Boroughs Publishing Group’s podcast

Where Story Matters®


boroughspublishinggroup.com/podcast


September 14th 2021

Episode #4

The Interview:

K.D. Van Brunt

The Roundtable topic is:

Men Who Write Male/Female Romance. Do they get it right?

The Roundtable guests are:

Author K.D. Van Brunt,

comedian & author Michael Buzzelli,

& authors Jack Atherton & Cyprus Hart

From the Editor's POV:

Hosted by Jack L. Pyke

Q & A:

Full-on audience participation

Author Spotlight

Each month we’ll spotlight an author
and share a little something you may not know

Michael Buzzelli

A few years ago, my aunt Teri and I were hiking in Will Rogers State Park high above the Pacific Palisades in Southern California. It’s a beautiful scenic hike along the Santa Monica Mountains. We followed a wide horse trail all the way up, but at the top we found a divergent path cutting through the woods. I channeled my inner Robert Frost and said, “Let’s take the path less traveled.” Teri nodded, we pushed back a branch, and off we went.

Without knowing it, I walked past a diamondback, but Teri saw it and screamed, “Snake.” Frozen, I was on one side of the creature and she was on the other. She wouldn’t move forward to me, and I didn’t want to stroll by it again to get her. We had a serious debate about what to do next. She wouldn’t go back to the top alone, but she wouldn’t move past the snake. It made more sense for her to get bit. I was much bigger and could carry her. No way could she carry me. I was hesitant to present this as an option.

I looked for a big branch in the hopes I could fling the snake out of the way. No branches. So I grabbed a small rock and hurtled at the snake, and it slithered away, disappearing into the brush. Not knowing where it went was worse than knowing where it was. I bellowed, “Run” and we flew down the path, our feet touching the ground only long enough to propel us forward. We stopped running when we got out to the access road and felt safe enough to walk to the car.

One year later, my friend Henry and I were hiking in Palm Springs. You’d think after the diamondback incident, I would’ve given up the hiking stuff. We started early before it got too hot and were the only ones on the trail. Suddenly Henry began running down the path and I yelled, “What’s going on?” He was so consumed by fear all he could holler was “Run.”

It was already ninety degrees at nine o’ clock in the morning and I didn’t feel like running. Then I heard the rattle. I turned and saw an albino rattlesnake as thick as a plumbing pipe. For some reason, the glossy white skin made the thing even scarier. I took off, and we ran until we couldn’t hear the rattle anymore. We abandoned the hike and slowly, cautiously, we headed back to the car practically tiptoeing as if walking between landmines.

I’m with Indiana Jones. I hate snakes.

From the Editor's Desk

Broadway's Back

Anyone else have tears in their eyes while watching clips of all the shows reopening on Broadway? Standing ovations erupted for the curtains, the stage, the orchestra, even before the house lights went down. Three hours before showtime, Lin-Manuel Miranda came out onto W. 46th Street to lead performers in a rendition of “New York, New York.” Then, before Hamilton began, he went on stage and thanked all the frontline workers.

The standing ovation was so loud and long the Wicked cast had to wait to begin the show in stops and starts until the audience finally settled in.

Audiences parched for the taste of live theater packed every re-opened Broadway show – all audience members were vaccinated and had to show proof they were, and all of them had to wear masks.

A couple from Colorado whose spring 2020 trip was cancelled because of the pandemic flew to NY to see eight Broadway shows in six days after “a year and a half of heartbreak.” “We both cried when the plane landed,” the woman said, listing the shows the couple were planning to see. “Wicked” was up first. Then she said, “We’re so happy to be here.”

There’s nothing like live theater. The performance of words written by playwrights is as often based on novels as it is an original creation.

Did you know, the “book” of a show refers to the script (story, dialogue, stage directions) of a musical? All the wonderful singing and dancing is held together by the story.

Where Story Matters is part of Boroughs Publishing Group’s trademark for a reason. We believe in stories and their ability to change opinions, bring joy, give succor, make us laugh, remind us why we love, and give us entrée to new worlds and a different way of thinking.

In our 10th Anniversary year, we remain dedicated to writers for their commitment to storytelling. And while we publish Romance novels, we will forever applaud screenwriters, playwrights, poets, and other fiction novelists for their creativity, eloquence, and ability to make magic out of ideas.

Broadway theatre is the best of all things writers can do – it moves people in a way that’s been unparalleled since theater first began in lower Manhattan in 1750. The first Broadway musical opened in 1866.

One hundred fifty-five years later, we’re grateful Broadway’s back.