New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Bella Luce Productions) At the tender age of 67, award-winning author, Lourdes Duque Baron, released her second book, "I Called Myself Cassandra," on June 14, 2014 at a kickoff event in Hollywood, California. The book is a real life story, through the eyes of Baron's alter ego Cassandra, and follows the falling in and out of love of a young woman who tells a seductive story about her encounters and affairs in her quest to mend her broken heart. Baron's debut album, entitled "Andrew Lane presents
Feeling Good At Any Age," parallels the story in the book and was released in July 2014. However, the official version will be fully released in
September 2014 and will include three original songs co-written and performed by Baron. With the official release of the Filipino-singer's album, others will discover what Lane calls "an amalgam of sound that is genuinely fresh to the ears." The CD will be available on iTunes, Amazon and MTV here. The album is also up for a Grammy nod in over 14 categories.
As an accomplished author of two books, Baron is refreshingly candid about the realities and dark past of her life. In the book, Baron's alter ego, Cassandra, details the several torrid affairs she sought out with younger men. The book chronicles a dark chapter of Baron's life when she was estranged from her husband, who was cheating on her. The stories in the book are true from her life; she lived every page of the book. Baron explains, "It's a memory of my reality."
Baron talks about the pain she felt as a result of her husband's infidelities. "There were times when the pain was unbearable. Usually, those were the times when I foolishly tried to mask this pain with the temporary physical bliss and a false validation I received from men."
Baron drew upon these experiences when choosing the songs for her first album. Baron's smoky arrangements are analogous to her struggles during a dark period when she was estranged from her husband and chronicled in her book, "I Called Myself Cassandra" - detailing the wrong turns and heartaches that have allowed her to recognize the gifts in her life and the message of a new sunrise. The title song from her debut album echoes these same experiences. "I wanted to make the songs of this album, including 'Feeling Good,' like they're chapters in a book, to try to really capture what I'm thinking about in that season of life," she explains. "This record, to me, is probably one of the most interesting subject-wise. It's a bit retrospective and honors musicians and classics of the past."
When Baron sits back to survey her experiences from this chapter in her life, the emotion that rises is one of gratitude. "I Called Myself Cassandra details the wrong turns and heartaches that have allowed her to recognize the gifts in her life and the message of a new sunrise.
"I Called Myself Cassandra" is published by Baron House Publishing Corporation and is available on Amazon and in bookstores as well as the Lourdes Duque Baron Official Website.
