Mary Camarillo
Author Interview - Mary Camarillo
Author of The Lockhart Women and Those People Behind Us
It’s the summer of 2017 in Wellington Beach, California, a suburban coastal town increasingly divided by politics, protests, and escalating housing prices—divisions that change the lives of five neighbors.
Each character confronts death, betrayal, financial decline, and loneliness as they search for home and community in a neighborhood where no one can agree who belongs.
Real estate agent Lisa Kensington juggles her job, her shopaholic husband, a mother who knows how to push her buttons, and teenagers with ideas of their own. Ray Gorman, a haunted Vietnam vet, lives with and cares for his aging mother. Keith Nelson, an ex-con, lives in his car, parked near his parents’ house. Sixteen-year-old Josh Kowalski works through the shock of his father’s abandonment by slamming on a drum set. Jeannette Larsen, an aerobics teacher numbed by horrific tragedy, turns away from her husband and toward reckless behavior.
In the end, they all discover that despite their differences, they are more connected than any of them would have imagined.
“The Lockhart Women” is a mother/daughter/sister story set in Huntington Beach, California in the 1990's. It's about a divorce and bad decisions with the O.J. Simpson trial as background noise. Susan Straight, author of "In the Country of Women," described "The Lockhart Women" as "deeply and thoroughly Southern Californian." Kirkus Reviews said, "A emotional portrait of three women dealing with unexpected change." The novel won first place for first fiction in the Next Generation Indie Awards and was one of the Los Angeles Times Book Club Favorite Literary Escapes in 2021.
Author Interview - Mary Camarillo
Author I draw inspiration from:
Elizabeth Strout. I love her often unlikeable characters. My Lockhart Women aren't particularly likeable most of the time, but they are very human.
Author Interview - Mary Camarillo | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
Curled up on the couch in my living room under Riley, our 15 pound Flame Point Siamese who acts as my manager of marketing
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
Can I be stuck in an elevator with author George Saunders instead? His book "A Swim in a Pond in the Rain" is a masterpiece of writing instruction. I'm also a member of his Story Club newsletter group where he explores what makes a story compelling. It's instructive and generous and wonderful and I'd love to tell him that in person.
Author Interview - Mary Camarillo | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
When I joined Professor Lisa Alvarez's Creative Writing class at Irvine Valley College, maybe 8 years ago
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
Hardback
The last book I read:
The Promise of Pangaea by Debra Thomas (Advanced Reader Copy)
Pen & paper or computer:
Computer. I can't read my handwriting.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
Zeno in Anthony Doerr's Cloud Cuckoo Land
Author Interview - Mary Camarillo | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
much harder person to be around
Favorite decade in fashion history:
The fifties. Stylish, simple, practical
Place I’d most like to travel:
Lisbon Portugal
My signature drink:
Old Fashioned with a splash of amaretto instead of a cherry. Shouting out Lindsay Merbaum, author of The Gold Persimmon and high priestess of homemade cocktails.
Favorite artist:
Narsiso Martinez creates drawings and mixed-media installations that focus on the lives and labor of the thousands of migrant agricultural workers. He uses discarded cardboard produce boxes that he himself collects from grocery stores.
Number one on my bucket list:
Charleston South Carolina is what I hope is next on the list. I want to explore some family stories, eat shrimp and grits, and maybe catch a Marcus King show.
Anything else you'd like to add:
My website is always a work in progress and sometimes more of a scrapbook. https://www.marycamarillo.com
Sign up for my newsletter Life With Riley here https://marycamarillo.us4.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=21cc9b113312b3e02ad4151db&id=f2869eb72b
Find more from the author:
https://www.facebook.com/mary.camarillo.31/
https://www.facebook.com/marypcamarillo
https://www.instagram.com/marycamel13/
https://twitter.com/MarycamelMary
Author Bio:
Mary Camarillo’s novel “The Lockhart Women,” published in June 2021 by She Writes Press, won first place in the Next Generation Indie Awards for first fiction. Her poems and short fiction have appeared in publications such as 166 Palms, The Sonora Review, Lunch Ticket, and The Ear. She lives in Huntington Beach, California with her husband who plays ukulele and their terrorist cat Riley.
