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 5th 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."