Mary Castillo – audiobook narrator and author

A new moon was breaking when I arrived in New York last Monday.

The only time I sat down this past week in New York was in a cab, watching The Color Purple and riding the Grey Line tour through Manhattan. The first day I dropped mom and our friend, Georgia off at Martha Stewart Omnimedia. They didn’t get to meet Martha herself, but they did see her office and cooked in the Everyday Food kitchen.

I walked uptown to meet my editors, Carrie Feron and Tessa Woodward for lunch and stopped to change to my shoes at the Hilton New York. As I walked through the doors and then sat in the lobby, I remembered how I had pitched Hot Tamara to Avon’s editorial staff three years ago. I never felt fear like I had that day. But I was determined because I was starting to doubt that Hot Tamara would be published, never daring to imagine that I would arrive at a place where I’d be planning my fourth release! It was a moment when I stopped fretting about goals I hadn’t yet achieved and realized how far I’ve come from being a shy little girl from National City, to a published author on her way to have lunch with her New York editors.

I still get chills.

When I arrived at Harper Collins, I was warmly greeted by Tessa and Carrie. I also met Publisher Liate Stehlik, Pam and Sherry from Publicity and Adrienne from Marketing, all who made me feel very welcome. When I send off Switchcraft, I know it is going to a place where it will be loved and nurtured.

The next day, I did my first ever New York booksigning in the original Barnes & Noble store. When I walked up to the front counter with the two copies of Hot Tamara they had in stock, they seemed perplexed when I asked if I could sign them. The manager told me that authors usually come in through the backdoor with their “people.” I told him that my people were on the boat to the Statue of Liberty.

For lunch I met up with my agent, Jenny Bent. She put a little seed in my head about possibly dipping into my old projects file and dusting off a historical I had written nine years ago. But first I have to write my mariachi story, then a sequel to Friday Night Chicas and then a ghost story … in short, I need to hire a nanny and a housekeeper. But damn, I have a great agent!

After lunch, I sped back to Times Square to see The Color Purple. If you ever have a chance to see this play, SEE IT!!! Oh my God. I laughed, cried, got angry … you name it. Plays usually put me to sleep but when intermission arrived, I wanted to hurry it up to see the second act.

So now I’m back and have tons of stuff to take care of … like finish my book!

Cheers,
Mary

Monday I’m leaving on a jet plane to New York! Mom and her friend are meeting La Martha, yes that Martha as in Ms. Martha Stewart. I’m tagging along to meet with my editor and agent.

On Thursday the 28th, an essay of mine will be posted on the Daily Blog at Avon Fan Lit. Check it out and if you have questions or comments, I’ll answer them the next day.

Besitos,
Mary

P.S. For those of you who watch The Office, do you think Jim will move back to Scranton and try one more time to win Pam’s heart? Will Pam’s former fiancee win her back? Or, will Pam make the first move? I’m dying to find out!

what the life of an editor is really like, check out this three-part blog by Lucia Macro, executive editor at Morrow/Avon.

Day in the Life Part 1
Day in the Life Part 2
Day in the Life Part 3

After reading it, you may not be so bitter that it takes forever for them to get back you on your submission! Well, you can only hope.

Mary

We’re an all-inclusive group of writers and readers. We don’t bite, unless you’re a meanie. Since none of you who read this blog are mean, you should be fine!

Check it out at http://groups.myspace.com/chicalit

And if you want a great read, check out my fellow Friday Night Chica, Caridad Piniero’s new release, Sex and the South Beach Chicas!

Best,
Mary

It wasn’t until I turned 30 that I began wearing make-up. Only on the rare occasion during my 20th decade would I smack on full war-paint. I hated shopping, always bought shoes in black or brown, wore the same accessories with every outfit and rarely did my hair. I was a shiny-faced, frizzy haired, blah-dressed mess who – swear to God – didn’t know what a Manolo Blahnik was.

I reasoned that I was too busy with studying, working and writing to waste time on such feminine foolishness. I wanted to cultivate my brain not my look. But when I showed up to work in my boring shoes, black pants and button-down shirt that didn’t quite fit, I felt ungainly and awkward around girls who wore make-up. I realized then that the women who cared about cosmetic brands like Ulta and MAC, were actually right. And I should’ve put some effort at digging into those new shades of lipstick and mascara once a while, too.

But then I turned 30 and became one of those girls. I bought red high heels to wear with my white and red cherry dress that became the dress Will admires in the second chapter of Hot Tamara. I went to a hair stylist on a regular basis, rather than pop into a Fantastic Sams when I was bored on a Sunday afternoon. I truly crossed the threshold when I bought make-up, and actually wore it on a fairly regular basis.

I have really oily skin and there are only a few foundations that do not wreak havoc on my skin so I always do lots of research before buying any new makeup products. For example, recently, I have been on the lookout for a new undereye concealer. My friend told me that there are some fantastic options on the Rank & Style website, so I might have to test out some of the recommendations that she has sent me. Anyway, when I started wearing makeup, suddenly I no longer felt intimidated by women who wore scarves and used handbags that coordinated with their ensemble. I felt like my outside reflected my inside.

When I wrote about this transition through Isa Avellan, my heroine of In Between Men, I wondered if I was breaking the rules of chick lit. But then on second thought, I realized I didn’t care and wrote it anyway. So it was really cool to find Amanda Maria Morrison’s keen and flattering review of IBM in The American-Statesmen. She said, “It’s easy to root for Isa, a devoted mother and champion of immigrant rights who nevertheless has ‘always been the girl with the books pressed to her chest, eyes on the ground.'”

Hurray!!!

And then she added: “In order find her inner vamp – who appears in ghostly visitations as Joan Collins – Isa pays a visit to La Diosa Salon, where her comadres perform an emergency hair-and-makeup procedure. With a wink toward magical-realist fiction and telenovela drama, Castillo describes the post-op moment in which ‘every eye in the salon was wide with astonishment and chests rose and fell with excitement upon seeing a miracle’ – Isa in eyeshadow.”

God, I’m shameless in that I love a great review.

Thanks, Amanda!

This morning Google Alert dropped this column off in my in box: Is the Chick-Lit World Ready for 9/11 Plot?

Reading it set off a flurry of thoughts about my own work and the brouhaha over the question if chick lit was dead.

When I look back at In Between Men, I sometimes wonder if I missed an opportunity with the storyline about Alex’s brother. I hinted that he was serving in Iraq and at the lowest point in the story, they receive news that he might be dead. Should I have gone into darker waters with the brother and his wife, June? Would my readers have put the story down because they didn’t want the stuff they see on the evening news? Or, would the brother and June upstage Isa and Alex?

But then I thought about the interview my agent, Jenny Bent gave two months ago that set off a firestorm among chick lit authors. In the article, Jenny quoted a book buyer who told her that chick lit sales were down and it was officially dead. Well, are sales down because it is no longer relevant? Do we need to shake things up and tackle, for example, a 9/11 plot? Five years later, are we ready as readers and authors?

I’m now thinking that there will be a sequel to In Between Men, but with June and Alex’s brother. Could there be a happily-ever-after between a man who almost died in Iraq, and his wife? In my fictional world, the answer is an emphatic yes. I deal with the stuff on the evening news by writing stories that end happily ever after. Otherwise, the sheer overwhelming number of problems and heartbreak would cripple me. Perhaps that makes me a sell-out or an annoying optimist. But when millions of readers pick up books like mine, I must not be the only one.

Still, I’d like to know what you think.

Best,
Mary

Marcela Landres interviewed me about my business plan in her September newsletter. If you think it’s not for you, think again if you want to be a successful novelist (e.g published more than once). Everyone’s journey is different though, so make sure that you talk to professional business plan writers like wimgo to help them find the right formula for you. Although you can learn a lot from this interview.

Here are the parts of my business plan model that I discussed in Marcela’s interview:

Mission Statement: think of this as your calling to writing as opposed to, “I want to be a NYT bestselling author and makes tons of cash.” Are you writing to entertain women, to inspire African American teens, to bring justice to the bad guys? Your mission is what inspires your work.

Reader profile: My first draft of this section was inspired by one of my more memorable rejection letters. The agent wrote that she did not imagine Hot Tamara finding a place in the competitive marketplace. But I did. I imagined a young woman; she could be Latina, white, Asain … didn’t matter. Anyway, this young woman had a job, a car, maybe she shared an apartment with friends or a boyfriend or she was married. My link to her was that she loved books and she wanted a story and a heroine who had similar issues like her. I pictured her on her lunch break, sitting at a table under a tree reading my book and wishing she didn’t have to go back to her desk because she was dying to know what happened next.

Once I sold Hot Tamara into the competitive marketplace (sorry, couldn’t stop myself), I did my homework. I stopped women in bookstores, read articles about book sales, hunted down Latina sororities and networking organizations … you name it. And I still update this profile because I want each new book to find more of these readers.

Goals/Strategy: Before I sold my first book, this section had my top ten list of agents, my B-list, etc. I had their names, their recent sales (culled from PublishersMarketplace.com and acknowledgments from books I thought were similar to mine) as well as the dates when I had sent my query and its status. Like I said I’m not a Virgo, just a hard-working Capricorn with a one-track mind.

When I sold and then continued to sell books, this is where I keep track of my proposals and projects. Also, when I’m slugging it out with one project and get a new idea, this is where I’ll put that idea so it stays out of my head. But the strategy and long range planning have become the most important piece of this section. This is how I keep track of my communication with my agent; how I plan to promote my next book; and how I plan updates to my website. Becoming an author is really like becoming a business owner. It’s a full-time job to try and achieve success. From marketing to actually writing the content, there are a lot of things to do. As I begin to sell more books, it’s important for me to try and work out the financial side of my business. I need to be able to predict what the sales will be like to see whether this career is going to be profitable or not. One of my friends actually mentioned that I should consider looking into financial planning software. She said that she uses it for her business and it’s great for helping her to plan out their financial future. Whilst I’m not running a corporate organization, this sort of sensitivity analysis may still be useful to help me plan out my finances for my business. Maybe I’ll look into that, it could help me to grow my business even more.

Anyway, I also write my ideas down to help me stay on track. Otherwise, I’d forget and drift aimlessly and not be able to write and you would never discover if Tamara and Will have children. Oops, did I let that one slip? So sorry.

heh heh heh

Oh come on, you know I love you!

Going back to the topic at hand, even if you’re not yet published, consider creating your plan now. It will only make your queries and proposals stronger. But even more important, it can be a source for inspiration when that rejection letter appears in your mailbox, or when you can’t write another word of your work-in-progress.

Best,

Mary

I know I had no business going there but I was poking around the reviews of my books and found the nastiest, mean-spirited review I’ve had so far. The reviewer seemed so angry at having read my book, it was as if I’d gone to her house and pooped on her lawn. I’ve read some really awful books in my day but I never took them personally. I just figured they weren’t my cup of tea and moved on.

And then I found a blog dedicated to hating Rachael Ray. Apparently if you hate her, you can join and talk crap about her all the live long day. Why would anyone want to spend time and energy being mean?

I could pretend not to understand where they’re coming from, but sadly I do. I’ve been jealous of writers who have had more success than I have. I’ve had that, “why-not-me?” feeling when I read about someone’s six-figure deal in Publisher’s Weekly. And yes, I’ve read books by people I know and thought, wow, that wasn’t so great! But I would never, ever talk crap about them, or go on Amazon and tell potential readers that someone’s work was a piece of trash. Perhaps the difference between me and mean people is that I know how much of a writer’s soul goes into her work. I know what it takes to become someone like Rachael Ray and I don’t begrudge her for all of her hard work.

Well, I feel much better having gotten that off my back. By the way, if you hate my books, it’s cool. I probably wouldn’t like yours if you had actually written one. (evil laughter)

By the way, as soon as my editor approves my new novella, “Till Death Do Us Part,” I’m going to record a mini reading on this blog.

And if you haven’t yet, check out Avon Fan Lit!

than Dana Diamond did on her blog, A Writer’s Best Friend.

She talks about fear and putting it perspective. It’s a must-read!

Mary

Look! They used Isa to be their spokesmodel!

It’s finally here! Today is the launch of the Avon FanLit event from HarperCollins Publishers. Visit this link to join bestselling authors and thousands of fans in the creation of an original romance e-book.

Early Birds can win shopping sprees from Saks!

Sign Up Now for a chance to win one of many shopping sprees from Saks worth up to $1,000! And be sure to check out the other amazing prizes, including:

• An in-person meeting with an Avon editor;
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• Plus Borders Gift Cards, signed copies of Avon books, and galley copies for upcoming books months in advance of release dates

If you sign up today, you can vote on your favorite Story Premise which will decide the overall direction of our novella.

Starting September 7th, each week you will be able to write and submit chapters, vote on player submissions, and discuss everything that’s happening in the forums. Plus, chapters from the weekly winners will be included in an Avon FanLit e-book.

Join Avon authors and editors for this one-of-a-kind event!