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Packin’ For Dallas

Next week, I’m headed to Dallas, TX for the Romance Writers of America National Conference. I’ve skipped the last two because in 2005 I was this close to giving birth to the Little Dude. (He arrived three weeks later.) In 2006, we went on our first family road trip to the haunted cottage in Carmel.
Anyway when I attended my first RWA conference in New York, I was a lost little lamb with a book that no one seemed to want. (Click here for how I almost didn’t sell my first book.) So I created a soundtrack with stuff like Hand In My Pocket by Alanis Morrisette (“I’m young and I’m underpaid; I’m tired but I’m working, yeah!”) and Celebrity Skin by Hole (“I’m not selling cheap, no I’m not selling cheap”). As you can see, I needed a little attitude to my then, flagging spirits.
My second conference was ironically Dallas, when I was technically a published author but my book wasn’t coming for another six months. My soundtrack was much more subdued than the previous with songs like Everyday Is A Winding Road by Sheryl Crow (“Everyday is a winding road, I get a little bit closer … Everyday is a fated sign”).
If you haven’t been to a national writer’s conference, the atmosphere is electric. You can smell the hope and the expectations and unfortunately, the crushing disappointment when the story a writer has put her heart and soul into doesn’t fly. No matter what happened to me at my past conferences, I always came back with renewed energy to write my buns off.
So while I’m supposed to be polishing chapters 26 thru 29 this morning, I thought I’d share the soundtrack that I’ll take with me to Dallas that has a little edge, a little sweetness and a lot of fun.
  1. Fighter by Christina Aguilera (“Made me learn a little bit faster…Made my skin a little bit thicker…Makes me that much smarter…So thanks for making me a fighter”)
  2. What You Waiting For by Gwen Stefani (“Take a chance, you stupid ho!”)
  3. Head Over Heels by The Go-Go’s
  4. Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson (“I’ll spread my wings and I’ll learn how to fly”)
  5. Bad Girls by Donna Summer
  6. How Bad Do You Want It by Tim McGraw (“Every night I give my heart and soul and sometimes it ain’t enough”)
  7. We Got The Beat by The Go-Go’s
  8. The Long Way Around by The Dixie Chicks
  9. Gone by Madonna (“Turn to stone…Lose my faith…I’ll be gone…Before it happens”)

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More Tease Please!

An extended excerpt of Switchcraft is now up and so is your last chance to win a signed ARC of this eagerly awaited book (yes, the one with all that damn cussin’!).

Sorry, that was catty of me. But wait till you read the love scene in chapter 24!

Go play.

Besitos,
Mary

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And in other news…

Switchcraft received an early review at Blogcritics!

Check it out:

Book Review: Switchcraft by Mary Castillo
Written by Jill HartPublished June 27, 2007

Mary Castillo, a hot new Latina novelist, shakes things up with her newest title, Switchcraft. Castillo gives chick-lit a twist as her heroines, Nely and Aggie, end up in each other’s bodies.

Nely and Aggie have been friends for years, but have grown apart since the birth of Nely’s baby. In an effort to reclaim their friendship, and also in hopes of speaking to her dead mother, Aggie signs them up for a weekend getaway at Guru Sauro’s New Age Spa.Once they arrive at the spa, things go a little haywire. During their session with the guru, they end up “switched.” They confront the guru, who says he can’t switch them back until the next new moon, 28 days later.

There is nothing they can do but try to muddle through living each other’s lives. Aggie (in Nely’s body) must care for 18-month-old Audrey, avoid the advances of Nely’s husband, and fend off her control-freak mother-in-law. Can she manage it without wrecking Nely’s marriage?

Nely (in Aggie’s body) heads to Aggie’s boutique. What she finds is a lack of customers and a store going down the tube. Can she come up with a plan to save Aggie’s business? And how will she handle Kevin, a man she despises, but who Aggie considers a good friend? Can she successfully avoid him without costing Aggie her friendship?

Switchcraft has a unique plot – a little bit Freaky Friday, but way more fun. The only thing I didn’t like about the book was the overuse of curse words. Not my taste, and it broke my concentration when reading. Overall, I loved the plot and the twists in the storyline. A great book for chick-lit fans.

***
Obviously its too late to do anything about it, but what is your opinion on cussing in books? It doesn’t bother me because I grew up around fire fighters and they probably rival sailors for worst potty mouth. I’m not much of a cusser – I believe they should be saved for an emergency – but I feel that if the character speaks that way, then as an author you have to go with it.

Cheers,
Mary

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Stickin’ To It

Even when you publish one book, or two, your writing career is far from assured. Some books take off and get all the glory. Others make a quiet, polite entrance but no one takes notice even though it’s a stunner between the pages.

Marha Moyer gave a candid interview about her struggles to write and then publish the third book in her beautifully-written Lucy Hatch series. If you want a summer read that is wise, funny, sexy and gripping, get yourself a copy of Heartbreak Town. Even better, get The Second Coming of Lucy Hatch and The Last of the Honky Tonk Angels. But beware, once you start a book by Marsha Moyer, you won’t be able to stop.

Artwork courtesy of Art.com

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Virtual Booksigning for Names I Call My Sister

The girls and I decided to celebrate National Sisters Day (Aug. 5th) by holding a virtual booksigning. All you have to do is purchase a copy of Names I Call My Sister and then make a photocopy of the receipt.

On an index card, legibly print or type the following information:
Your Name:
Your preferred mailing address:
Email address: (In case we have any questions)
For whom should we autograph the book?

Prepare a self-addressed, stamped 6 x 9 envelope and mail it along with the index card and the photocopy of your receipt no later than July 15, 2007 to:

Sofia Quintero
c/o Chica Luna Productions
1690 Lexington Avenue, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10029

We will send you a personalized bookplate with the signature of all four authors.

When the bookplate arrives, peel off the back, stick on the inside front cover, and enjoy!

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Pardon My Dust!

My Mariachi story is still under de-construction, hence my absence from Chica Lit. But I did find fifty pages to cut and I’m really excited because it will make the story much more tense and exciting. Well, I think so.

Anyway, I’m guest blogging about inspiring heroines at Romantic Inks.

See ya there.

Love,
Mary

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NEWS FLASH: First Look

Thank you so much to Ruth Kaufman for letting me know this morning that Switchcraft is a Harper Collins First Look read. And for you, dear reader, that gives you the chance to read it before anyone else!

But you have to be a member of the program and then write a review of the book, which I’ll exploit ruthlessly in my bid to become a best-selling author. Hey, I gotta kid to feed and he isn’t cheap!

Adios,
Mary
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IT’S DONE!

Well, almost.
I’m smiling because I finished this rewrite. (In my experience, there are always more.) But it is so close to what I envisioned that I almost cried as I wrote the last line. Which, by the way I have done with every story except for two. And they never sold so that must mean something.

My problem, however, is that this story a bit long (448 manuscript pages) and I think it might need an epilogue. But I don’t know what happens in the epilogue.

Anyway, for now I’ll enjoy the feeling that I’ve gone from beginning to end and lived to tell the tale. Maybe I’ll do something crazy this afternoon like watch Oprah!

Nah. My tomatoes need watering and I need to track down some pictures.

Cheers,
Mary
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Where am I?

I’m sorry for going MIA but I’m deep into my book. Anne Rice calls her writing process “going underground” and that’s pretty much where I’ve been.

But I had a great booksigning at Bay Books in Coronado Friday night. I met a buddy from high school and was reminded of the Cheeto-stained copy of White Squaw that had made the rounds in junior high. (I never saw it but I’d heard of its existence!)

Also my interview with actress, Gina Ravera is in this month’s issue of Tu Ciudad magazine. It was such a kick to get to know the woman behind the character of Det. Irene Daniels from The Closer. (One of my all-time favorite TV shows!) The new season starts on June 18th on TNT, but if you want to catch up, seasons one and two are on DVD.

I’ll be laying low for the next week or so. But then I’ll be back with a vengeance.
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Not much to say…

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