Tue. February 18, 2014
Today Chicago author Jack Biondi announced the second winner in the national photo contest for his up and coming book series "Boystown." Brennen Cooper of New York City will be featured as the character Logan Pryce in all upcoming publicity for "Boystown," the second installment of which is due to hit the shelves (and Kindles everywhere) this spring.
"I actually encouraged Brennen to enter the photo contest because his look was so perfect to represent the character," Biondi said of Cooper in a press release. "Getting to know Brennen has been an absolute pleasure; he is an open, mature, generous guy with a great heart. I am so lucky to have him on the 'Boystown' team and know his involvement will only make the project better."
Biondi held the national competition to find new faces to promote his book and represent the story's chore characters. Biondi's website calls Logan Pryce handsome and professionally successful, but says "Logan has low self-esteem and finds it difficult to love himself," seeking confidence in liquor. Logan's struggle, and its effect on his relationship with partner Max Armstrong, is one of the plotlines of Biondi's first book.
"Logan is a complex, diverse character that a lot of young men, including me, can relate to," Cooper said, expressing his excitement to be working with Biondi and the 'Boystown' team. "I really hope readers are able to envision me as the character and have an enjoyable time discovering the depths of... one of the most multi-dimensional characters in the book. When he is finally able to come into his own and overcome some personal issues, [Logan] emerges as one of the book's strongest, most-likeable characters."
The interesting and relatable characters Biondi created to inhabit the "Boystown" of his serial-style novel are one of the most frequently praised aspects of his writing, both by readers and also by the growing team of actors helping him to bring "Boystown" to the small screen. Biondi's work is currently in the hands of producers and several actors have approached him to be involved with the project.
It reminded me a lot of Queer as Folk, but the characters were different -- they were more relatable," actor Billy Santoro told ChicagoPride.com. "Most writers seem to write 'types' where the character has one domineering personality trait and can be categorized. Jake Biondi managed to create a cast of 'Boystown' characters that are human, meaning that they operate on multifaceted levels."
Keep an eye on ChicagoPride.com for more information about "Boystown" as we announce the remaining three winners over the next three days.
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