Who is Tina Bendoni?

I really don't lead a very exciting life, so there isn't much to tell about me. I am married with one cat that thinks she needs to be the center of attention whenever I am on the computer. My husband is my biggest supporter and fan, and always has been.

I have been making up worlds as far back as I can remember. Whether it was a pretend language and planet for my baby cousin, a play for my high school, or stories to entertain myself at night when I couldn't sleep, I have always enjoyed making other worlds come to life.

I grew up reading anything and everything I could get my hands on. It didn't matter if it was beyond or below me in years, I read it. I swear I am the only person I know that read All Quiet on the Western Front before eighth grade. And, no, I don't remember any of it, probably didn't understand all of it either. The point was it was something to read. I probably got it somewhere for a dime, and it was a big book, something to keep me entertained.

My mother used to buy books for me at yard sales. I remember Harlequins being sold at at them for pennies a copy. They were cheap, they kept me busy, my mom bought them. By the time I was in Junior High I had graduated to "smut books" as a friend called them, and in high school I eventually moved away from romance.

It took me a long time to get back into romance, but I have since found that the genre has changed. There are still those bodice rippers/forced seduction/dubious consent/capture fantasies, but then there are other kinds.

The ones where the woman knows what she wants and goes for it. Where a woman doesn't depend on a man to rescue her or to be the answer all her prayers. The ones where there is no doubt in your mind she wants what is going to happen, and she is going for it with all her gusto.

Those are the kind I write.

 

© 2006-2008 Tina Bendoni