters, Myrlin Hermes team up for gay Hamlet Myrlin Hermes. A one night only and only in San Francisco literary event! Guywriters is hosting its first woman writer, Myrlin Hermes, in a literary reading/theatrical event at Boxcar Playhouse, 505 Natoma street, on Sunday May 23rd at 6:00pm. Myrlin has written a brilliant queering of one of the western world's cornerstone works, Hamlet. "The Lunatic, the Lover, and the Poet" is a dazzling piece of reimagined history, and Donald Currie, one of the founders of Guywriters, is directing a theatricalization of passages from the novel, performed by a group of very hot, very talented actors. These scenes from the novel will be woven into readings of the text by Myrlin, who is something of a combination Shakespearean scholar and Lady Gaga. This event promises to be something unlike any literary reading you've ever been to, and is not to be missed. SexRev: The Jose Sarria Experience! This thrilling world premiere musical celebration of America's first queer activist is written and directed by John Fisher, and stars GuyWriters co-founder Donald Currie. José Sarria started as a drag performer at SF's famous Black Cat Café in the earlty-1950s and rose to fame and popularity as the city's first openly gay public figure. He ran for supervisor in 1961 and went on to form the Imperial Court System as Her RoyalMajesty, Empress of San Francisco, José I, The Widow Norton. SexRev utilizes a non-linear approach to the presentation of Sarria's life, drawing on camp, sketch comedy, and opera parody to tell the story of Sarria's enormous impact on gay entertainment and LGBT politics. Many people don't know that Sarria ran for SF Supervisor a decade and a half before Harvey Milk appeared on the scene; that he has always been at the forefront of gay politics; and that his influence has made possible so much that we accept as basic queer rights. But SexRev is first and foremost an entertainment, an experience for its audience, the wittiest play since John Fisher's Medea, The Musical. The show will run from April 14 to May 2 at Mama Calizo's Voice Factory, 1519 Mission St. between 11th and Lafayette. Visit the Theatre Rhino Website for more information. GuyWriters is a Member of the Intersection Incubator, a program of the Intersection for the Arts, providing fiscal sponsorship, incubation and consulting services to artists. Forward email This email was sent to sfnativeguy@yahoo.com by guywriters@gmail.com. Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Email Marketing by GuyWriters | http://www.guywritersonline.org | San Francisco | CA | 94114

I'm back from Seattle, where I had a wonderful reading at the University Book Store (thanks to Anna and the helpful staff there). About 30 people turned up to see me and my valiant harper, Molly, including a few old high school and college friends I hadn't seen in years. In that spirit, I thought it fitting to close the reading with an experimental piece I'd first had the idea for while sitting in English class in high school, flipping through the back of the Norton Anthology of Poetry. Called "Index of First Lines," it is exactly that--a poem about poetry, composed entirely of initial lines of "canon" poems--in alphabetical order. Ironically, even though I didn't actually "write" a word of it myself, I think it's one of my most personal pieces, even referring to my own actual birthday in one verse:

Pray thee, take care, that tak'st my book in hand,
Redoubted knights, and honorable Dames,
Remember me when I am gone away,
September twenty-second, Sir: today
She sang beyond the genius of the sea.

The poem was was published in Winter 2005 issue of the Notre Dame Review, so I'm not sure about the copyright restrictions, or I'd put the entire thing up on my website. (And yes, I am aware of the irony of fretting about copyright over a poem entirely pilfered from other sources!)

The only trouble with the University Book Store was that their relatively early closing time of 8:00 meant that the Q&A session after the reading had to be cut short. Which was too bad, because I was having fun chatting with the obviously knowledgeable Shakespeareans in the audience! I hope those who were asking questions (or didn't get the chance to) will join my Facebook group or send me an email at contactmyrlin@gmail.com. I love hearing from fans! It's always a pleasure to discover that someone else is a literary geek in all the same peculiar ways you are. (And besides, I feel vindicated for all those times I was rejected by people in publishing saying they thought the manuscript was brilliant, but that "readers" out there wouldn't "get" it.)

I got one such fan email last week through the website from fellow Portland author Dana Hanes, whose thriller novel, Crashers, is coming out in June from St. Martin's Press. He also put up a review on his blog, in which he calls The Lunatic, the Lover, and the Poet "...a roller coaster ride through English lit!" and says: "It's fabulous. Hermes obviously had a lot of fun crafting this tale..."

Thanks, Dana! And thanks also to Cannon Beach Books for recommending the novel to him!

Hello to all the lunatics, lovers, and poets out there. Sorry I haven't updated in a while--I've been preparing for a few upcoming events, including a staged reading/cabaret performance with San Francisco's GuyWriters in May and an appearance at Bloomsbury Books in Ashland, home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. I'll give more details on these readings as they become available, so watch this space.

Coming up a bit sooner, I'll be in Seattle on March 16th at 7:00pm, reading at the University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE. Molly Bauckham of Fremont's own Dusty Strings will once again be providing musical accompaniment on the Celtic harp. Everyone had a wonderful time at the Powell's launch, so I hope if you're in the Seattle area, you'll come by to see us take the show on the road! Here's Molly performing her own interpretation of "Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind" from As You Like It:

YouTube - "Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind"

The Week in Reviews:

Zachary Stewart of TheaterMania.com gave The Lunatic, the Lover, and the Poet its most glowing review yet! Calling it a "remarkable book," he says:

Myrlin Hermes delivers the kind of wit, creativity, and verbal eloquence which is rarely seen in contemporary novels in The Lunatic, the Lover and the Poet...Hermes blends history with fiction and makes nimble use of Shakespeare's characters for her own story with a shameless audacity comparable to Tom Stoppard (the author of another Hamlet variation, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.)[...] Like Shakespeare, the author's love for language and its possibilities shines through on every page. Hermes is truly a master of the bawdy double entendre.

James Piechota of the Bay Area Reporter also praises the book, calling it a "a great gay adventure," if "more than a little quirky..." It's great to get a rave from the largest and oldest ongoing LGBT newspaper in the country!

Less enchanted was Brent Hartinger of AfterElton.com. Though he says "This book is terrifically well-written, " and that it has "...more than a touch of genius..." he found the shifting POV "distracting" (the first reader I've heard who hasn't loved Lady Adriane's scenes!) and felt like "the author and her Shakespeare-aficionado friends were sharing a conversation that I only half-understood."

But my favorite response to The Lunatic, the Lover, and the Poet last week wasn't from a media outlet, but a Facebook message from a fan, Mary Logan. Mary is a high-school English teacher and knows Hamlet backwards and forwards, so it really meant a lot to me that she loved my interpretation! Mary not only wrote an amazing review on Amazon.com, in which she calls the book a "..marvelously crafted gem.." she also left a comment on the YouTube video, and even emailed my editor, Rakesh Satyal, to thank him for publishing the book! Mary has also created a desktop wallpaper and a Firefox Persona (like a "skin" to customize your browser) based on the novel's cover art! You can find the links to download them on my Facebook group.

I knew writing this novel, and especially during the long struggle to find a publisher for it, that it wouldn't be for everyone; but that the one reader in a thousand, or a hundred thousand, who "got" it would love it passionately, and maybe it could become, if never a New York Times bestseller, at least a sort of "cult classic" in certain circles. So thanks to Mary Logan, and to fans like her, for justifying my obsessive perserverance with what seemed for so long like a crazy little dream.