Does this murder make me look gay

When aspiring writer James Wilson stumbles on a murder, he investigates the gaggle of gays who may have killed his boss, director Vandy Monroe III. A storm has trapped some hungry gays in the Hudson Valley. As secrets pile up, a shocking discovery turns the investigation on its head. Vandy Monroe III is dead. But who done it?. The first two episodes of Does This Murder Make Me Look Gay?! are now available on the iHeartRadio app and all major podcast platforms.

Keeping things silly and light — well, aside from the murder, of course — is the through line in Does This Murder Make Me Look Gay?!, which according to Malawer, is the intentional. When an unexpected storm cuts off power and access to his grand estate, it’s up to James Wilson—aspiring writer and active homosexual—to figure out the killer’s identity before they strike again!

Was it the German chef? The demented chanteuse? The Cockney star? WHO CAN SAY!!!. Does This Murder Make Me Look Gay?!: With Michael Urie, Douglas Sills, Robin de Jesus, Cheyenne Jackson.

Chronicles the murder of D-list director Vandy Monroe III, with his narration revealing a colorful cast of characters and his pursuit to identify his killer. Are they thoughtful or quick to judge, clever or foolish, angry or calm — and why? What makes them tick, what would they carry out of a burning building, who is their favourite person in the whole world?

I do this for each new character I create in my Murder Most Unladylike series — but of course, there are two characters who appear in every book I write, who I now know almost as well as I know myself. Daisy and Hazel have lived in my head for eight years, and they have grown up with me. All the same, though, they are older than they used to be, and as well as solving murders they are coping with all the heartbreak and confusion and passion that comes with being teenagers.

Keeping things silly and light —

Hazel is a person who is very fond of falling in love, but quite bad at choosing the right people to fall in love with — she has been in agonies over her friend Alexander since Jolly Foul Play. Daisy, though, has never shown much interest in romance. And finally, in Death in the Spotlight — the seventh murder mystery in the series - the moment felt right.

Would readers accept Daisy as readily as Hazel does? It matters desperately to me that Daisy, like many of my favourite people and some of my most loyal readers, is queer, and I wanted to make sure that I got the announcement of that fact right. I wanted Daisy to say the words in her own unique style, to show the reader — and Hazel — that nothing about Daisy has changed. She is still the same stubborn, haughty, fiercely self-confident girl we have all loved and been annoyed by for seven books.

We just know a little bit more about her now. I feel fiercely protective of all of my characters and my books, but this has been one of the most nerve-wracking stories to publish. In the month since Death in the Spotlight and Daisy came out, my social media accounts have been flooded with messages of support. It matters to the children whose friends will come out to them, and it matters even more to the children who will come out themselves.

I began to wonder … is she like me? There are a lot of potential pitfalls when you write about characters who are confined to the plot structure of a murder mystery. Someone must die, someone must be to blame. If I invest myself in this character, will they suffer, will their heartache be exploited? The lack of middle-grade representation for young queer people makes this all the harder.

There are few cultural references for our learning curves, our gentle steps into realisation. Using a fresh pair of eyes and a new perspective, Robin and I worked to make sure the story didn't fall into these traps. The thing that was most important to me was to ensure that Daisy would have agency over when she gets to come out. Daisy gets to see multiple examples of adults and peers, like Miss Crompton and her partner, living fully formed, complex, emotional queer lives.

The importance of role models for the young queer community cannot be overstated, and is something that is not shown enough. It is in Death in the Spotlight where these hints blossom into something more. Reading the first draft meant I got to help Robin paint a more colourful picture. Our young readers are keen to see themselves and their peers in the stories that they read. In Death in The Spotlight , Robin has given her readers the power to say, without question, that Daisy is queer, and that her friend Hazel supports her and loves her no matter what.

Daisy gets to say the words, gets to feel what she feels for Martita, and gets to experience the first flutters of love, just as any other young character growing up would do. Robin said she cried when she wrote the scene, and I cried when reading it, because finally, a much-loved character gets to be strong-willed, fiercely intelligent, independent and yet also a child, figuring herself out, and realising she is gay.