I love love love the stories in Secrets and Lies. And one of the things I love most about them is that they’re funny. All too often the literati amongst us are stonefaced sourpusses who believe humor is too tacky for civilized folk. Bullshit. Laughter is the spice of life, and while I love a good drama as much as the next fellow, especially if it’s about a robot apocalypse, my heart will always stolen by those who can make with the ha ha.

That’s why in addition to fiction, I like to write plays. Somehow, it’s considered less boorish to be funny in a script

By far the funniest thing I’ve ever written was a play called Veronica Livingstone I Presume. It’s about a cat that inherits a cat food company. That allows a 13-year-old aspiring tyrant to take control of the company. Things quickly spiral downwards into the resurgence of ancient Egyptian cat worship and assassination plots against the offending feline.

Where can you see this masterpiece you’re wondering? Glad you asked that.

The play will be getting a free staged reading at Hyde Park Books Tuesday, Sept. 27, from Homegrown Theater, a new-ish company here in Boise, as part of their BLiP series of play readings.

The BLiP series is actually a pretty bold effort for Boise. Before they started it last month, there were only a handful of new plays read in Boise per year. Alley Rep did a new works festival with four plays and Boise Contemporary Theater did one as well, but those were all paid events and featured very few local playwrights. This series, BLiP, is monthly, free and all local. I’m a big believer in the Field of Dreams path to cultural development, and I think that by the company providing this regular series as an anchor, Boise’s theater community will benefit and grow immensely. It’s something I feel really lucky to be a part of at the start. The inaugural event was actually one of my plays as well, No Glass Eyes or Pets. It was a fabulous evening, chronicled as a podcast here. I’m expecting good things from this one as well.

Since we’re talking with Homegrown about a full production of Veronica in spring, I’m really hoping for a good turnout so I can get some feedback about the current draft of the play. And since it’s hysterical—and free—you ought to consider coming down.

And as much as I like seeing my plays gets read—I’ve got oodles more—what I’m really excited about is seeing what comes out of the woodwork next. There’s talent in this town. It’s just a matter of giving it the opportunity to thrive.