My Lucky Star (50 page)

Another tricky part was getting our boys involved with Moira again. When Gilbert decided to marry her for the gifts in
Blue Heaven
he knew she was a bit shifty but was blind to the full scope of her cunning and malevolence. By that story’s end, though,
both he and Philip knew only too well how diabolical a fend she was. Readers of that book would never have forgiven them for
being so brainless as to trust her again, yet my story dictated that she somehow worm her way back into their lives. I decided
to use Gilbert’s loathing of her and desire to rub his success in her face as a means to get her in their door. Once inside,
Moira, being Moira, required no more than an unguarded moment in their office to ferret out the proof of their plagiarism
and have them once more at her mercy.

If there’s a scene in the book where I feel I may have cheated logic just a tad it’s the scene at Vici where Philip reports
first to Stephen and then to Diana. In reality Diana (and certainly Sonia) would most likely have preferred to hold so sensitive
a meeting in a more private location—her home, say, or Sonia’s office. My problem was that I was determined that Philip and
Gilbert should first encounter Moira when in the company of their famous new friends. If this did not happen at Vici then
I’d have had to invent a whole new scene just for this encounter — and how often would Diana and Stephen socialize publicly
with these two nonentities (whose screenplay, lest we forget, they had no intention of ever using)? I massaged the issue as
best I could by having Diana own the restaurant and by putting them in a private dining room, but I still felt I was bending
things just a bit. (Though I recently read Kurt Wenzel’s highly enjoyable
Gotham Tragic
in which one top-secret conversation after another is held in the private dining room of a hot restaurant, in front of waitstaff
yet, and this made me feel a little better.)

The most enjoyable part of writing my books is, well,
writing
them — the part after I’ve figured out the story and can finally start telling it. I love writing sentences and especially
love rewriting them, polishing, honing, searching ceaselessly for the wry turn of phrase and
le mot juste
(or at least
le mot
I haven’t already used six times.) A big part of the fun is writing in the first person, in Philip’s voice. There’s a certain
fantasy or wish-fulfillment element to it. I get to pretend that I’ve personally lived through all these fantastic and glamorous
events and then relate them to the reader as amusingly as possible. (I’ve always felt that Philip strives so clearly to amuse
because he’s embarrassingly aware that his own behavior in the story is pretty boneheaded and he hopes that, by at least telling
it well, he’ll redeem himself somewhat in the mind of the reader.) And, of course, there are all the other characters I get
to give voice to, many of whom I feel enormous affection for. Readers often speak of getting “lost” in a good book, luxuriating
in a world far different from their own, one they’re sad to leave when the story finally ends. I’ve often had that feeling
while reading a favorite book, but feel it all the more acutely when I’m writing the book.

How do you go about mapping out your elaborate plots? Do you know before you even put pen to paper what’s going to happen,
or do you let it all unfold as you write?

I tend to outline pretty heavily. I can’t imagine how else you’d go about writing such a complicated plot. For the first two
years I spent on the book, working only during my vacations from
Frasier,
I concentrated solely on figuring out the plot. (My notes ultimately weighed in at 26,000 words on 84 single-spaced pages.)
When I’d reached the point where I had a detailed map of the first half and a somewhat sketchier one of the second, I began
chapter one. I wrote seven or eight chapters, then started feeling nervous because I hadn’t figured out the ending, so I stopped
and concentrated on that. It was a very happy day when it occurred to me that Claire could allege that “Oscar” (whose identity
I’d not even thought about) was, in fact, the DA’s son and that he’d been having an affair with Stephen. Thus was Billy born
and I went back over the outline, finding ways to thread him through so that he’d be there at the end, securely nestled in
Claire’s top hat at the precise moment that she needed to produce a rabbit.

Are there more adventures ahead for Philip and Gilbert?

I certainly hope so. I already have some preliminary notions of what Gilbert might be up to in a fourth book and, given my
druthers, would devote almost all my time to writing novels and the occasional play or musical. We live, alas, in a nation
where there’s no shorter route to insolvency than a career dedicated primarily to penning Light Comic Fiction Heavily Populated
by Homosexuals. And while I’m flattered that many in my small but loyal following have voiced their desire that I write more
novels, I fear that, till the day comes when one of them nobly steps forward, checkbook in hand, and says, “You do another
book, Joe, I’ll handle the mortgage,” I’ll be forced to toil primarily in the more lucrative field of television.

OK, indulge us: does Stephen Donato have a real-life counterpart?

From what one hears, yes, plenty, and, in creating Stephen, I thought about all of them. I was keen to avoid him seeming like
a thinly veiled portrait of any particular actor, mainly because I feared that in many people’s minds the book would cease
to be a comedy about Hollywood and become a comedy about [famous name here]. Stephen and his behavior are equal parts composite,
conjecture, and invention. I took care to introduce aspects into his life (like his equally famous diva mother) that did not
dovetail with any of the real-life stars whose sexuality has inspired much fevered speculation. That said, there are several
among that notorious bunch whose exploits, if even half the stories I’ve heard are true, lend credibility to what I’d initially
feared might seem an unrealistically reckless streak in Stephen.

1. Who is your favorite character in
My Lucky Star
? Do you find yourself drawn to the more conventional characters or the more outlandish ones? Are there any characters in
whom you see qualities of your own, however exaggerated?

2. What roles do Philip, Claire, and Gilbert play in their friendship? What does each one add to the trio? Does the way they
interact remind you of any of your own friendships?

3.
My Lucky Star
is great fun to read, but it’s also a biting social satire. What vices/people/habits is the author commenting on? Which situations
or characters did you find the most successful in this respect?

4. When Philip volunteers to write Lily’s memoirs, he infiltrates her scheme through the use of his own. When else does this
sort of backstabbing happen in the book? What do these situations say about each of the characters involved? Is one motive
better or more moral than the other?

5. As the novel’s heroes make their way through the maze that is Hollywood, Gilbert manages to get them into one sticky situation
after another. Why are Claire and Philip always unable to put their foot down, no matter how hard they may try? Do you have
a friend like this, who always creates trouble and yet whom you can’t resist having around?

6. From a faded film star to a backstabbing ex-wife,
My Lucky Star
’s Hollywood is filled with characters out for blood. But how else is one to act in such a dog-eat-dog city? Are there any
characters you sympathize with, despite their seemingly evil intentions? Discuss the motives behind each of the key players.

7. Have you been to Hollywood? Do you think Keenan’s depiction of the city is accurate?

8. Do you like Keenan’s swift and witty voice? What do you think comic novels offer us as readers, besides enjoyment? Do you
find comedy to be even more telling than drama, or less?