Category: News

Other than the Little Dude and I are recovering from colds. But I finished revising Act II of my Mariachi story and I’m now deep into Act III.

If you haven’t entered my latest contest, hurry on over before Thursday. I’m giving away signed coverflats and will select ten names to be entered into the grand prize drawing: a signed ARC of Switchcraft that the lucky winner will receive a month before the official release!

What else? Oh yeah, if you’re down in San Diego and have nothing to do Friday night, come on down to Bay Books in Coronado where I’ll be reading from and signing copies of Names I Call My Sister. All the details are here.

Signing out till next time …

Mary

There are some new updates with the release of Names I Call My Sister.

Check out the pearls and my nifty ‘do on SiTv’s On the Up segments.

Bestest friend and writer extraordinare, Jen Mahal shares a little about our friendship at One Page at a Time. (Love you, man!)

Crafty Chica and good friend, Kathy Cano Murrillo interviewed me on her blog.

I guest blogged at A Slice of Orange today.

And finally…

There’s a sneak peek of Switchcraft posted on my website!

Is this a bitchin’ cover or what?

Cheers,

Mary

P.S. If you’re in Laguna Beach, come meet me this Saturday at 11 a.m. at Latitude 33. Click here for the details.

I’ll have a fourth book on the shelves. How crazy is that?

In all honesty, I can’t quite wrap my mind around it. Maybe I’m hormonal today, but I still feel like a newbie writer checking and then rechecking her lottery ticket to make sure the numbers are right. The stories never get easier, nor do my characters become more cooperative. Also, the thrill of reading an email from a reader never lessens.

In short, this whole author thing is much cooler than a day job. And man, am I grateful to be where I am today.

But wait! My SíTv segment will air tomorrow through the 10th and then again on the 12th and 13th. On The Up isn’t scheduled at a regular time; it just pops up between shows and commercial breaks. But I’ll have a copy to post online soon.

Salud!

Mary

I’ll have a fourth book on the shelves. How crazy is that?

In all honesty, I can’t quite wrap my mind around it. Maybe I’m hormonal today, but I still feel like a newbie writer checking and then rechecking her lottery ticket to make sure the numbers are right. The stories never get easier, nor do my characters become more cooperative. Also, the thrill of reading an email from a reader never lessens.

In short, this whole author thing is much cooler than a day job. And man, am I grateful to be where I am today.

But wait! My SíTv segment will air tomorrow through the 10th and then again on the 12th and 13th. On The Up isn’t scheduled at a regular time; it just pops up between shows and commercial breaks. But I’ll have a copy to post online soon.

Salud!

Mary

…because Names I Call My Sister will be unleashed on the reading public and all I can think about before I go to sleep are all the things I wish that I’d written differently.

I do this to myself with every book. And I have a feeling that it will only be worse with Switchcraft because it came from a deep and very personal place in my heart.

Cheers,
Mary

Dudes, I’m going to be interviewed for Si Tv’s “On The Up!”

So at 11:30 a.m. (PST) on Tuesday, think good thoughts that I don’t (a) have lipstick on my teeth, (b) babble or (c) forget that the title of my book is Names I Call My Sister. (Repeat to self!)

The last time I was interviewed on TV it was for Good Morning Arizona during my Hot Tamara book tour. I was fifteen weeks pregnant with the Little Dude and during the live segment, he started kicking me. It was hard not to grab my stomach and tell all of Arizona that I felt my passenger move for the first time.

In a way, I’m a bit sad that I’ll be flying solo this time around.

Oh and I found a red, wrap dress (ala Diane von Furstenberg) at Le Target. I’m trying to decide if I should go with pearls or a chunky, arty piece.

Cheers,
Mary

I cleaned, cooked and then wore bunny ears while herding five small children hopped up on chocolate and God knows what else through an Easter egg hunt.

No lives were lost in the hunt.

And we had a blast!

But before the weekend began I got this … uh, if you haven’t clicked on link, here’s your second hint.

This week I’ve been in deep revision mode and I was on deadline for an article that will be published in the June/July issue of Tu Ciudad! Busy! Busy!

But the other day I was nosing around online and came across a message posted from a writer who asked when do we know a story is any good? How do you know if its worth pursuing?

For me, it’s gut instinct. If the characters come to life and refuse to go away until I finish their story, then I know this is a journey I have to complete. I don’t judge if the story is “good” or “bad.” My agent does that for me. How I feel is that every story and character who has come into my life has done so for a reason.

Right after I turned in In Between Men (waaay back in September 2004), I wrote a drama about two sisters who never knew the other existed until their father was diagnosed with cancer. I loved the characters Dori and Sela, but the story was so so. I talked to my agent about it she asked me what I was doing writing a heavy-handed drama when I’ve been writing comedies? Unfortunately, she has a really annoying tendency to be right and that story has since become an organ donor.

But I missed those sisters. Five or six months later, I was at a wedding and while eavesdropping on a conversation, found the story for Sela and Dori. Next month, “Till Death Do Us Part” will be inflicted on the reading public in Names I Call My Sister.

I’m not sure if I successfully answered this question. For those of you writing out there, how do you know if your story is “good enough”?