Beth Fantaskey is the author of Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, Jekel Loves Hyde, and the newly released Jessica Rules the Dark Side. Her reply to my recent query about what she's been reading: Right now, I am under the gun to finish my doctoral dissertation, which is dictating everything that I read. (If I don’t finish by May, I’ve wasted seven years of schooling!) Anyway, my subject is female crime reporters of the 1920s, so the last book I read is The Girls of Murder City: Crime, Lust and the Beautiful Killers Who Inspired “Chicago”. It’s about two 1920s killings – and subsequent trials – that inspired reporter Maurine Watkins to write the musical “Chicago.” It’s written in aLearn more about the author and her work at Beth Fantaskey's website.rat-tat-tat style that’s reminiscent of old gangster movies, so it read almost like a work of fiction. However, I was most interested in the strong female characters – good and bad – who dominate the narrative, since the goal of my dissertation is to prove that as early as the Prohibition Era, a group of overlooked women were reporting hard news on equal terms with men. Interestingly, I also like to write about strong girls in my novels. I guess it’s a bit of a cause with me!
My Book, The Movie: Jessica Rules the Dark Side.
--Marshal Zeringue
Posts
