Gumbo Justice at Book Club Queen

I forgot to mention I've got a new review and interview for Gumbo Justice at http://www.book-club-queen.com/holli-castillo.html and http://www.book-club-queen.com/gumbo-justice.html.

Gumbo Justice, Angel Trap and Jambalaya Justice

Book sales for Gumbo Justice at the Bazaar went pretty well. It was a little too cold for my liking, but it was a clear day and a nice crowd showed up and I sold a few books, so it was all good. I have to say it was interesting talking to people for a change. I'm holed up in my house a great majority of the time, especially since the car wreck, and getting out in the fresh air and chatting with strangers who like to read was a welcomed distraction.

As for Angel Trap, I'm still waiting on a few contests placings, some I won't find out until next year. I also found out I placed second in a screenwriting contests that was not based upon Angel Trap, but upon writing assignments we were given. It was pretty cool, an international contest, and with second place I won entry into a six-month online screenwriting course I've really wanted to take but didn't want to put out the money.

Last, I'm working on Jambalaya Justice, the follow up to Gumbo Justice, hoping to have it ready in time so my publisher will release it in June. I would like to be one of those writers who puts out a new book a year, and would hate to go over that time frame, so I'm hard at work.

Working On Now

This weekend, I'll be selling signed copies of Gumbo Justice at a Holiday Bazaar in Metairie. It should be an interesting experience, as I've never sold books anywhere that wasn't directly related to writers and writing.

Currently, I'm working on the follow up, titled Jambalaya Justice. I'm pretty sure I'll keep the title.

I'm also waiting to learn the fate of Angel Trap in a few other screenplay contests. It's kind of frustrating to make it to semi-finals and finals and even second place but never quite grab the first place slot. I guess for my first screenplay it's a good start, but I'm trying to figure out what keeps it from winning number one.

I am also still marketing Gumbo Justice, which becomes more difficult as more time passes. Hopefully I can do enough publicity to keep some interest until the second book comes out.

GUMBO JUSTICE Featured at Bookland Heights

I am featured at http://booklandheights.blogspot.com/ for the week. Bookland Heights is a wonderful site that features a different author and his or her work every week. It is a nice bit of free publicity, but more importantly a way for the public to learn a little bit more about novels and the writers. I check it every week even when I'm not featured to see who's on it and to learn a little about other writers and their works.

More on ANGEL TRAP and GUMBO JUSTICE

My screenplay Angel Trap made the finals of the Page International Screenplay contest. The original entries have been narrowed down to the top ten in each category, and I think then they go to top three and then a winner, or it might just be winner in each cat and then the big winner. I'm just excited it has made it this far. I am still editing it, and as part of the prize from the Acclaim contest I can post it for free on a site where producers can access it. I put up my logline and synopsis already, but want the screenplay completely edited before I add it.

I was also featured on Author Meeting Place as author of the month for Gumbo Justice, which is a completely random thing where you enter information and they pick someone to feature. The feature also appears in a poetry magazine, which should be interesting. I have also had three people ask to review my novel from the websites I have put the book on, and I have asked two people who frequently do reviews to review the book. I have not gotten any reviews back yet, but at least the reviewers seem to have some slight interest.

I am also working on the follow up to Gumbo Justice, really trying to think of a catchy, accurate title. I'm having difficulty with trying to figure out how much to include from Gumbo Justice. Writing the second one is much tricker than writing the first, although the habits I have developed and the outline procedure I came up with writing Gumbo make some of the writing easier.

I also have another screenplay outlined, but have not found time to write it. It's a completely different character than anyone I've written, takes place in New Orleans, and has a bit of the supernatural in it, although I consider it a suspense thriller. More later.

ANGEL TRAP and GUMBO JUSTICE Launch Party

Angel Trap made runner up in the Acclaim Screenplay Contest, which is equivalent to coming in second. I was extremely surprised, as I didn't expect to make quarter finals, semi finals, or finals, much less come in so close to the top. What was particularly surprising to me was that I had just received a rather rude, flippant critique from another contest that referred to my characters as a bunch of losers, as in, "Why should we care what happens to these bunch of losers anyway?" The only thing missing in the critique was a LOL. So here I was thinking I had edited my screenplay into a glorious mess when I got the email that I had come damn near to winning.

So then I start to think, is damn near winning the same as losing, since I didn't actually win. This is probably the closest I'll ever come to actually winning, and may have been my only shot to take home the big prize. But then I do get to say that it was the runner up if I send it out to try to sell it, or get an agent, so it is a really good thing.

On another note, I had the launch party for Gumbo Justice at my would-be bar, (still fighting code enforcement over zoning issues so we're not open yet), but the party was a success. We had a lot of good food and (free) drinks, a lot of people showed up and got books signed, a fun time was had by all I think.

Angel Trap and Gumbo Justice

Angel Trap has made the semi-finals in the Page Awards. In September they'll post the finals and then a winner. I am excited, but it sort of balances out because it didn't make the finals in a different contest. It's difficult to know what contest readers are looking for. I have received feedback that contradicts other feedback and now I'm starting to think I've listened to too many different people in my editing process. I think I should have waited to edit until I had several opinions, and then found the common thread, if any, among all of them and edited accordingly. Instead, I changed one part to make it like one reader suggested, and then added something in to please someone else. Then the next guy didn't like either of the changes and suggested something else that I had originally done and taken out. It was a good lesson on my first attempt if nothing else.

I am still promoting Gumbo Justice, planning a book launch party in fact at the bar that isn't a bar yet. It will be a "private" party, since we can't sell drinks. I'm also having a gumbo contest, and the winner will have a character in my next novel named after them. It should be fun. So far response has been pretty good to the novel. Still waiting for Brad Pitt to read it and decide he wants to produce it as a movie to star as Shep, or for Quentin Tarantino to read it and decide he absolutely has to direct it. But then enough of my fantasy life.

Unsettling thought, Brad Pitt and Quentin Tarantino in the same fantasy, but then that's me.