Castillo, Mary 1974-

PERSONAL:

Born 1974, in National City, CA; married. Education:University of Southern California, earned degree.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Orange County, CA. Agent— c/o Author Mail, Avon Books, HarperCollins Publishing, 10 E. 53rd St., New York, 10022. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, CA, reporter.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Named one of the "Hot 25" by OC Metromagazine.

WRITINGS:

Hot Tamara (novel), Avon Books (New York, NY), 2005.

In Between Men (novel), Avon Books (New York, NY), 2006.

Work represented in anthologies, including Friday Night Chicas: Sexy Stories from "La Noche," St. Martin's Griffin (New York, NY), 2005.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Young adult fiction; a mystery series.

SIDELIGHTS:

Author Mary Castillo's first books are chick lit novels featuring Latina heroines. Hot Tamara features a young woman who suffers the consequences when she leaves her family to work at an art gallery in Los Angeles. Her mother disowns the daughter who has left their community and is moving away from their traditional culture. Tamara continues the struggle with her mother, deals with a difficult boss, and finds love with an old schoolmate who is now a Los Angeles firefighter. Booklist contributor Aleksandra Kostovski praised the way in which Castillo handles the difficulties that can arise between immigrants and their children and wrote that "every woman will relate to Tamara's quest to build a life of her own."

Plain Isa Avellan is the teacher-protagonist of In Between Men.She is a divorced mother who is voted the least sexy teacher in the school by her students. When Isa hears her husband describe her lack of sexual ability on a radio talk show, she makes the decision to work on her wardrobe and appearance and accept a date with her son's soccer coach, an offer originally made based on pity. The romance heats up, but with unintended consequences.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 1, 2005, Aleksandra Kostovski, review ofHot Tamara, p. 1136; April 1, 2005, Aleksandra Kostovski, review of Friday Night Chicas: Sexy Stories from "La Noche," p. 1341.

California Bookwatch, May, 2006, review of In Between Men.i>

Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 2006, review of In Between Men, p. 5.

ONLINE

Mary Castillo Home Page,http://www.marycastillo.com(July 3, 2006).