Posted by Matthew Lang, on May 21st, 2011%
Matthew Lang with Kaye Sera
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who came along to the launch of my book last night at Hares&Hyenas. If you missed it… well, we packed out the bookshop, had more than a few drinks and had some amazing entertainment from Kaye Sera and the Melbourne Rainbow Band. Massive shout out to them for coming along to perform and support the ALSO Foundation, and to Fei Mok for bringing along three beautiful pieces of art for auction, all of which sold well.
I saw quite a number of books being sold, along with at least a few CDs, so hopefully we’ll have a bit of money to give to ALSO. It probably won’t be anywhere near the $500,000 or so that they need, but if we can put a small amount in, that’s a small amount towards fixing their problems. And more importantly, if everybody puts a small amount in, there won’t actually be any problems and the ALSO Foundation will be around for years to come.
Anyway, thanks again to everyone who came along, and here’s to the next one…whenever that is!
Matt
Posted by Matthew Lang, on May 18th, 2011% I can’t believe the launch is only three days away, and things are looking good. The print copies of The Secret of Talmor Manor arrived in the warehouse last Friday and should be in Hares&Hyenas shortly–and most importantly, in time for Friday. And I’ve got my hands on a little preview of some of the artwork pieces Fei Mok will be auctioning off in support of the ALSO Foundation, and I thought I’d share them with you here (click the images for a larger view).
I Believe in Fairy Tales
To Love Life
To Love Life–Poem detail (poetry by Ellen Bass)
See you at the launch and remember, all proceeds from the auction will be going directly to the ALSO Foundation, along with a portion of all book and Melbourne Rainbow Band CD sales.
Posted by Matthew Lang, on May 12th, 2011% 
See you there…
Posted by Matthew Lang, on May 11th, 2011%
I am extremely happy to announce that the fantabulous Kaye Sera has agreed to host my book launch. She joins my friends and special guests The Melbourne Rainbow Band and queer artist Fei Mok in supporting the ALSO Foundation. Please feel free to spread the invitation around to anyone who you think might be interested, and I hope to see you all next Friday!
Posted by Matthew Lang, on May 7th, 2011% 
So according to GalleyCat, there’s a new book coming up that looks at what romance novels tell us about society.
According to neuroscientists Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam, based on an analysis of 15,000 Harlequin books, the top ten professions for romance novel straight heroes are:
1. Doctor 2. Cowboy 3. Boss 4. Prince 5. Rancher 6. Knight 7. Surgeon 8. King 9. Bodyguard 10. Sheriff
I like Number 3. It’s very non-specific. I’m assuming that refers to the boss of the romantic heroine. What does this list say about what (straight) women want in their leading men? What would the list be if we analysed 15,000 gay romance novels? No really, I want to know.
For the curious, the book is called A Billion Wicked Thoughts.
In other news, the Melbourne Rainbow Band are joining me at my book launch for The Secret of Talmor Manor to support the ALSO Foundation. They have a new CD out, called 15 & Fabulous and the track list looks pretty cool:
TRACKLIST:
The Dam Busters March The Man from Snowy River (Listen to an excerpt) Hold On, I’m Coming (Vocals: Julie Leder) Selections from ‘Hairspray’ Pacem – A Hymn for Peace (Listen to an excerpt) Virginia The Doors in Concert Big Spender (Vocals: Julie Leder) The Genius of Ray Charles Tribute to Count Basie (Listen to an excerpt) Pilatus: Mountain of Dragons
CDs will be available for sale on the night, and a portion of all sales will be going to the ALSO Foundation, so remember, mark down the 20th of May in your calendars and come on down to enjoy the night! For those of you on Facebook, you can find the event here.
Posted by Matthew Lang, on April 28th, 2011% Better late than never, and as a kind of anniversary thing, I went to see Hairspray the Musical today (well, technically last night, but whatevs, I’m still really happy and pumped), with my partner and my NaNo friend Mousie. And it was fantastic. Worth the wait, given I was working through the entire summer, and I now want that set. I am seriously in love with the Hairspray set. I want those amazing, amazing screens that they used for animated backgrounds. If you haven’t seen it, go see it. It’s about to head to Sydney, but is around for another three days in Melbourne, and I’m sure it’ll tour Australia eventually, so make sure you catch it. Interestingly, I think Heath Keating from So You Think You Can Dance Australia has joined the cast. Last time I checked he was doing dance shows at ARQ in Sydney for the gay boys. Possibly they did some recasting for the Sydney season.
I have to say, after the movie, well, I wish they’d been able to work in ‘Ladies’ Choice’, because it’s an awesome song, but seeing the theatrical version… I now want the Broadway soundtrack, and I can see how the songs fit together on stage. If nothing else, see this show before Trevor Ashley leaves the cast, because he is amazing as Edna Turnblad.
We also had NotNaNo drinks which was attended by quite a few people who I haven’t seen since the end of November, and I am so missing them right now. Need to do some more catch ups. Maybe not every week, but every month or so would be nice. Bring on November already, I want more NaNo!
In other interesting news, I’ve opened talks with the Melbourne Rainbow Band about having some music available at my book launch. I’m hoping to turn it into a bit of a community fundraiser, possibly for the ALSO Foundation, and I’ve already got one visual artist on board for a charity auction, and hopefully I can get at least one more. I’ll post more once I get some more details nailed down, but that’s going to have to wait until after the weekend…I’ve got the Williamstown Literary Festival to get through first! Fingers crossed it all goes well!
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