THE BASIC STORY LINE When sixteen-year-old Justine Giordano's father, the head of the Andromeda Motion Picture Studio, commits suicide, her life is plunged into turmoil. She and her mother Amanda, a self-destructive alcoholic, are thrown into a state of near poverty. Also, Justine takes on the responsibility of rescuing her surrogate mother, Guadalupe, from her abusive husband. A beautiful, intelligent, and willful young woman, Justine is determined to climb the ladder of success. She is hungry for fame and money. A talented actress, she is willing to use sex to advance her career. Her mother accuses her of becoming a Hollywood whore, and there is quite a bit of truth in the statement. Justine's life becomes increasingly complicated by an unplanned pregnancy. Does the child belong to studio head Carl Silverstein? Or, does the child belong to the man she really loves, the struggling writer Steve Mirzoyan? Silverstein doesn't really care if he's the father or not. But he wants custody of the baby. Mirzoyan sees thing differently. A former captain in Army Intelligence, he has his own way of dealing with Silverstein. The story line is laced with adultery, betrayal, and death. Justine is a risk taker, ruthless in her own way, and often bites off more than she can chew. This is the story of her struggle to reinvent her life. CHARACTERS As most of us know, novels, movies, and stories draw their vitality from characters. Who can forget the half-mad Captain Ahab in Herman Melville's Moby Dick, or the feisty Scarlett O'Hara in Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind, the all-enduring Mother Joad in John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, or the tormented Dr. Jekyll in Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? Below are the prominent characters in Forever Justine. JUSTINE GIORDANO. Justine is the protagonist of the story. As indicated above, she is beautiful, intelligent, and willful. Down deep she has a good heart, but she plays loose and fast with her moral life in order to achieve selfish goals. She is not quick to fall in love. But when she does, she falls hard. RICHARD GIORDANO. Richard, the Great Giordano, is Justine's father and the head of the Andromeda Movie Studio. Charismatic, brilliant, and talented, he commits suicide. AMANDA GIORDANO. Amanda is Justine's mother. She is a self-destructive alcoholic. She survives by making a play for the family attorney, Uncle Nathan. LAURA HARDY. Laura is Richard's mistress. Originally from the east side of New York City, she is now a movie star. She befriends Justine. GABRIEL MORGANSTERN. "Gabe" is Justine's high-school boyfriend. Has a slight stutter. When Justine tries to seduce him in order to lose her virginity, he stutters and does not follow through. GUADALUPE. Guadalupe is the family cook and housekeeper. Guadalupe loves Justine and can't bear to be parted from her. ERNESTO. Ernesto, Guadalupe's husband, is a cruel, heartless, abusive, lazy man. NATHAN LEBOWITZ. "Uncle Nathan," obese and kindly, is the family attorney. He has a crush on Amanda. BERNIE KATZEN. Bernie is Justine's agent. A former dancer and singer, he willingly helps Justine lose her virginity. He and Justine agree this is a necessary step for career advancement. DAVID ACKROYD. He is the English director of Justine's first movie, "In the Days of the Caves." Justine cooperates with Ackroyd's seductive advances. CARL SILVERSTEIN. Silverstein is the head of the Saturn Studio. He is a complex, manipulative man with a master's degree in philosophy. Justine has sex with Silverstein in order to further her career. STEPAN MIRZOYAN. "Steve" is a writer and former captain in Army Intelligence. He is poor, struggling, and the real love of Justine's life.
About the Author: Frank J. Bruno is the author of seven novels including A Kiss to Build a Death On, My Life in a Madhouse, Young Freud, and The Old Man Who Flirted with Young Waitresses. He has a Ph.D. in psychology. He is also the author of twelve nonfiction psychology books.