KKirk

Brant, Hector, Juanita, and I adjourned to a nearby cocktail lounge when we were free to leave the set of Hollywood Weekly. We had been so enthusiastically received by Juanita’s audience that we were on a bit of an emotional high, although I admit that my euphoria was tempered a bit by my concern for her. She had seemed so stoic throughout the show that I was afraid she had buried her emotions too deeply. I sat beside Juanita in the booth with Hector and Brant across from us. When I whis

The long-scheduled appearance of the three of us on Hollywood Weekly was the day after our OUT Magazine photo shoot and just 4 days after Hector moved out of Juanita’s town house and into our house in the Hollywood Hills. We were all concerned about how Juanita would react to this awkward timing, but our concerns were completely misplaced since she was the consummate professional journalist. This time, we were all going to be present in the studio rather than joining the show via Zoom. In a s

After we finished the proposal scene on Tuesday and Hector finally gave us his answer to our real-life proposal, Brant and I were quite upbeat the rest of the week. Wednesday evening Hector and Juanita called us for a conversation about logistics. Hector had told her about his decision to join us and she had told him she thought that was the right thing for him to do. It sounded very mature and cosmopolitan to me. We all decided that Hector should begin the move from her place to ours on

Dear @Jjeffalch and @Richian, Thanks for this honest feedback. It's not easy to come out against what other readers are enjoying. I'm taken aback that the feelings expressed here are so negative. I interpret that as coming from two places. First, a great deal of affection for Juanita and a desire to protect her. Second, a big disappointment that our Brant and Sky seem to be just manipulating people to get what they want. (Forgive me if I have misinterpreted your feelings.) I also have great affection for Juanita and sympathize with a desire to protect her. I want to tread lightly on my comments because I don't want to spoil some of the story a bit later by divulging too much now. I will just say, Juanita is strong. As for Brant and Sky taking what they want without regard for Juanita (or maybe anyone else), I have tried to include several times their concern about harming the relationship between Juanita and Hector and separate concerns for Juanita. Perhaps I have somehow not emphasized their doubts enough or the fact that they fell in love and became more invested in maintaining the connection with Hector. I'm not sure how I could have negotiated this any better. Perhaps, as you suggested a few chapters back, @Richian, the whole premise of the movie and this written story cast us in a direction that was bound to ultimately lead here. I would understand if you choose to drop this story because it is disappointing. I believe, should you stay through to the end, you will see it ultimately comes out more positive. Again, thanks for the honesty. I need to know when my own writing is raising such issues. Ken

Juanita invited Brant and me to dinner at her condo on Friday night, with Hector, of course. We had wanted to be sure we didn’t start excluding her from our friendship due to the intimacy we were having with Hector. Naturally, we were happy to go to their place for dinner. I was a little concerned about Juanita and hoped to have a few moments alone with her. To that end, I enlisted Brant’s help in getting Hector away from Juanita and me for a few minutes so I could find out how she is really

During the two weeks Brant was Back East, I had some meetings with The Gay King people concerning PR events around the opening of the show in September. I had a wardrobe fitting for 9-1-1 and a meeting with one of the associate producers. One afternoon, I got an unexpected call from my co-star. I clicked on the unknown number and said, “Hello. This is Sky Ford.” “Hi, Sky. This is Oliver Stark. I play Buck, er, Evan Buckley on 9-1-1.” I let out an involuntary mild squeal. “So

Thanks for that trust, @CCinPS! I try each day to earn it and I do not take it lightly. @Jjeffalch, I woke up early this morning with an idea you gave me indirectly. Abdul deserves his story. I've decided to do a series of short stories based on the bit players in the Role of a Lifetime series. As I am scrambling to complete this book, this new project will be delayed a bit. However, once we come to the end of Another Role of a Lifetime, I will open a new story. That story will ask you, my faithful and much-loved readers, to vote for the bit characters you would most like to have a full story about. I'll figure out the details, but you guys will collectively tell me who amongst the bit players such as Abdul, the Comic Waiter, you would most like to pursue. I'll then write a separate story for each of them. It will be a fun challenge for me and hopefully a fun project for all of you. So, thanks a lot for that idea, @Jjeffalch. Now, I think I need a nap! Ken

@Jjeffalch, what an incredible compliment! I can't thank you enough. You might be able to tell that I love all these characters. The benefit of a longer story is there is more time to give more characters' backgrounds and let them come into better focus. I appreciate so much that you and many other great readers seem to take the story quite seriously. You guys spend a little time thinking about the characters, their needs & wants, problems, etc. As I write this, the last couple of chapters are still being developed so I don't usually alter the storyline because of comments but I don't think many readers know how amazing it is to get so much rich and full feedback. I love that you are finding the characters coming alive more. There are so many great characters in the story of Brantorsky that I would love to develop them all, but I think that is almost too big a dream. Thanks again, so much, for your kind words! Ken

I clicked the Answer Call button and said, “Hector?” There was no answer, so I said, “Babe? Are you there?” “Uh-huh,” came a strangled version of Hector’s slightly Cubano accent. I thought he sounded like he might be crying or at least choked up. “Take a deep breath and tell me what’s wrong.” I heard the intake of air before he said, “Oh, Sky. I had no idea.” I waited a beat to see if he wanted to say more but got only silence. “You mean about David’s son?” “Uh-

I received a text from Brant just before 8:00 that evening. Brant: Just landed at Logan Me: Glad U R on the ground. HW starts in a couple of minutes. Taping it for you. Brant: Thanks. I’ll call before I go to bed Me: Great! Then I texted Hector: Brant in Boston Hector returned 2 thumbs-up emojis. I set up the taping on our TIVO, then refreshed my water glass, and settled in front of the television. The Hollywood Weekly intro music filled the room and ev

Hector looked from me to Brant and back again. A slow smile transformed his face from a look of surprise to one of delight, but then the joyousness collapsed in a very concerning way. Hector stayed silent for too long. Oh, this is not a good sign, I thought. After Brant and I had declared our romantic feelings for him and told him we do not want to end the intimacy of our relationship after filming ends, he seemed to be dropping into an unhappy place. He didn’t say anything fo

My lunch with John Claxton had provided the kind of intimate sharing that tends to make people bond quickly and deeply. As I drove home in rush-hour traffic, I realized I felt John and I had become the kind of friends who can trust each other with just about anything in only a couple of hours. I was happy with that as it felt awesome to have such a nice man as John for my newest Hollywood friend. Of course, the other truly phenomenal aspect of our lunch was our chance encounter with two o

@Modified Cub, I had such fun writing that lunch scene in Lawry's. I had thought the whole scene would be the conversation about coming out, but something just told me to have these great actresses at lunch, too. One thing led to another and we have Pink Dildo awards! I hope you will check out Hollywood on Netflix. It is marvelous on several different levels. Let me know what you think!

We completed the filming of our sixth sex scene with Hector late on Tuesday evening. All of us were given Wednesday off to recuperate. Hector and Brant had some more office scenes on Thursday and Friday but my role in Living Large was less intense because I was not involved in those scenes. Wednesday morning Brant had a Zoom call with one of the assistant producers on RFK to go over his schedule and the expectations for an upcoming trip to Hyannis Port to film some summer footage for th

Surprisingly, the last guests to leave the Fourth of July party were John Claxton with Wally and his friend Jessie right behind him. John thanked Brant, Hector, and me for including him in the party. “I’ll call you soon, Sky, to set up lunch.” Although he said no more, I heard in my mind “so we can talk about my coming out.” “That’ll be great, John. I look forward to the conversation.” John smiled knowingly, surprised me by quickly kissing me on the lips, and stepped through