I’m writing a book!
🥀 It’s called Let Benvolio Die, and I’ve posted about it on here a little bit, though I’m going to start posting more now that I’m on draft 3 and am going to start searching for agents and publishers once that is done.
🥀 It’s a novel adaptation of Romeo and Juliet from the perspective of Benvolio who, aided by the omniscient manifestation of the audience (who also serves as a jab at the “Romeo and Juliet were the problems and got themselves killed, they’re to blame” crew) that he calls “the beast,” fights to keep the events of the original play from unfolding.
🥀 It’s a tragedy set in the story’s original time period with all the characters at their original ages, stated or inferred.
🥀 In an author’s pitch, I’d describe it as Romeo-and-Juliet-meets-Hadestown-meets-BBC’s-Merlin, and includes an explicitly queer relationship and characters, and would be sold as YA since the main character is 16, though I think my writing style is geared more towards New Adult or Adult.
🥀 Content warnings include: death, violence, murder, suicide, suicidal ideation, very minor self-harm, gore (blood, vomit, saliva, wounds), unhealthy reliance on and consumption of alcohol, depression and mental illness, period-appropriate homophobia, period-appropriate misogyny, period-appropriate sexism, grief, and domestic violence.
