I'm pleased to have Holli Castillo, author of Gumbo Justice and Jambalaya Justice, with us today. I've read both of her novels and included them on my "Best Of" list on Shelfari. Let's get to know her.
Patricia: Holli, what are your favorite things to do when you’re not reading or writing?
Patricia: Holli, what are your favorite things to do when you’re not reading or writing?
Holli: When
I’m not reading or writing, I like watching TV or movies. I love just about any
series with prosecutors and cops, mysteries of any kind, and sci-fi. In movies,
I enjoy an occasional romantic comedy, but my first choice is a good action
thriller. Ordinarily I’m begging for time to read and write because I have two
daughters and a husband who demand most of my time, as well as a house full of
pets. So the question may be a little
backwards for me, because when I’m not fulfilling my obligations, I love to
read or write. There’s seldom time for anything else.
Patricia: What’s
your favorite color? Why?
Holli: Red. It just feels like me. I love red clothes and red rooms and red furniture. Some people think it’s an angry color, but I think of it more as exciting, full of life, and only slightly volatile.
Holli: Red. It just feels like me. I love red clothes and red rooms and red furniture. Some people think it’s an angry color, but I think of it more as exciting, full of life, and only slightly volatile.
Patricia: How
would you describe yourself, personality wise?
Holli:
I think I’m painfully shy, but no one else seems to agree. I’m also a big worrier, which nobody believes
because I tend to be very direct with people.
They don’t understand that the whole reason I am so direct and
occasionally confrontational is because if I think someone is angry with me or
has a problem with me, I have to get it out I the open or else I will worry
myself sick over it. I am also somewhat of a typical Sagittarius, always with a
bright new idea but have trouble on the follow-through. I try to plan things out because if not I
don’t get much accomplished, but I often end up flying by the seat of my pants
anyway. My current mantra is lead,
follow, or get out my way.
Patricia: Do
you like to travel? If so, what are some of your favorite places to go and/or
what was your favorite vacation?
Holli: My whole family loves to travel. We love Vegas, especially my daughters (11 and 13.) They have loved it since they were little. All that bling I guess. We also love the beach, although I don’t love actually going out on it. I burn easily and don’t like to sweat or dig sand out of body parts, but I do love to watch and listen to the gulf and the ocean. I prefer to the beach at night. It always seems so mysterious walking along the water’s edge in the moonlight. I think my favorite beaches are the ones on the gulf coast of Florida. One of my other favorite places to visit is San Antonio, Texas. I loved their Riverwalk. One of my favorite vacations was when my father flew to Charlottesville, Virginia, with me so I could interview for graduate school at the University of Virginia. I wanted to enter their directing program, but didn’t make it in. It was still a great vacation, because it was the first time I had ever flown, and my father and I walked all around the University area, the shops and the restaurants, and had a great time. He never took vacations because he owned a business and refused to take off of work. My mother would take us to the beach every summer and he would bow out, afraid the business would fold if he was gone for a week. While this wasn’t strictly a vacation, it was one of the few times I can remember that he took off of work to travel. He’s dead now, but I will always remember that trip even though I didn’t get into the graduate school.
Holli: My whole family loves to travel. We love Vegas, especially my daughters (11 and 13.) They have loved it since they were little. All that bling I guess. We also love the beach, although I don’t love actually going out on it. I burn easily and don’t like to sweat or dig sand out of body parts, but I do love to watch and listen to the gulf and the ocean. I prefer to the beach at night. It always seems so mysterious walking along the water’s edge in the moonlight. I think my favorite beaches are the ones on the gulf coast of Florida. One of my other favorite places to visit is San Antonio, Texas. I loved their Riverwalk. One of my favorite vacations was when my father flew to Charlottesville, Virginia, with me so I could interview for graduate school at the University of Virginia. I wanted to enter their directing program, but didn’t make it in. It was still a great vacation, because it was the first time I had ever flown, and my father and I walked all around the University area, the shops and the restaurants, and had a great time. He never took vacations because he owned a business and refused to take off of work. My mother would take us to the beach every summer and he would bow out, afraid the business would fold if he was gone for a week. While this wasn’t strictly a vacation, it was one of the few times I can remember that he took off of work to travel. He’s dead now, but I will always remember that trip even though I didn’t get into the graduate school.
Patricia: How
would you complete this sentence? If I won a million dollars, I would ------
Holli:
pay off all my bills and pay One Direction to play a show for my daughters and
their friends. Either that or produce one
of my own screenplays. It would have to
be a low budget one, though, because a million dollars doesn’t go far in the
film industry.
Holli Castillo was born
and raised in New Orleans. She is a former prosecutor and current appellate
public defender. Her first novel, Gumbo
Justice, was delayed when she was in a near-fatal head-on collision with a drunk
driver right as the novel was scheduled for release. While on her back
recovering for seven months, she wrote an award-winning screenplay and worked
on her second novel, Jambalaya Justice, which was published in 2011. She is
nearing completion of the third installment in the Crescent City Mystery
Series, Chocolate City Justice, which is scheduled for release summer,
2013. She lives in metropolitan New
Orleans with her husband—who is the model for the character Big Who in the
series--her two children, two dogs, guinea pigs, and deaf cat, who is featured
in Jambalaya Justice.
Gumbo Justice and
Jambalaya Justice available in paper and Kindle at Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_at_ep_srch?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Holli%20Castillo&search-alias=books&sort=relevancerank
Also available in paper
and Nook at Barnes and Noble http://productsearch.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?store=book&SZE=10&ATH=Holli%20Castillo&SRT=S
Or get a signed copy of
either or both from my website at http://gumbojustice.net/pages/buy-the-novels.php
