AN INTERVIEW WITH JOE COSENTINO, AUTHOR OF THE FIRST NOEL and
THE BOBBY AND PAOLO HOLIDAY STORIES ANTHOLOGY
PUBLISHED BY DREAMSPINNER PRESS
- We are talking today with Joe Cosentino author of the Bobby and Paolo holiday stories. Dreamspinner Press just released your latest story, The First Noel, as an e-book, and a paperback of all four Bobby and Paolo Holiday stories! Tell us about the series, story, and setting, and how you came up with them.
After writing two Bittersweet Dreams novellas: In My Heart/An Infatuation and A Shooting Star (Rainbow Award Honorable Mention) and my humorous gay take on my favorite fairytales: The Naked Prince and Other Tales from Fairyland (Open Skye Book Reviews Favorite Audiobook of the Month) published by Dreamspinner Press, I wrote a holiday short novella loosely based on my trip to the magical and gorgeous island of Capri: A Home for the Holidays. If you’ve never been there, go! Or read the story, which is a lot less expensive. In the story, Bobby, a young, Italian American law student from Philadelphia travels to Capri, during the winter holidays to meet his eccentric Italian relatives, and falls in love with his handsome, muscular, sexy Italian distant cousin, Paolo.
Since A Home for the Holidays left open the future of Bobby’s and Paolo’s relationship; Joel Leslie (the incredibly talented voice over artist), readers, reviewers, and Dreamspinner Press staff suggested I write more Bobby and Paolo holiday stories. So I wrote The Perfect Gift, a two-part story that takes place over the next two Christmases, where Bobby and Paolo move to Philadelphia, and overcome numerous obstacles for the perfect wedding (December Grooms), and to adopt a seven-year-old son (An Unexpected Present).
Again, everyone asked for more. So I wrote The First Noel, the next installment for young lawyer Bobby and his young fashion designer husband Paolo. Bobby’s hysterically funny parents and quirky best friend Jared are back. In the story, December has rolled around again. Jared and Jared’s lover, (the second) Noel, have spotted young fashion designer Paolo in a cozy restaurant with a young man named (the first) Noel. Who is the muscular, gorgeous, and charismatic first Noel? Also, due to doctor’s orders, Bobby’s Dad has turned in his Santa suit at his department store. Finally, Geoffrey’s birth mother, funded by an anti-gay organization, has arrived on a mission to take back Bobby and Paolo’s eight-year-old son Geoffrey. Just when everything seems to be going up in flames like a dry wreath too close to the fireplace, Santa appears and rings in a happily ever after ending you won’t want to miss.
As was the case with The Perfect Gift, this story is packed with cozy holiday settings including Victorian carolers singing under candy cane-adorned city street lamps, productions of A Christmas Carol and The Nutcracker, the Reading Terminal Market Holiday Railroad, and the adorned Christmas tree, market booths, and snowmen at Dilworth Park. The story ends in an exciting and romantic finale at the Delaware River Waterfront fireworks on New Year’s Eve.
Humor, romance, adventure, drama, mystery, and a huge touch of holiday magic make these stories the perfect gift for the holiday.
