DESERT ISLAND CASTAWAYS: Megaera C. Lorenz
Our favorite MM authors a.k.a. castaways are asked, what books, songs and luxury item would they take to a desert island?
This is a monthly series inspired by LezReviewBooks.com’s ‘Desert Island Books’, which in turn is based on BBC’s ‘Desert Island Discs’.
The rules are fairly simple:
List up to ten books, a playlist and one luxury item that you couldn’t do without on a desert island.
Any type of book can be selected, but I ask that at least half are LGBT+ books. Choices should be justified in a paragraph or two. Any number of songs and any type of music is allowed. The luxury item must be inanimate and of no use in escaping the island or allowing communication from outside.
Let’s welcome our December castaway, Megaera C. Lorenz!
DESERT ISLAND BOOKS:
1. The Mating Season by P.G. Wodehouse
Is this book technically LGBTQ+? Probably not, but I could write a lengthy essay about the use of queer subtext in Wodehouse’s works (and in this one in particular). This is the book that cemented my headcanon that Bertie Wooster is bi—a fannish hill that I will die on. It’s also the first book that Wodehouse wrote from start to finish after his internment during WWII, but that’s a whole other can of worms.
I love The Mating Season. It’s a brilliant identity-swapping farce with Shakespearian comedy and musical theater pulsing through its veins. It also feels like Wodehouse’s first effort to bring Jeeves and Wooster into the modern world, with its relatively edgy, sexually charged humor and contemporary pop culture references. And the scene where Bertie has to endure the attentions of an aggressively friendly cat while trying to sneak into a country house to steal a letter is worth the price of admission alone.
2. The Psychic Mafia by M. Lamar Keene (as told to Allen Spraggett)
The Psychic Mafia is a must-read for anyone who is interested in the history of American spiritualism, the way psychic con artists pull off their trickery, or the psychology behind people’s persistent belief in hoaxes. Keene himself was a fascinating, complex person. He was an immensely successful phony medium who was mentored by some of the most infamous grand dames of the early 20th century spiritualist revival movement. He eventually turned against his former profession after an explosive falling-out with his partner. In the book, he comes across as bright, witty, bombastic, and deeply conflicted about his own past.
Although Keene largely avoids references to his own sexuality in The Psychic Mafia, he went on to live as an openly gay man and spent his later years working as a fierce advocate for people with HIV/AIDS in the Miami-Dade, FL community.
3. Gef!: The Strange Tale of an Extra-Special Talking Mongoose by Christopher Josiffe
I love weird tales of the supernatural, and it doesn’t get much weirder than Gef. As the title suggests, Gef was an unearthly talking mongoose that allegedly spent years haunting a little family living in an isolated farmhouse on the Isle of Man in the 1930s. Josiffe’s book is a detailed, meticulously researched account of this bizarre case, with a fascinating appendix covering folkloric parallels to Gef and several accounts of similar “hauntings.”
4. The Reanimator Mysteries series by Kara Jorgensen
I have a special fondness for books that manage to hit that perfect balance of sweetness and horror, and Kara Jorgensen’s Reanimator Mysteries scratch that itch in a delightful way. Oliver Barlow is an autistic necromancer working as a medical examiner for the Paranormal Society in an alternate 19th century NYC. He’s fallen hard for his coworker, the dashing paranormal investigator Felipe Galvan. No sooner does Oliver work up the courage to act on his feelings than he finds Felipe murdered—and accidentally brings him back to life. The two men are dragged into a series of delightfully creepy supernatural adventures as they try to negotiate their new relationship and learn to manage the strange magical tether that now connects them. Perfect if, like me, you’re a fan of books that defiantly resist being shoehorned into a single genre. (Are they horror? Romance? Mystery? Fantasy? Yes!)
5. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
This is one of those ghost stories that relies more on the suggestion of the uncanny than anything overt. It’s subtle, atmospheric, and unsettling. Dr. Faraday is also one of my favorite examples of an unreliable narrator, which is a narrative device I love but have not yet been brave enough to try in my own writing.
Unlike many of Sarah Waters’ books, The Little Stranger is not overtly queer. But like so many aspects of this story, the sexuality of the characters is subtly hinted at, another part of the tension that simmers beneath the surface. This is a story that invites the reader to dig deep and read between the lines.
DESERT ISLAND PLAYLIST:
I don’t even know where to start! Here’s a list of 11 of my favorite recordings of all time, mostly dating to the 1930s.
1. “Who Am I” by Ben Selvin and His Orchestra, 1931
2. “Stardust” by Cab Calloway and His Orchestra, 1931
3. “Sugar” by Ethel Waters, 1926
4. “Ragtime Nightingale” by Catherine Wilson and John Arpin, 1965
5. “Basin Street Blues” by Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five, 1928
6. “Ain’t Misbehavin’” by Fats Waller, 1943
7. “Growlin’ Dan” by Blanche Calloway and Her Joy Boys, 1931
8. “Doin’ the New Lowdown” by Don Redman and His Orchestra with Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, 1932
9. “I’ll See You in My Dreams” by Ukulele Ike (aka Cliff Edwards), 1930
10. “Where or When” by Lena Horne, 1941
11. “Everyone’s Got Sex Appeal for Someone” by Ronald Frankau and Monte Crick, 1933
LUXURY ITEM
I guess I’d have to go with an iPad equipped with Procreate and an Apple Pencil, assuming I’m able to charge it somehow. Even if it’s useless for communication due to lack of internet/cell service, I’d at least be able to draw!
ABOUT MEGAERA C. LORENZ
Megaera Lorenz was born in Little Rock, AR in 1984, but spent the majority of her childhood on Guam. The daughter of a geologist and a mathematician, Megaera broke from the family’s STEM tradition when she became obsessed with ancient Egypt as a child. She enrolled in college at the University of Guam at age 13 and eventually earned a Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Chicago. Over the years she has worked as a museum educator, an instructor of undergraduate and graduate-level Egyptology courses, a field archaeologist, and a professional tech writer and editor. She has also been writing fiction and creating art for the sheer joy of it since early childhood.
In addition to her love of Egyptology, Megaera is fascinated with early 20th-century American history and culture. She’s also a connoisseur of the strange and uncanny and is particularly interested in the history of the Spiritualist movement in America. These combined interests sparked the inspiration for her debut novel, THE SHABTI.
Megaera has lived in the Chicagoland area for nearly 20 years. She currently resides in St. Charles, IL. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys spending time with her family, experimenting with digital art, studying Yiddish, and coming up with increasingly bizarre and arcane in-jokes with her friends.
Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Amazon | Facebook | Instagram
A big thank you to Megaera C. Lorenz for joining us on this month’s Desert Island Castaways!
Check out our other Castaways:
Natalina Reis
V.L. Locey
J.P. Jackson
A.E. Wasp
Elle Keaton.
Elouise East
J.K. Jones
Colette Davison
B.A. Tortuga
Casey Cox
Amanda Meuwissen
A.M. Johnson
Becca Seymour
Alexa Piper
Rick R. Reed
C.P. Harris
K.L. Hiers
A.E. Lister
S. Rodman
Kaje Harper
M.A. Church
Karenna Colcroft
Aiden Ainslie
J. Hali Steele
Kristian Parker
H.L. Day
D.K. Girl
Jackie Keswick
Crea Reitan
Beth Bolden
Chloe Archer
Paulina Ian-Kane
Sam Burns
David Lawrence
Lance Lansdale
Marshall Thornton
Joy Lynn Fielding
Ellie Thomas
Hope you enjoyed this post. Don’t forget to check out next month’s Castaway.
What books would you take with you to a desert island?
What’s on your desert island playlist?
Who would you like to be the next Castaway?
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