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Author Mary Castillo Rob Holden: Mary Castillo, welcome to ReadersRoom.com. It's a pleasure to have you with us here today! Mary Castillo: Thank you for having me. Rob Holden: I would like to start this chat off by talking about your book Hot Tamara. Can you tell our readers a bit about it? Mary Castillo: Hot Tamara is about a Mexican American woman who has been living her life based entirely on her family's expectations. When she realizes that she's getting older and her life is going in the way she doesn't want to go, she bravely (albeit) secretly applies to USC for her Masters in Fine Arts and starts a chain reaction of events leading up to her moving away. For a traditional family such as hers, you leave when you get married. But living in LA isn't all that it's cracked up to be and then she meets her high school crush. When an unexpected career opportunity comes her way, Tamara has to decide between the career and the man of her dreams. Natalie R. Collins: Mary, you've also sold a book to St. Martin's. Can you tell us a little about that? Mary Castillo: Friday Night Chicas is the first "chica lit" anthology featuring my novella, My Favorite Mistake as well as three amazing Latina authors, Caridad Pineiro, Berta Platas and Sofia Quintero. If you look at the cover of the book, my heroine Isela is on the far left. She is a very different character than Tamara in that she's much harder and in a much more desperate situation. Also, this was the first time I'd ever written in first person! Natalie R. Collins: Anthologies are "all the rage" in publishing today, and it seems to be very good for an author's career. Did you like the experience?

Mary Castillo: At first when I agreed to it, I wondered what I'd gotten myself into! I'd never written a short story - ever - because they scared me. But after having faced the challenge, I'm very proud of this story and my fellow authors' works. The fun part about an anthology project is working with other authors. Once everyone was set in place, we immediately got in touch via email and shared our trials and tribulations during the writing process. I've yet to meet them in "real life" but I think we all feel that we know each other very well.

Natalie R. Collins: Okay, switching gears a bit Mary, let's talk about the frontiers you are exploring. There has been very little "Latina Lit" up until now. Have you found it difficult to break this ground?

Mary Castillo: When I finished Hot Tamara back in December 02, I would wander through the bookstores looking for books like mine. Kensington's Encanto imprint had been folded and there was no such thing as Latina Lit at that time So I targeted agents who were looking for chick lit (and even that was a stretch because Hot Tamara is what I call a chick lit romance) with my fingers crossed. Nine said no but one saw potential if I made it "more Latina". And then in May 2003 Alisa Valdes Rodriguez came out with Dirty Girls Social Club and it was like the industry had this epiphany of Latina Lit. That agent rejected Hot Tamara a week before the RWA National conference in New York because it wasn't "Latina enough" and she couldn't see it going anywhere in the marketplace. So it has been books such as Dirty Girls, Lynda Sandoval's Unsettling and (I hope) Hot Tamara that will open doors. The ironic thing is that I've already received emails from women who are Indian American, black, Jewish, Chinese, white and Latina who swore I've based Tamara on their experiences. It's very gratifying because women have a universal experience of having families who might be a wit bit over protective when they're dating as well as a perception of maybe not performing as well in a male dominated profession.

Natalie R. Collins: That is a good thing, as it will have crossover appeal! Mary, I've also spent time as a journalist, and more than one reviewer has commented on how it affected my writing style. Do you think that is true for you?

Mary Castillo: My brief reporting career made me a much more efficient writer. When the deadline was five minutes ago and my editor sent me on a breaking story, there was no time for goal, motivation or conflict or outlining. Not that I don't use those techniques in my fiction, but I noticed that when I sit down to write, I don't fiddle around waiting for my muse to show up.

Natalie R. Collins: Mary, since you suffered some early rejection, like all writers, what advice would you offer those who are looking to sell a book to a New York publisher?

Mary Castillo: Understand two things: don't take rejection personally and that rejection is part of the business because publishing is a very subjective business. In other words, one editor's trash is another's treasure. I think I've been able to roll with the punches because I had started in screenwriting at USC. That is a hardcore bunch of critics because your classmates are your competitors as is your instructor. So when you've been ripped apart as I had been both in screenwriting and later as a reporter (where one guy actually called me late one night threatening to come down and show me how wrong I was ... yikes!), you learn how to laugh things off. Also, I think those 17 rejections of Hot Tamara prepared me for the one-star reviewers on Amazon.com who if you look up their past reviews, are obviously bitter unpublished writers!

Natalie R. Collins: So Mary, with your experience in screenwriting, do you have any intention of returning to that ever again?

Mary Castillo: Not really. Movies are a director's medium and as a screenwriter, you create the foundation. There are very, very few screenwriters such as Randall Wallace, who have the weight to protect their work. But I prefer the novel format.

Natalie R. Collins: So tell us what you are working on now.

Mary Castillo: Last week I turned in In Between Men, the follow up to Hot Tamara which features Isa. That was such a fun book to write even though it kept getting put on hold for copyedits to Hot Tamara, the writing of My Favorite Mistake, etc. I've already received emails from readers who want to know what happens to Isa and her little boy, Andrew. Unless Avon decides otherwise, you'll find out in March 2006!

Natalie R. Collins: Your fans will be thrilled!

Mary Castillo: I'm revising two books right now. One is a young adult about a Newport Beach princess who learns that she is the last of an ancient lineage of curanderas (healers). The other is about a musician who "almost was" and is trying to restart her career when her past catches up with her. Two very different books that at the moment are driving me nuts!

Natalie R. Collins: So Mary, are you now writing full time?

Mary Castillo:Yes. It's a little scary at times ... okay, I lied, it can be terrifying. But I freelance to keep in my hand in journalism and it's a dream come true. There were days when I'd go to my "real job" and have that Scarlett O'Hara moment when I'd swear as God as my witness, I'd be a full time writer!

Natalie R. Collins: What kind of schedule do you set yourself, during the day, as you write? Do you have a set word count?

Mary Castillo: I'm your typical Capricorn, all work no play. So I'm in the chair by 8:30 and depending on what business I need to take care of (lately there has been a lot now that Hot Tamara is out), I'm writing at the latest by 10. I average about four hours of writing and another two of revision so I can be done by 5 or 5:30. I used to have a word count and even had an Excel spreadsheet that would tell me how I was doing but it gave me a complex. So I went back to the system I had with Hot Tamara where I just write the number of pages I've written in a journal. But because I'm revising right now, my focus is quality.

Natalie R. Collins: Well, Mary, as we wrap this chat up, is there anything you wish to say to your new fans?

Mary Castillo: Thank you so much for reading my work and I sincerely hope you enjoy Tamara and Will. I wish Will was a real man as many of you have asked, but if he was, he'd be mine ... all mine! Also, please feel welcome to drop by my website, www.marycastillo.com where I have some special "behind the book" features on Hot Tamara, a contest, and excerpts of upcoming books.

Natalie R. Collins: Mary, thank you for taking the time to chat with ReadersRoom.com, and best of luck in the future.

Mary Castillo: Thank you so much Natalie and Rob! This was pretty cool.




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