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With Women’s History Month in the news, we wanted to hear from a male author to hear his perspective on what qualities are found in a strong female character.

Can a man channel a woman’s interior thoughts in a convincing manner? Can even the most earnest male author write a credible female protagonist without lapsing into gender stereotypes?

High-tech thriller author J.D. Lasica, who chose a female lead for his Shadow Operatives series, agreed to step up to the plate. Here’s my Q&A with him on the subject.

Alessandra Torre: Where do you start with any book – writing the characters or writing the story? Is that different when you're writing female characters?

JD Lasica: As a thriller author, I typically start with a intriguing concept or situation that seems like it would be sufficient…

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Rosalind Tate - Time Travel, Adventure and Heroic Dogs
 
 
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Rosalind Tate is the author of the Shorten Chronicles -- the exciting new romantic, time-travel series featuring Sophie Arundel and her dog, Charlotte. Rosalind has a tolerant husband and two utterly gorgeous dogs. As our Author of the Day, she tells us all about her book, Stranded.

Please give us a short introduction to what Stranded is about.

The idea came into my head a few years ago when I was watching Downton Abbey on TV. How would a modern girl cope (or not) if she found herself in a grand house a century ago?

My main character, Sophie, f…

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Let’s face it. With the whirlwind of demands made on our time, it’s often easier to sit down in front of a screen to watch a show than it is to read the novel it’s based on.

But the old adage remains true: The book is often better than the movie.

So whether you want to go deep into a character’s backstory or just want to explore the subplots that never made it onto the small screen, the book is where you’ll find the whole story.

Clarice (on CBS) and Firefly Lane (on Netflix) are two of the book-to-TV adaptations that recently debuted this year. Plenty of others are coming up fast. So we’ll leave it to you whether you’d like to start with the book or pick it up once the series gets you hooked.

Here's a look at 10 novels being turned into series for broadcast, cable and streaming servic…

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Following is a Q&A with author Alessandra Torre.

Q: Tell us about how the idea for this book came to you; did anything provoke it?

A: I watched a late-night special on camming one night and instantly thought 'Wow- that is something I want to know more about.'  There is such a secret world out there that is completely unknown by most women – an entire forbidden underground where men act out their most secret desires online.  'The Girl in 6E' didn't even touch on most of the crazy fetishes that exists, most of which deeply embarrass these men, to the point where they can only confess them to a stranger.  As far as the murderous aspect of DeAnna – as I began writing the story she morphed into this really dark individual, her character really wrote herself.

 

Q: We saw at the end of the b…

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The Air He Breathes was chosen as the BingeBooks February 2021 Book Club read. As part of the book club, author Brittainy Cherry did a live chat and interview with readers and host Alessandra Torre. it was a fantastic half-hour event followed by smaller private discussions by readers.

 

If you're interested in a future BingeBooks book club, visit https://bingebooks.com/pages/join-bingebooks-book-club and join the connected group here.

 

 

Here is the full transcript of author Brittainy Cherry's live chat about The Air He Breathes:

 

 

Alessandra: Hi, everyone. We're going to let the room fill up but welcome to Binge Books. My name is Alessandra Torre. I'm here today with Brittainy Cherry and we're going to be talking all about The Air He Breathes. So I'm so excited to have you guy…

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The Ghostwriter is one of my most popular novels, and a great pick for book clubs!

Discover the book (and read a sample!) here: https://bingebooks.com/book/the-ghostwriter 

Please see below, a list of questions you may want to use for your club. Also below - some fun facts about the novel! If you have any other questions you used, please email them to me - I'd love to add more questions to this short list. 

Thank you for your support! 

Alessandra 

BOOK CLUB QUESTIONS:

  • How did you feel about Helena's mother? Do you feel as though she was in the right - trying to restrict Helena's time with Bethany? Do you think Helena was justified in cutting off contact with her after that day? Do you think she was a good mother? A good grandmother?
  • How different do you think the Ghostwriter/Auth…

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A new bookish day, Historical Mystery Day, will take place on September 29, 2021. It will be the first annual celebration of Historical Mystery Day, a time for bookworms, librarians, and booksellers to celebrate historical mysteries!⠀⠀⠀

As a reader and author, I'm hooked on historical mysteries and decided the world needed a day dedicated to celebrating the genre.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Historical mysteries are novels written by contemporary authors with a mystery plot that are set in the past. The genre is booming and readers love escaping into the past to solve mysteries.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Why September 29th? It's Elizabeth Peters' birthday! She's one of authors who helped popularize the genre with her Amelia Peabody series. If you have't read Crocodile on the Sandbank, you should add it to your TBR list lis…

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I use a pseudonym. I’ve never made a secret of it. I flipped through a baby names book and picked something that sounded fancy.

I DID A TERRIBLE JOB OF PICKING A PSEUDONYM.

There. I said it. Damn you, baby book. Damn you, worldwide success that makes it impossible for me to now change my pseudonym. Okay, I take back that last statement. I’ll keep my success and deal with the headache of my pseudonym quite happily.

It’s not an easy job picking a pseudo, but it’s something that is often done with little or no thought.

So please, let me help you out.

1.     Don’t pick something that is difficult or impossible to pronounce. I’ve heard ten different pronunciations of both my first and last fake name. With every radio interview, I’m asked the proper way to pronounce it. Honestly, I DON…

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The world has gone mad and "censorship" is the word that is flitting around the romance community.

Just this week...

  • Amazon's new policy has stripped any erotica titles of exposure and hides them into impossible-to-find corners of their store. 
  • Microsoft is banning user profanity and nudity from Skype, X-box chat, and One-Drive. 
  • Radish is kicking off any content that contains sexy times designed to arouse, versus elicit emotional feelings. 

And it's only Wednesday. 

Angry fingers are pointing toward Congress's passage of the FOSTA (Fight Online Sex Trafficking) Act as the cause. The act (especially when combined with the SESTA - Stop Enabling Sex Trafficking) Act, is holding platforms (like the Apple Store, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google Play) responsible for their user's action…

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