M.J. RICHARDS is the pen name for the screenwriting team of M.J. Anderson & Richard Rossner. They are writer-producers of film and television with several movies and TV Series to their credit, including co-writing the family feature film, “How to Beat a Bully” and the romantic comedy, “Cold Feet.” They wrote their mystery-thriller novel, Dishonor Thy Father, with co-author Mike Robinson.

M.J. (aka Marilyn Anderson) wrote multiple episodes of Friday the 13th – the Series. On the lighter side, she wrote for Murphy Brown, FAME, and Sherman Oaks, and she was on the writing staff of the series Carol & Company, starring Carol Burnett. Marilyn is the author of the humorous relationship book,”Never Kiss a Frog: A Girl’s Guide to Creatures from the Dating Swamp,” published in 10 countries. She also wrote the personal finance book, How to Live Like a MILLIONAIRE When You’re a Million Short. Marilyn is also an accomplished speaker, travel reporter and playwright. She was honored by the Writers Guild of America as a writer of one of the 101 Best Written TV Series of the Past Seven Decades. She also won a LUMINAS Award for the Positive Depiction of Women in Film & TV by the organization Women in Film.

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Dishonor Thy Father – New Multicultural Mystery-Thriller Inspired by Real-Life Issue of Honor Killings

Inspired by the controversial subject of honor killings, the new mystery-thriller novel Dishonor Thy Father spans three decades and two continents as it boldly explores contemporary issues of ethnicity, sexism, spirituality, and social mores in today’s complex and heated political environment.
An honor killing – sadly still accepted in some societies – is killing a daughter or wife for perceived “unchaste” behavior that brings dishonor to the family name. In these cases, the perpetrator is most often not held accountable nor prosecuted in any way. True-life stories of honor killings have been reported within the past few months in The Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and other newspapers worldwide.
In Dishonor Thy Father, the story begins as a 15-year-old Iranian girl is viciously attacked by her father for holding a boy’s hand. In running to escape certain death, she undertakes a dangerous journey to a new land with unfamiliar customs, where she must hide the truth from everyone she meets.
Twenty years later, amid racial tensions in a Los Angeles hospital, a female Muslim doctor is murdered, sparking a controversial police investigation. The lead investigator, Detective Michael Tucci, finds himself compromising both his job and his life as he embroils himself in an affair with the beautiful Dr. Tara White, the victim’s associate, who could be the killer’s next target.
Yasmine Mohammed Ex-Muslim, Human Rights Activist, Founder of Free Hearts, Free Minds said about the novel: “Though this story is fictional, thousands of women across the globe are real life victims of honor violence and honor killing every year. Hopefully Dishonor Thy Father will help shed some light on this atrocity that is rarely addressed.”
Phyllis Chesler, noted feminist, Professor of Psychology & Women’s Studies, and author of the bestselling Women and Madness and A Family Conspiracy: Honor Killing says: “This dramatic, fast-paced novel tells a dangerous tale like real ones that take place in Iran, Turkey and even sunny Southern California. The female characters are well-educated and dimensional, and an obsessed LA detective is on the case—here they all are, in living, cinematic color!”
The authors of Dishonor Thy Father, Mike Robinson & M.J. Richards, have an interesting story of how they developed the novel. After reading several articles about true-life honor killings, they wanted to help bring more awareness to the abhorrent custom. As screenwriters, they created a treatment for a feature film. However, they realized it would take more time and significantly more money to get the film produced. So they decided to write the novel first.
Both paperback and eBook versions of Dishonor Thy Father debuted August 17th, 2020 on Amazon and are soon to be on other platforms and in stores. For the books on Amazon, visit dishonorthyfather.com

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