WEBVTT - Harvey Fierstein 0:00:08.600 --> 0:00:12.480 Welcome, Welcome, Welcome back to the Bob Left Sets podcast. 0:00:12.720 --> 0:00:16.160 My guest is the one and only Harvey Fire Steve, 0:00:16.480 --> 0:00:21.120 who's got a brand new memoir. I was better last night, Harvey. 0:00:21.640 --> 0:00:25.640 Why did you write it because of COVID? Had nothing 0:00:25.680 --> 0:00:29.400 else to do. I'm sitting at home. They shut down 0:00:29.440 --> 0:00:33.600 the theaters, they shut everything down. I'm sitting at home. 0:00:33.760 --> 0:00:37.199 I said, well, I owe a couple of quilts. I 0:00:37.240 --> 0:00:39.560 make quilts, as you might know from reading the book. 0:00:40.240 --> 0:00:43.240 So I said, I owe a wedding quilt. I owe 0:00:43.280 --> 0:00:46.479 a baby quilt. So I said, let me just go 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:50.400 ahead and make these quilts and catch up, which was great. 0:00:50.840 --> 0:00:53.520 I made five quilts in a row. It was great. 0:00:53.560 --> 0:00:56.640 Everyone loved their quilts. Who doesn't love a nice quilt, 0:00:56.920 --> 0:00:59.840 because you know, as opposed to give him somebody a painting. 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:02.000 You give somebody a painting, they gotta put it on 0:01:02.080 --> 0:01:04.920 the wall, They got to throw it in the closet 0:01:04.920 --> 0:01:07.080 when you're not there. You know, they gotta hide it 0:01:07.160 --> 0:01:09.480 under the bed or something. But you give him the quilt, 0:01:11.040 --> 0:01:13.000 you let the dog lay in and if you hate it, 0:01:13.280 --> 0:01:15.280 you know, you put it in the car and land 0:01:15.319 --> 0:01:16.720 and use it in the back of the car for 0:01:16.840 --> 0:01:19.440 when people get cold, they faded and if they love it, 0:01:19.440 --> 0:01:21.920 they put it on the bed. So everybody loves the quilt. 0:01:22.240 --> 0:01:25.399 No no, no, no, no, no, no, slow down. How 0:01:25.400 --> 0:01:28.280 did you get into quilting? And how long does it 0:01:28.319 --> 0:01:35.399 take to make one quilt? Oh? Usually I can turn 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:41.759 out too quilts a year, but with COVID and nothing 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:47.400 else to do, I was just putting out. Um and 0:01:48.840 --> 0:01:52.920 how did I get into quilting? A show on PBS. 0:01:53.480 --> 0:01:57.480 There was a show on PBS many years ago about sewing, 0:01:58.360 --> 0:02:01.680 and um. I always was sort of interested in sewing. 0:02:01.920 --> 0:02:04.680 My father sewed because he was in the business of 0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:07.080 how he was in the baggage of business. He was 0:02:07.120 --> 0:02:10.480 in the schmount To trade. He he managed a factory 0:02:10.600 --> 0:02:14.119 for the Guinea family, the miss Rockies and the Guineas, 0:02:14.560 --> 0:02:16.480 and so he knew how to sew. We had a 0:02:16.480 --> 0:02:20.320 professional sewing machine in our basement. My mother sewed. UM. 0:02:20.760 --> 0:02:22.400 I always thought it was kind of cool. Maybe you 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:25.080 could make a piece of clothing or something. I don't know. Anyway, 0:02:25.120 --> 0:02:28.079 I started watching a sewing program and all of a sudden, 0:02:28.080 --> 0:02:32.480 I'm making quilts, which was a lot of fun. Um, 0:02:32.520 --> 0:02:37.359 and I've been doing it's close to thirty years. Okay, 0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:39.920 so in thirty years, what you learn now that you 0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:43.400 didn't know that? In terms of making quilts, Um, you 0:02:43.520 --> 0:02:47.919 start out. When you start out, you do those traditional 0:02:48.000 --> 0:02:51.240 quilts and the traditional pattern he cut triangles and stuff 0:02:51.280 --> 0:02:54.920 like that as you go along. Well, also the the 0:02:54.960 --> 0:02:58.440 whole art quilt movement that has changed. There's a whole 0:02:58.560 --> 0:03:03.799 art quilt movement now. Um people do incredible work. Um, 0:03:04.000 --> 0:03:06.160 stuff that's never meant to be on the bed. It's 0:03:06.480 --> 0:03:08.960 meant to be on wall, and so it's totally freeing 0:03:09.280 --> 0:03:12.800 this this. I don't die fabric, but many people die fabric. 0:03:12.840 --> 0:03:16.680 People paint on fabric, people use three dimensional stuff and 0:03:16.720 --> 0:03:20.320 all that I don't do. I'm I'm like, put it 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:23.520 on the bed. People want something to put on the bed. 0:03:24.240 --> 0:03:26.799 I put it on the bed. The wildest I ever 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:31.720 do is I'll make matching pillowcases. Oh, matching pillow gaze. 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:34.200 My nephew just called me and said, can I get 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:37.320 matching pillow gases for this? And I said, sorry, no, 0:03:38.880 --> 0:03:41.920 you gotta get in line. Okay, when you do quiote, 0:03:42.040 --> 0:03:44.120 how long will you quote it one time? And will 0:03:44.160 --> 0:03:48.320 you multitask watch TV? Or is it to require complete concentration. No. 0:03:48.840 --> 0:03:51.680 I used to leave the TV on all the time, 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:55.600 and I found I wasn't really listening to it or 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:59.320 watching it or anything. So why bother? So it doesn't 0:03:59.320 --> 0:04:01.840 really matter. I do turn the TV on, but it 0:04:01.880 --> 0:04:04.520 really doesn't matter. You get into a whole rhythm. Now. 0:04:04.680 --> 0:04:08.480 Remember I'm not I'm not quilting by hand. I'm quilting 0:04:08.520 --> 0:04:14.360 by machine. So you're cutting fabric, You're you're falling in 0:04:14.440 --> 0:04:18.719 love with different fabrics, you're putting fabrics together. Okay, so 0:04:19.839 --> 0:04:23.240 lockdown begins. You're quilting. You find you have a lot 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:25.000 of time on your hands. How do you end up 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:28.839 writing the memoir? An agent said to me when I said, 0:04:28.920 --> 0:04:32.599 I'm going to kill myself. I can't take another quilt. 0:04:34.480 --> 0:04:37.919 I've delivered by five quilts, and and I must say, 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:41.840 three years later, I still have two more quilts cut 0:04:41.880 --> 0:04:45.320 out on my tables downstairs, waiting to be sowed. But 0:04:45.440 --> 0:04:48.279 I just had had enough um and I said to 0:04:48.320 --> 0:04:52.359 my agent, you know, is this gonna end? And he 0:04:52.480 --> 0:04:56.360 said probably not. Why don't you write your memoir? And 0:04:56.400 --> 0:05:00.799 I said, I don't write prose. I mean I write articles. 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:03.640 I write opinion piece and stuff like that, but a 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:07.960 book is like it's a book. I said, I don't write, 0:05:08.080 --> 0:05:12.599 and he said, well, why don't you try? And I thought, yeah, 0:05:12.760 --> 0:05:17.240 why don't you? What the funk? No one's gonna know. Uh. 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:19.560 And and with the computer and all that, you don't 0:05:19.600 --> 0:05:23.400 have to get the spelling right. And and if you 0:05:23.480 --> 0:05:27.280 get editor, he'll fix what you what you can't say right? 0:05:28.960 --> 0:05:33.839 Try it. So I sat down and I wrote, um, 0:05:34.880 --> 0:05:38.919 not not what the preface is, but you. But in 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:41.640 the very first chapter, I tell a story about being 0:05:41.640 --> 0:05:44.679 in third grade or second grade. I think, um, where 0:05:44.800 --> 0:05:48.120 where we were doing Sleeping Beauty? And I tell and 0:05:48.200 --> 0:05:50.640 I and I told that story. I wrote that story 0:05:50.680 --> 0:05:55.320 out phil Amina, who played the wicked witch in in 0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:59.640 Sleeping Beauty. She and I are still friends. I don't 0:05:59.640 --> 0:06:03.080 give up friends, eazy. They gotta die on me, that's 0:06:03.240 --> 0:06:07.080 or or say something nasty, nasty and death. Those are 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:10.320 the ways out. So Philomina and I are still friends, 0:06:10.560 --> 0:06:14.039 you know. Sixties something years later. And I take that 0:06:14.120 --> 0:06:17.440 little story and I sent it to Philomena, figuring she'll 0:06:17.480 --> 0:06:21.120 get a laugh out of it. In return, she sent 0:06:21.200 --> 0:06:24.760 me the photograph that's in the book of of Me 0:06:24.880 --> 0:06:28.000 and Drag, which is what the story was about getting 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:32.080 into dragons seven years old? And UM, I said, if 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:36.160 she kept that photograph for all these years and that 0:06:36.240 --> 0:06:39.479 story was important enough for her to remember and me 0:06:39.560 --> 0:06:44.280 to remember, it might mean something to somebody else, I'm 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:47.760 going to keep going. So I kept going. I wrote 0:06:49.040 --> 0:06:53.760 probably three chapters, four chapters, gave it to my agent. 0:06:54.400 --> 0:06:58.279 My agent gave it to a literary agent, who said, 0:06:58.760 --> 0:07:01.320 this is good. I said, what do you know? I 0:07:01.360 --> 0:07:05.440 could write? You know, well, do you know Tony Awards 0:07:05.520 --> 0:07:09.480 didn't necessarily have to write? Uh? There was there was, Uh, 0:07:10.400 --> 0:07:13.760 there was the best musical, the best book of a musical. 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:17.960 Once went to UM a show that had no dialogue 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:20.520 at all. It was it was an all Dan show. 0:07:20.520 --> 0:07:23.480 I forget what the name of the show, but uh, 0:07:23.520 --> 0:07:27.720 you gotta so. Uh. She sent it out to like 0:07:27.880 --> 0:07:32.280 nine publishers, and every one of them made a bid 0:07:32.400 --> 0:07:37.440 to buy it somebody, you know. So I I picked 0:07:37.480 --> 0:07:40.840 an editor that I thought would be the right editor. 0:07:41.320 --> 0:07:45.200 I picked the guy who edited the two big Stephen 0:07:45.280 --> 0:07:50.000 Sondheim volumes of lyrics. I figured, if he's good enough 0:07:50.040 --> 0:07:54.200 for Steve, he's good enough Harvey and uh. And I 0:07:54.240 --> 0:07:56.480 also liked other works of his. But that's really how 0:07:56.520 --> 0:07:59.520 I saw it. And he was and he's with Coop, 0:08:00.320 --> 0:08:03.720 and you can't really do better than connob though they 0:08:05.400 --> 0:08:09.440 they paid the least of all the offers, but you know, 0:08:10.520 --> 0:08:14.640 it's only money. So that's how I chose him. And 0:08:14.720 --> 0:08:18.400 he turned out to be a fabulous editor who basically 0:08:19.080 --> 0:08:22.120 just kept saying, go, go, go, go go. He changed 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:24.320 very little in the in the book, made one or 0:08:24.360 --> 0:08:30.000 two suggestions. I mean literally, he was just this wonderful, 0:08:30.520 --> 0:08:34.800 wonderful cheerleader for me, um to just keep me going. 0:08:35.280 --> 0:08:39.080 And uh, I got this book, which turned out to 0:08:39.120 --> 0:08:42.440 be a New York Times best seller, hit me with 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:48.880 a brick. So you talked about the computer correcting, spelling, etcetera. 0:08:50.440 --> 0:08:54.120 When you wrote it. How much did the editor change, 0:08:54.240 --> 0:08:58.000 like construction intense or was it really pretty much the 0:08:58.040 --> 0:08:59.920 way you wrote it? It's the way I wrote it. 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:03.760 It's it was really sort of surprising, I think because 0:09:03.840 --> 0:09:10.960 I used the theatrical mindset writing it. I used how 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:13.960 I would tell a story in a play or a movie, 0:09:14.080 --> 0:09:18.080 so um so that gave me the structure. I allowed 0:09:19.120 --> 0:09:22.120 each chapter to be its own story. I mean, it's 0:09:22.120 --> 0:09:25.280 not an anthology by any means, but I allowed it 0:09:25.640 --> 0:09:31.200 each one to stand on their own, hopefully. UM. The 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:35.200 only structural thing he wanted to change was there's a 0:09:35.280 --> 0:09:39.520 story at the end of the book about my mother 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:43.640 and I that he wanted me that that took place 0:09:43.880 --> 0:09:47.439 when I was fourteen. He wanted me to put it 0:09:47.720 --> 0:09:49.920 at the beginning of the book when I was fourteen, 0:09:50.360 --> 0:09:53.679 and I said, no, you're you're, you're, You're wrong. It 0:09:53.720 --> 0:09:57.560 belongs where it is. It's it's um because it was 0:09:57.600 --> 0:10:01.480 actually inspired by something that happened between my brother and 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:06.160 I in present time, and and I knew that that 0:10:06.360 --> 0:10:09.120 was the way that I wanted to end the book. 0:10:09.480 --> 0:10:13.960 I wanted that memory. I wanted that that memory between 0:10:14.000 --> 0:10:16.880 my brother and I, that memory between my mother and I, 0:10:17.000 --> 0:10:20.640 to bring me to that moment um, which I thought 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:24.280 was a good ending for the book. Now, a book, 0:10:25.040 --> 0:10:26.960 to write, the whole book is not something you can 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:30.080 do in a day. But when you wrote this memoir, 0:10:30.240 --> 0:10:33.320 which of course reflects your life, which is linear with 0:10:33.480 --> 0:10:36.480 ups and downs. When you do your creative work and 0:10:36.559 --> 0:10:39.679 you do this book, do you start out not knowing 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:42.200 where you're going to go? Or do you have the 0:10:42.240 --> 0:10:46.320 bones of it and you're just filling in having never 0:10:46.360 --> 0:10:51.240 written this stuff before. Um, I had no idea none. 0:10:52.240 --> 0:10:55.840 I knew my life, I knew I knew where I 0:10:56.000 --> 0:10:59.200 was born, and I knew where I was at the 0:10:59.200 --> 0:11:02.600 present moment, and I knew most of what I remembered 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:05.720 a lot of what went on between. So I guess 0:11:06.200 --> 0:11:10.760 that means you know the structure in some way. But no, 0:11:10.960 --> 0:11:14.240 I didn't know what stories there was several. What I 0:11:14.280 --> 0:11:17.400 would do is I would sit down at the computer 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:21.600 every day and write a chapter. I basically wrote a 0:11:21.679 --> 0:11:25.640 chapter a day. Um, sometimes they went back and edit it, 0:11:25.679 --> 0:11:28.880 but but I basically wrote one of those chapters every day. 0:11:28.920 --> 0:11:34.880 And I think, how many chapters are in this stupid thing? Uh? 0:11:35.200 --> 0:11:41.880 Too many? There are fifty nine chapters, so so you know, 0:11:42.040 --> 0:11:45.200 at least two months. But I probably probably took me 0:11:45.200 --> 0:11:47.840 about four months to write, which still is pretty fast. 0:11:48.200 --> 0:11:50.280 But when there's nothing else going on in the world, 0:11:51.440 --> 0:11:54.719 you know, it was the most exciting. I started it 0:11:54.800 --> 0:11:57.560 during the summer, so I did have friends come over 0:11:57.600 --> 0:12:01.440 to visit because we could see outside. You know, you 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:03.679 couldn't have people in the house because and everybody had 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:06.160 you know, we rolled lepers and stuff. It was like 0:12:06.200 --> 0:12:08.520 a scene at a ben her with her mother and 0:12:08.600 --> 0:12:13.439 sister hiding behind the stone the lepers. But um, so 0:12:13.559 --> 0:12:16.400 I still had friends come over for play dates with 0:12:16.440 --> 0:12:20.080 the dogs and stuff like that. But other than that, 0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:25.040 there was shopping for food, and there was cooking, and 0:12:25.080 --> 0:12:32.400 there was the computer and I guess streaming television. Okay, 0:12:32.440 --> 0:12:36.120 so you finished the book. You're deep in the groove. 0:12:37.640 --> 0:12:40.839 Now when you're finished and it's done, it's going to 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:44.600 be exposed to the public. Were you anxious about that? 0:12:44.720 --> 0:12:46.760 Did you said, well, maybe it's not that good, or 0:12:46.760 --> 0:12:52.000 he said, no, this is great. Everyone's gonna love it. Um, 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:57.559 I've written enough stuff. I'm seventy years old. I've been writing, 0:12:58.280 --> 0:13:00.760 even though I never wanted to be a writer. I've 0:13:00.800 --> 0:13:03.720 been writing since I was twenties. So it's fifty years 0:13:03.960 --> 0:13:07.400 of putting yourself out there. Um, people are gonna think 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:09.920 what they're gonna think. There's people who are gonna love 0:13:09.960 --> 0:13:11.600 what you write, and these people who are gonna hate 0:13:11.640 --> 0:13:13.959 what you write. And I'm more than used to that, 0:13:14.040 --> 0:13:17.080 so I I really try not to judge that. If 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:19.920 I want to put something out, if I feel it's 0:13:19.960 --> 0:13:23.000 true and I'm gonna put it out, I put it out. 0:13:23.080 --> 0:13:27.040 I don't read reviews anymore. I used to read reviews, 0:13:27.120 --> 0:13:30.360 and they didn't do me any good. Um, they only 0:13:30.400 --> 0:13:33.880 heard and um, because you never remember the good ones, 0:13:33.920 --> 0:13:40.640 you only remember the bad ones. And so uh, I 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:44.400 changed names. I did right to several people and say, 0:13:44.440 --> 0:13:48.440 I've written this memoir, I've written about you. Do you 0:13:48.480 --> 0:13:51.480 want me to use your real name? I'm more than 0:13:51.520 --> 0:13:54.520 willing to change names, and like people I don't talk to, 0:13:55.080 --> 0:13:59.040 I changed their names. But there were there were a 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:04.839 couple of excellent overs that wanted their names used. Um. 0:14:04.920 --> 0:14:07.680 In fact, one of them doesn't speak to me anymore. 0:14:07.960 --> 0:14:11.040 I used his real name and he stopped speaking to me. 0:14:12.720 --> 0:14:15.600 But he told me to please use his real name. 0:14:16.200 --> 0:14:18.679 So I think there's a difference. I think I would 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:21.440 if I didn't it over again. I just change everybody's 0:14:21.520 --> 0:14:26.920 name because I signed on to tell my truth. They didn't. 0:14:27.920 --> 0:14:32.000 I signed on to tell my story they didn't, And 0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:35.480 of course my story about them is going to be 0:14:35.480 --> 0:14:40.240 different than they remember it, so it only makes sense 0:14:40.320 --> 0:14:46.480 to allow them that fictionalized cover. Okay, so a book 0:14:46.560 --> 0:14:50.680 is a different artwork from a player a movie in 0:14:50.760 --> 0:14:54.840 terms of promotion. In the sales arc, what was that 0:14:54.920 --> 0:14:58.520 like doing that for the first time. It was very 0:14:58.560 --> 0:15:02.720 low pressure because didn't know anything about it. You know, 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:06.520 I published plays. There are books out of my plays, 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:08.640 but I don't have to do anything. They sell them 0:15:08.640 --> 0:15:11.440 in the lobby, or they sell them at theater, book stuffs. 0:15:11.800 --> 0:15:14.040 You know, it's nothing you have to do. So I 0:15:14.080 --> 0:15:20.360 was very curious, especially since COVID was going on and 0:15:20.440 --> 0:15:22.920 I had very little else to do. I was very 0:15:23.000 --> 0:15:25.720 curious as to what it would be like to sell 0:15:25.800 --> 0:15:30.480 the book and and and do all that stuff. There's 0:15:30.520 --> 0:15:33.000 a lot of stuff to do, a lot of interviews, 0:15:33.080 --> 0:15:36.320 but most of them were on Zoom, which is why 0:15:36.760 --> 0:15:39.800 I'm I'm pretty good at zoom and well, I think 0:15:39.840 --> 0:15:43.240 we all have gotten so good at zoom and Uh. 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:47.080 I did do some book signings that were fun. I 0:15:47.120 --> 0:15:54.440 did some personal appearances that have been fun. Uh. I 0:15:54.520 --> 0:15:58.000 don't think I read. I read a few. You know, 0:15:58.120 --> 0:16:00.800 here's what I say about reviews. You don't really have 0:16:00.880 --> 0:16:05.720 to read them. If they're bad, your friends will call 0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:11.000 it tell you. If they're good, you'll see them in 0:16:11.000 --> 0:16:13.920 the ad. You know. It's like, I go to Amazon 0:16:14.000 --> 0:16:16.280 and they got all those quotes about the book, so 0:16:16.320 --> 0:16:18.840 I didn't have to read any of those reviews. Uh, 0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:21.200 they're They're all there. And as far and like I said, 0:16:21.240 --> 0:16:23.400 as far as the bad ones, your friends will called. 0:16:23.600 --> 0:16:26.080 I don't know how he said that you're so stupid, 0:16:26.440 --> 0:16:31.840 because I don't think you're so stupid. I get it, okay. Also, 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:36.120 there's an audio version. Tell me about the creation of that. 0:16:36.280 --> 0:16:38.640 And uh, because a lot of people listen to books 0:16:38.640 --> 0:16:40.560 on tape, as they say, even though it's no longer 0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:44.280 any tape, that was a That was the challenge that 0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:47.520 I knew I was going to have to face. I 0:16:48.080 --> 0:16:52.000 do voices, and I do narration for movies. I've I've 0:16:52.080 --> 0:16:55.600 done the narration for several films, including the Academy Award 0:16:55.600 --> 0:16:59.880 winning Times of Harvey Milk and and a few other 0:17:00.480 --> 0:17:03.560 and I do voices of cartoons and stuff. So I'm 0:17:03.600 --> 0:17:10.000 comfortable doing voice over work. The first book that I 0:17:10.040 --> 0:17:15.880 did was my play Bella Bella about Bella abzug Um. 0:17:16.280 --> 0:17:19.080 We did a recording of the entire play. It's a 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:24.200 one person play, and so I did that recording. So 0:17:24.720 --> 0:17:29.280 I was that that is the background, but I already 0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:32.240 had that memorized, so I had the pages in front 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:34.439 of me and I could read from the page, but 0:17:34.480 --> 0:17:38.120 it was already memorized. I'm very dyslexic. As I say 0:17:38.160 --> 0:17:42.159 in the book. The idea of sitting down and reading 0:17:42.200 --> 0:17:48.640 an entire book, especially UH fifty nine chapter book, was 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:52.840 really frightening to me. So I said, could we get 0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:57.840 a studio that was low pressure, which I thought meant, 0:17:58.400 --> 0:18:01.600 don't go into the city to and go into that 0:18:01.720 --> 0:18:06.280 evil city of New York because they're they're used to that, 0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:10.000 They're used to people being very professional and reading. And 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:14.600 I lucked out. And they found this fabulous guy who 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:20.600 has a beautiful Victorian painted lady about half hour from 0:18:20.640 --> 0:18:26.080 me ah and in his guesthouse slash garage, he's built 0:18:26.119 --> 0:18:29.840 this beautiful studio where he does all kinds of recordings 0:18:30.080 --> 0:18:33.720 and all kinds of celebrities have recorded their books there 0:18:34.200 --> 0:18:40.240 and it's just you and him and no pressure because 0:18:40.280 --> 0:18:43.240 he'll put in as many days as it takes. So 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:46.600 I think they told me I should figure on three 0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:50.359 to four days to do the book. It took me six, 0:18:51.480 --> 0:18:54.439 because like I said, I'm so dyslexic, but I just 0:18:54.520 --> 0:19:02.680 took my time and did it. Um. The only there 0:19:02.760 --> 0:19:06.960 was it was all manageable. Even the sad stuff was manageable. 0:19:07.320 --> 0:19:11.399 There was one section that I read aloud and I 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:14.760 had to leave the building, and for the life of me, 0:19:14.840 --> 0:19:18.040 I can't remember what it was, but I will remember 0:19:18.080 --> 0:19:21.480 what it was. I read that section and I had 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:26.439 to leave. Um. I became very emotional, which I had 0:19:26.480 --> 0:19:29.440 already lived through writing the book and editing it. So 0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:33.920 I sort of shocked myself, UM to have that kind 0:19:33.920 --> 0:19:36.959 of reaction. And like I said, at this moment, I 0:19:37.000 --> 0:19:39.199 can't even think what it was. And it's not something 0:19:39.200 --> 0:19:43.280 that that would knock out a reader. A reader would 0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:46.080 understand what I was saying in that section, but to me, 0:19:46.119 --> 0:19:48.600 it just it just ripped me apart when I read 0:19:48.600 --> 0:19:52.560 it out loud. Okay, many cases they have people who 0:19:52.600 --> 0:19:57.760 were professionals who that's what they do, read books for, 0:19:58.840 --> 0:20:01.920 you know, and then the other things. You are a performer, 0:20:02.320 --> 0:20:05.880 both naturally and in front of the camera and on stage. 0:20:06.359 --> 0:20:09.159 So when you approach the book, did you view it 0:20:09.240 --> 0:20:13.720 as a performance? What attitude did you bring into the 0:20:13.800 --> 0:20:19.040 reading of it. I thought the way to do it 0:20:19.080 --> 0:20:21.640 is to just be as honest as I could be. 0:20:22.400 --> 0:20:28.960 Just be like you and me talking here, not for 0:20:29.119 --> 0:20:34.240 public consumption, not big, but just the two of us talking, 0:20:34.480 --> 0:20:37.840 I'm telling you this story, and and that's what I 0:20:37.880 --> 0:20:40.200 wanted it to sound like. I wanted it to sound 0:20:40.240 --> 0:20:42.400 like I was sitting in your car, because I think 0:20:42.400 --> 0:20:45.479 most people listen to these things in the car, and 0:20:45.520 --> 0:20:47.280 I wanted you to feel I was sitting in your 0:20:47.320 --> 0:20:50.240 in your passenger seats, saying, oh wait, I gotta tell 0:20:50.280 --> 0:20:52.800 you this story. And that's what I wanted it to 0:20:52.840 --> 0:20:55.840 sound like. And so that's that's what I went for. 0:20:56.440 --> 0:20:59.639 Um now, and then I did a little bit of 0:20:59.640 --> 0:21:01.439 a car out to voice, you know, if I was 0:21:02.160 --> 0:21:05.840 doing an invitation of somebody, which I don't do very much, 0:21:05.880 --> 0:21:12.360 but but I did because I also feel that I'm 0:21:12.359 --> 0:21:15.120 not exactly positive that I would get every word right 0:21:15.160 --> 0:21:19.359 if I quoted somebody, so I didn't. I tried to 0:21:19.400 --> 0:21:21.720 give you an impression of what someone said, rather than 0:21:22.080 --> 0:21:28.760 actually put words in their mouths unless they were already dead. Okay, 0:21:28.920 --> 0:21:30.960 have you got I know you don't read your reviews, 0:21:31.040 --> 0:21:35.720 but you've got any specific feedback from friends, family, other 0:21:35.880 --> 0:21:39.000 maybe unknown people who reach out to you about the 0:21:39.000 --> 0:21:43.480 audio version as opposed to the reprinted version. No, my friends, 0:21:43.960 --> 0:21:48.680 my friends all read the book because it was done 0:21:48.680 --> 0:21:52.560 way before the audio version, so then I know. But 0:21:53.160 --> 0:21:58.000 thanks to social media, you get strangers writing to you, 0:21:58.280 --> 0:22:01.240 and I know, and I get a lot of comments 0:22:01.240 --> 0:22:04.119 from people that read the book. I have that listened 0:22:04.119 --> 0:22:07.320 to the book, and even a lot of people who 0:22:07.440 --> 0:22:10.800 say they read the book while listening to the book, 0:22:11.560 --> 0:22:15.520 which I found really interesting. That's, I guess, a very 0:22:15.640 --> 0:22:21.119 fully immersive way to do that. But but never a 0:22:21.160 --> 0:22:26.160 negative word. Knock wood, knock wood. I have not, They 0:22:26.200 --> 0:22:28.800 have not written to me a negative word. I'm sure 0:22:29.320 --> 0:22:32.560 this this is a world of negativity, so I'm sure 0:22:32.600 --> 0:22:36.800 that's negative out there, but not to me. Okay, how 0:22:36.920 --> 0:22:43.399 much do you participate on social media? Both surfing yourself, posting, 0:22:44.240 --> 0:22:49.040 interacting with people you don't know. I don't serve myself 0:22:49.440 --> 0:22:53.639 because I'll find myself. And like I said, it's like 0:22:53.720 --> 0:22:56.520 reading reviews. You don't want to go looking for trouble. 0:22:57.480 --> 0:23:00.520 Life is hard enough without looking for trouble. It's like 0:23:01.119 --> 0:23:03.760 look walking down the street and saying, there's not a 0:23:03.880 --> 0:23:06.720 mugger on this block. Let me walk on the next block. 0:23:06.760 --> 0:23:10.080 Maybe I can find a mugger. You like, I'm looking 0:23:10.119 --> 0:23:12.840 for a mugger. So no, I don't do that, but 0:23:13.080 --> 0:23:17.760 I am on I joined them all for different reasons. 0:23:17.840 --> 0:23:22.720 But I'm on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram. I was 0:23:22.920 --> 0:23:25.680 on TikTok for a moment or two, but I don't 0:23:25.680 --> 0:23:28.679 think I ever posted anything, and I was even They 0:23:28.720 --> 0:23:32.879 even made me join LinkedIn because these are tools to 0:23:33.160 --> 0:23:36.439 sell the book to, you know, to help, and I 0:23:36.480 --> 0:23:39.600 had and I have a website which hasn't been updated 0:23:39.640 --> 0:23:42.920 in six months and nights whatever, But that was also 0:23:42.960 --> 0:23:45.280 to help. So I did all that stuff they told 0:23:45.320 --> 0:23:51.520 me has to be done. Um, I mostly Facebook. I 0:23:51.600 --> 0:23:55.439 do do with friends I belonged to. I mean, I 0:23:55.480 --> 0:23:58.080 have friends that we follow each other and we write 0:23:58.080 --> 0:24:00.359 about our dog. You know. I belong to a Liam 0:24:00.400 --> 0:24:03.280 Burger page because I have a Liemburger, right, I got 0:24:03.320 --> 0:24:06.200 follow other friends and stuff like that. On Instagram, I 0:24:06.320 --> 0:24:10.040 mostly follow friends, but I mostly post stuff about my 0:24:10.119 --> 0:24:15.600 shows coming up. It's advertising, it's it's sharing dates and 0:24:15.640 --> 0:24:26.399 stuff like that. Okay, you're a gay icon. Many people 0:24:26.480 --> 0:24:29.720 look up to you. If someone you does it? How 0:24:29.800 --> 0:24:33.640 reachable are you by the Holy eploy? People who are 0:24:33.680 --> 0:24:37.640 not either household names themselves. You haven't met someone posts 0:24:37.640 --> 0:24:42.000 a response to something you write. Is the public too dangerous? 0:24:42.200 --> 0:24:46.920 Or are you open I'm pretty open um. It depends 0:24:46.920 --> 0:24:52.040 on how it would get to me. I mean mostly 0:24:52.040 --> 0:24:54.879 when people post something to me on Facebook or on 0:24:54.960 --> 0:24:58.320 Instagram or one of those things, they're they're usually nice. 0:24:59.000 --> 0:25:05.159 I will hear her about there's a controversy. Oh, kinky boots, 0:25:06.560 --> 0:25:10.560 kinky boots. Um, I just had, I just had a 0:25:11.400 --> 0:25:14.159 I dinner thing for page six. Well, Ginky Boots has 0:25:14.200 --> 0:25:18.159 been brought back off Broadway, which I absolutely love because 0:25:18.160 --> 0:25:20.920 the theater is smaller, so the audience is closer. I 0:25:21.040 --> 0:25:23.320 come from off Broadway, you know, I come from that world, 0:25:23.600 --> 0:25:26.399 so it's a smaller theater. There's no balcony in your way, 0:25:26.840 --> 0:25:30.399 there's no bounce off of balcony for sound. The sound 0:25:30.440 --> 0:25:34.119 in that place is gorgeous. Even Cyndi Lauper, who I 0:25:34.240 --> 0:25:36.400 get so scared to let her in the theater because 0:25:36.400 --> 0:25:40.399 she hates hours how her song sound. Even she's happy 0:25:40.440 --> 0:25:42.440 with the sound in that theater. And like I said, 0:25:42.440 --> 0:25:44.680 you can see from every seat because there's no balcony, 0:25:44.720 --> 0:25:47.920 there's no So I'm really happy with the show off Broadway. 0:25:47.960 --> 0:25:54.640