Playing Charlie Cool
by Laurie Boris
Categories: Literary Fiction
Word count: 75,000
Television producer Charlie Trager knows he’s lucky to have a successful career and good friends and family who support him. The man he loves, however, is not so lucky. Joshua Goldberg suffers the spite of an ex-wife gunning to keep him from their two children…and maybe Charlie. Determined not to let Joshua go, Charlie crafts a scheme that could remove the obstacles to their relationship…or destroy their love forever.
Playing Charlie Cool is available from Amazon.com and Amazon UK.
Laurie, how did you come up with the title for your book? Does it have any special meaning?
After brainstorming over 300 titles, Playing Charlie Cool popped into my head during a long walk. It fits on a few levels. The prequel is The Picture of Cool; Charlie is called “Charlie Cool” at his television-producer job, where he sometimes feels he’s playing a role.
Who was your favorite character and why?
I adore Charlie. He’s kind, smart, witty, charming, a tad impatient, and I love working with him. In this story, though, I enjoyed getting to know Joshua. He’s more deliberative than Charlie, and like me tends to worry too much and overthink everything. It was an opportunity to explore that.
Does your book have any underlying theme, message, or moral?
I didn’t intend a message or moral. Because of what the characters go through, the book touches on themes of marriage equality, divorce, ambition versus family life, and if love is really enough when everything goes south.
What would/could a reader or reviewer say about this book that shows they “get” you as an author?
Every reader comes away with something different, but when I see reviews that talk about the characters feeling real, that they enjoyed reading the story despite the categories and labels, and would recommend it to friends…then I know a reader gets it.
Give us an excerpted quote from your favorite review of this book:
“There is a beautiful sweetness in the writing of Laurie Boris. Her characters are imbued with a deep down goodness that’s endearing to read.”
Where can people learn more about your writing?
http://laurieboris.com
Love Charlie – and the other characters.
Thank you, Yvonne! 😀
Thank you for featuring Charlie today! 😀
Wonderful story. We all love Charlie. How can we not??????
Nice page guys! 😉
Thank you, Brenda! Don’t they do a sweet job?
Yay! Laurie. Nice feature. Tweeted, Facebooked and Google+.
Thank you, Jackie! 😀
“Is love really enough when everything goes south?” That statement alone makes me want to read your books, Laurie. Like you said, it’s wonderful when someone reads your story and “gets it.” Congrats and best wishes for continued success!
Thank you, Linda Lee. Seems like a theme I like going back to.
Great book. Really enjoyed it – and the others. We want more Charlie!
Add me to the long list of Charlie Trager fans! All of Laurie’s characters come fully to life on the page. Highly recommended – not just this book, but the whole series!
Thank you, Candace! We might have to get T-shirts for the fan club.