Summertime ...and the winning is easy

Summer Crowds at Mission Beach from Art.com

I want to let you know about a really funny novel and an awesome giveaway opportunity. I hope you'll check out, Fifteen Minutes of Shame written by my friend and bestselling author, Lisa Daily.

Fifteen Minutes of Shame is a hilarious beach read about what happens when America’s favorite TV love guru finds out her husband is cheating – live, on national television. I've read this book and highly recommend it for those of you who love a feel-good, woman-triumphs-over-all kind of read.

UPDATE: Lisa's Amazon.com special is now over but there are still opportunities for you to win free books! Read on...

If you'd like to win a signed copy of In Between Men, head over to Jane Porter's contest page. Also, make sure you visit my contest page to win a signed copy of my friend, Margo Candela's upcoming book, More Than This!

Hope you're having a great summer! I've been writing features stories for Rise Up, Latina Voz and Latino Future magazines, as well as my books. I'll be back on a more regular basis in the fall!
Best,
Mary

Next week on PBS: Compañeras

Photo courtesy of PBS

If you regularly read this blog, you've heard me talk about a Mariachi book that I've been working on. (If this doesn't sound familiar, check out the sneak peek that was part of the Chica Lit Valentine's Day Tour.)

I just about fell out of my chair when I heard about Compañeras, the upcoming PBS series Independent Lens documentary about Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles, America's first all-female mariachi, founded in 1994. Hosted by Terrence Howard, the show will air at 10 p.m. on April 1, 2008.

The most prominent of Mexican mariachi - Mariachi del Sol and Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitan - are presently and historically all male. Female mariachi are still frowned upon or considered a joke in Mexico. When I wrote The Ballad of Aracely Calderon, my challenge was to help the readers understand what an uproar it would be if a woman - in Aracely's case, an American-born daughter of a family of mariachi - took the lead of such a prestigious mariachi group ... even in 2008. But when I saw Linda Ronstadt ride a train on-stage during her performance in Canciones de Mi Padre, she was like a queen and I kept that image in my head as I wrote Aracely. To me, female mariachi are regal. The fact that they persist in spite of the misogynist attitude of their male counterparts makes them heroes in my eyes.

As for my book, The Ballad of Aracely Calderon, I've decided to dress up like a mariachi for my new author photo!