Novelist Byron Lane on Palm Springs, Fame, and Finding Quiet in the Desert

by Jason Ball
From the podcast episode: Life After News with guest author Byron Lane

Novelist, playwright, and one-time TV news guy Byron Lane has lived the fast, noisy versions of life: Vegas live trucks, L.A. overnights, Hollywood proximity. These days, he and husband author Steven Rowley write from Palm Springs.  The couple moved here in 2019, pre-pandemic and never left. “We moved officially in like 2019… and it’s just been great,” he says. The city keeps handing him material: small-town friendliness without the small-town crust, neighbors you actually see, and a creative/queer community that feels like both refuge and launch pad.

The Conversation

I interviewed Byron for my podcast Life After News as we both previously working in television news. Here is abridged version on the conversation. To hear or watch the entire interview go to lifeafternews.com.

JASON BALL: You’ve lived and worked in the loudest ecosystems—local news, L.A., celebrity orbit. What does Palm Springs feel like to you day-to-day?

BYRON LANE: I really do love it. I feel like it’s so different from L.A. in that there’s parking at the post office and the grocery store. There’s not a bunch of crazy traffic all the time. You can get from one town to the other.  I love the weather. I really don’t mind the heat. The heat is hardest because we have a couple of dogs, Raindrop and Shirley, so we worry in summer about walking them. But other than that, I love it. It’s a big vacation town, so our friends are coming through all the time which we love because we get to spend quality time with them.

JASON: Your husband’s novel The Guncle made Palm Springs famous again. You two actually got here before the pandemic. Why did it stick?

BRYON: We intentionally left L.A. in 2019 and then the pandemic hit. We were kind of lucky to be out here during that time. We keep our separate workspaces and sometimes meet in the middle at lunch… we read each other’s work,” he says of writing under one roof. The only turf war is if we’re at a dinner party and someone says something crazy, we both want to use it. It’s sort of a race to see who can get it in their book first.

JASON: Favorite haunts—where do you take friends when they roll in for a desert reset?

BRYON: Bar Cecil is so fun, and when people are in town we love to take them to Melvyn’s because it’s such a cool, old-school experience. I love El Mirasol, the south location. It’s been around forever. And I’m still discovering things.  There’s a crepe place next to El Mirasol called Gabino’s Creperie, I tried for the first time the other day…incredible. I’m discovering hiking trails I’d never heard of and the city has a great gay community and a great recovery community. Something for everyone.

JASON: I appreciate that we have an independent bookstore right in downtown Palm Springs. You and Steven have very supported it.

BYRON:  The Best Bookstore Palm Springs has been so supportive with my books and Steven’s. We try to keep signed copies on hand and they ship. If you want one signed, put it in the comments when you check out, and I’ll make sure I go down there.”

JASON: Palm Springs changes how people work: the hours, the light, the way days stack. Did it change your writing?

BYRON:  The rhythm is different here. We work on opposite sides of the house, sometimes with doors slammed (laughing) but the flow is good. We can take a walk, talk story structure, make a note on the phone. We both get it.”

JASON: You are a successful novelist, playwright, and filmmaker but before all of that you worked in television news. How did that help you?

BYRON: It’s not just before all that! It still is that. I still feel like I’m just telling stories.  News taught compression and curation. How to pull out the leads, the headline of a scene. That powered everything from my short film Herpes Boy to the web series Last Will & Testicle.

JASON: What did you learn from working with Carrie Fisher?

BRYON: She was so generous and brilliant. She was the best a celebrity could be. I’m lucky that I landed in that spot. She used to say, take your broken heart and go make art. That’s what I tried to do with A Star Is Bored.

JASON: What’s next for you?

BYRON: I’m working on a new play, a couple of novels vying for attention. We will see which one happens first. I’m also always working to get the word about about A Star Is Bored and Big Gay Wedding.

Field Guide: Byron’s Desert Shortlist

• Classic Night Out: Melvyn’s, old Hollywood, a little time travel.

• Modern Buzz: Bar Cecil, celebratory, scene-y in the best way.

• Forever Favorite: El Mirasol (South), legacy Mexican, patio forever.

• Sweet/ Savory Detour: Gabino’s Creperie, “incredible.”

• Pages: Best Bookstore Palm Springs, signed copies of Lane & Rowley novels.

• Community: “Great gay scene; strong recovery network.”

Born in Louisiana, Byron cut his teeth at WWL New Orleans and KLAS Las Vegas, before writing at CBS/KCAL Los Angeles. He assisted Carrie Fisher, then turned it into the acclaimed novel A Star Is Bored (2020). His second novel, Big Gay Wedding, returns to the south with heart and bite. Other works include a cult-favorite play Tilda Swinton Answers an Ad on Craigslist, a short film Herpes Boy, and a web-series Last Will and Testicle. He and Steve have lived in Palm Springs since 2019 with dogs Raindrop and Shirley.

Life After News is a podcast produced and hosted by Desert Dispatch publisher and former KTLA news director Jason Ball. You can watch or listen to this episode and other at lifeafternews.com.