Penelope Pan

Where Peter Pan was meant to appeal to youngsters, Penelope Pan is meant to escort adults into a fantastical arena in which sex, politics and terrorism collide. The book is also a testament to how a young woman of breathtaking beauty and limitless optimism can lure to the surface the “little boy living inside the disillusioned man” and help restore his creativity. Penelope focuses her attentions on Zackary Lancelot Amadeus Bartholomew, an unhappily married, perpetually blocked novelist, who is whisked up to Netherland to undergo Penelope’s Creativity Challenge. Mozart, Zack’s half-blind do, is accidentally transported as well. But Zack and Mozart cannot fathom their surroundings, an enchanted landscape replete with blue willows, purple grass and mischievous fairies, including Penelope’s gay sidekick, Ralph, a tiny guy who dispenses Plum Blossom Dust (PBD), a substance guaranteed to improve one’s outlook and burn carbs. Netherland is also the home of a murderous pirate, Simon Hook, who is legendary for stripping men of their testicles. Central to the story is Hook’s Blood Sun Extravaganza, an Olympics of Erotica that features the Deflowering of the Vestal Virgins; The Bestiality Boys and Girls, and the Gay Porn Lilies. Unaware of the more dangerous aspects of his new environment, Zack falls hopelessly in love with Penelope, a golden-haired goddess who seduces him at a fancy dress ball. But peril awaits all four, including Mozart and Ralph, when Zack and Penelope are taken hostage by Simon Hook and exposed to everything from The Sadists to seeing Zack's beloved dog pitted against vicious Pit Bulls. What does it all lead up to? The possible resurrection of a writer who holds the key to his own creative powers, as well as to his freedom, by teaming up with his magical muse, a young woman who must choose between eternal youth and true love.

Sex, politics and terrorism collide in Penelope Pan, a darkly comic rip on Peter Pan (with deepest apologies to J.M. Barrie). Our story focuses on Zackary Lancelot Amadeus Bartholomew, a miserably married, perpetually blocked novelist, who is whisked up to Netherland where he confronts his longed-for Goddess of Inspiration, Penelope Pan. Mozart, the writer’s half-blind Golden Retriever, is accidentally transported along with Zack. Penelope, who sees her job as luring to the surface the “little boy living inside the disillusioned man”, hopes to help Zack restore his creativity. True, her methods are anything but PG-rated. But Zack and his faithful canine cannot fathom their surroundings, an enchanted landscape replete with blue willows, purple grass and mischievous fairies, including Penelope’s gay sidekick, Ralph, a tiny guy who wears strappy Louboutin sandals and dispenses Plum Blossom Dust (PBD), a substance guaranteed to improve one’s outlook and burn carbs. We are in Netherland, after all, a place both dark and magical, where rabbits ride bicycles on silver tightropes and a murderous pirate, Simon Hook, is legendary for stripping men of their testicles. Central to the story is Hook’s Blood Sun Extravaganza, an Olympics of Erotica that features acts that include the Deflowering of the Vestal Virgins, The Bestiality Boys and Girls, and the Gay Porn Lilies. Zack, unaware of the more dangerous aspects of his new environment, falls hopelessly in love with Penelope, a golden-haired damsel who seduces him at a fancy dress ball. The two dance, feast and make love in a vast marble dome, where Ralph conducts the Fairy Band, couples mate in the balconies and wild animals mingle docilely with the guests. But peril awaits all four, including Ralph and Mozart, when Zack and Penelope are taken hostage by Simon Hook and made to suffer all manner of physical and mental abuses, including exposure to The Sadists (Executioners, Dominatrixes, Chucky Cheese and Hannibal Lecter) and seeing Zack's beloved dog pitted against vicious Pit Bulls and Dobermans in a fight to the death. What does it all lead up to? The possible resurrection of a man who holds the key to his own creative powers by teaming up with his bewitching muse, a young woman who must choose between eternal youth in Netherland and true love on Earth.

The author, an award-winning journalist, worked as a staff-writer on three newspapers before freelancing for publications ranging from the Los Angeles Times to Los Angeles Magazine. Primarily known as an entertainment feature writer, she has covered everything from major crime to politics. The author turned to fiction with her first book, Hasherazade: A Fairy Tale about Ancient and Contemporary Persia and Hollywood (2013). A resident of Redondo Beach, CA, she studied drama, literature and journalism at the University of Arizona, Columbia University and Oxford.