The subject novella is now available as a free download at Prolific Works! Try this link.
The image below is one of the DIY covers I created. It’s all about getting it done, sometimes.
Three key things about CHAI AT MIDNIGHT:
It was my first story about a protagonist older than myself. (Now, of course, I’ve caught up to him.) Older characters have a different set of romantic challenges;
It’s an interracial romance with African-American and South Asian main characters;
It’s a later-in-life story with an age gap.
Tyrone Washington runs a prosperous Hollywood nightclub called Chrome, home of the semi-pro Underground Cabaret. When the dance company’s shows really start taking off, Tyrone - their biggest fan - makes some big changes at the club. It’s a good life, and he’s doing what he wants to do … but he’s getting a little tired of always going home alone.
Indira Patel is a professional chef. She’s tired of going home alone, too. When she meets Tyrone at an event she’s catering, they both start to think about the ways they’ve let the past hold them back. And they both decide they’re not going to let the past keep them apart.
Tyrone was inspired by a former co-worker of mine, a law-firm employee with a side gig as a blues musician. Because he runs the nightclub, Tyrone is an important supporting character in my story universe. He’s not an entertainer, but he gets how important entertainment is when you’re in the nightlife business. The Underground Cabaret probably wouldn’t exist without him.
The Cabaret-adjacent pro shows feature in several of my stories.
A quick guide to the pro shows, in story-universe time, with the dominant style:
2014 - Green Darkness (jazz + contemporary)
2015 - Gaucho (tango; SMOOTH and FACE THE MUSIC)
2016 - The Great Wave (martial arts; TAKE EVERYTHING)
2017 - Face The Music (ballroom; FACE THE MUSIC again)
2018 - Democracy (jazz; LIFT)
2019 - Diamond Dogs (jazz + Broadway)
I’m reworking the blog for 2022, and this is the Ur Post, so I’ve updated it. At the time I wrote CHAI AT MIDNIGHT, I knew I had a series. I did not know I had planted the seeds of over fifty titles, with character timelines ranging from 2000 to 2021 (so far).