Stephen Metcalfe

Is the artist, Robert Boone, crazy? As his daughter, 24-year-old aspiring  novelist, Isolde Boone (Holdie), tells us, he sure doesn’t think so.  Okay, yes, he recently found himself in the hospital loudly declaring he wanted to die.   But that was a glitch, a moment of unexplained weakness, of post-pandemic exhaustion.  

He says he’s fine now, calm, stoic and self-possessed as always.   Only the doctors don’t believe him.  They’ve insisted he enroll in a three week, out-patient, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy program.  Which is? A type of psychotherapy in which negative patterns of thought are challenged in order to address unwanted behavior patterns and mood disorders.  Oh, great, just what he needs, no way.  But then, lo and behold, his daughter, Holdie, his best friend and agent, Carter Hurley and his long-time housekeeper, Marisol – three people he loves and trusts – insist he follow through with it.   Or else.  

With no choice now, Robert Boone will reluctantly look at his life.  He will listen to what he considers nonsensical lectures, and he will consider the lives and issues of his fellow group members.  Over three weeks of confession, tears and, yes, humor, Robert Boone’s past, his work, his unspoken fears and grief and his relationships both old and new will all be brought to the surface through his daughter’s voice.  As Holdie says: “It goes without saying that anything I’ve told you so far and will tell you from this moment on was disclosed to me, confided in me, remembered  by me, surmised by me and in some cases (okay, more than some) totally and completely made up.  (By me.)   Still, all of it is the God’s honest truth.”  Is Robert Boone crazy?   In the current world, isn’t everybody?  We’ll find out.

Navigation.  The art and science of charting a course from one place to another, in life as well as in passage.  

Michael Hodge is a man who is lost and is looking to find his bearings.  He is a struggling building contractor.  He is an abandoned husband.  He is the father of a seven-year-old boy on the autism spectrum.   His mother is in the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s and his girlfriend is married.  

A practical man, Michael remains surprisingly upbeat.  But then, out of nowhere, his estranged wife, Anita, returns home wanting – Michael isn’t sure what – a reconciliation?  A new relationship?  A role in the life of their son, Jamie?  The ocean has become more turbulent than ever, and Michel’s carefully patched together world begins to flounder and drift.  

Can Michael Hodge help everyone in his life find happiness without sacrificing his own?  He’s not sure of that either.  All he knows is that safe harbor, a sheltered haven for himself and the people he loves, is far away.

Seventeen-year-old Billy Kinsey has decided the best way to deal with an absurd world is to stay away from it.  Do not join in.  

But Billy will be the first to tell you that doesn’t always work – not when your twin sister has died, not when your unhappy parents are at war with one another, not when soccer moms in two ton SUVs are more dangerous than atom bombs. 

Billy’s life changes when two people enter his life.  Twom Twomey is a charismatic renegade who believes that truly living means going a little outlaw.  Gretchen Quinn is an old and adored friend of his sister’s who believes the world can be transformed by creative acts of the soul.,  With Twom, Billy visits the dark side.  With Gretchen, he experiences possibilities.  

Billy knows that one path is leading him towards disaster and the other towards happiness.  The problem is, Billy doesn’t trust happiness.  It’s the age he’s at.  The Tragic Age.