Did you see the film? Wasn’t Rami Malek stunning? I finally got the chance to watch this epic film while en route to Europe a couple of weeks ago. Freddie Mercury’s story is at once fascinating and heartbreaking. About halfway… not even halfway… early in the film I started having a bit of a deja vu experience. I’d heard this story before. Read this story before. Hmmm. WRITTEN this story before! Except for a few plot changes, this film mirrored my own Paulie Bingham in many ways.
Mind you, I wrote UNMASKING PAULIE BINGHAM in 2009. I published it in 2013. Originally inspired by a biography I saw on Boy George, Paulie Bingham morphed into a tragic, lovable, intriguing character that normally would not be found in a romance novel. Sales were sparse; I couldn’t place this book in any one genre. Reviews on those few sales were very good. Readers adore Paulie, Kate and Rob, despite the unusual nature of Paul’s androgynous sexuality.
In Bohemian Rhapsody, Freddie falls in love with a woman and experiences difficulty in staying “straight” for her. There is even a reference to Freddie wearing a “mask” to hide his issues.
Paulie & Kate: Part One
I loved the film. And all the while, I kept thinking about the similarities with my book and what I should do about it. Would there be people who thought I’d copied the story? Those who thought the filmmakers had borrowed from my book? Maybe, some friends suggested, I should use the film’s popularity and ride its coattails:
“If you like Bohemian Rhapsody, you will devour Unmasking Paulie Bingham!”
My dilemma on where to market the book remains. It’s probably not a mainstream novel, but it doesn’t fit the romance genre. I could try dropping it into the LGBTQ+ areana and see what happens. I feel like I need to do something. What if, even a fraction of the people who watched BH and loved it could read UPB and love it, too?