Gina Castillo

Life

In 2008, my husband and I received a phone call from our social worker about fostering three boys, brothers, if we agreed. Our family of three instantly became a family of six. Shock settled over us as we discussed our options. It was daunting. In the span of one year, my husband would go from being a new stepdad, to a father of four boys—four! I cannot imagine what he must have gone through.

Just six months into being the parents of four boys, three under the age of six, we got another phone call from our social worker. “Good Afternoon Mrs. Castillo. We were just calling to tell you we have another placement.” My heart squeezed, and my throat tightened as I thought about losing my boys. Tears threatened to spill down my cheeks. It was that quick, our instant family would be taken. You see, when you go through the state, you must have the children with you for at least six months before you can adopt—this is called legal risk.

When I finally found the words, I said, “But they have been with us for six months and we are planning to adopt them.”

“Oh, no ma’am. We don’t have a placement for them. We have a placement for you. The birth mom of the three boys just had another baby, and we would like to keep the children together. Are you interested?”

“What? How old is the baby?” I asked.

“The birthdate was March 10th.” Our social worker responded.

“I need to talk to my husband.” I said.

“Of course. But they will release the baby tomorrow. So, we need to know, or they will need to find alternative placement.”

“Okay, I’ll call David and we will get back to you. Is the baby a boy or girl?” I asked.

“It’s a boy.” She said.

“Okay, we will call you as soon as we talk.”

My husband and I talked, and the next evening we decided to take the baby in—he was precious. Our family had grown again, and we were now a family with five boys—three under the age of six!

Due to some of the baby’s issues, and the number of days I was missing work, I decided to stay home with him. I was a teacher, and it was difficult to find a substitute for my classroom at the last minute. So, for two years I stayed home.

Words on Paper

This is when I was able to find some “free time” to do activities that I enjoyed—I began to write, and it was a process. Those of you who can write a novel, pat yourself on the back. Getting fifty to ninety thousand words on paper is an adventure. Breaking those words into scenes and chapters is an incredible feat. You have done an amazing job. But the job doesn’t stop with getting the words, scenes and chapters written.

Next comes social media sites. My twitter groups have been invaluable. I read and study and hashtag like crazy. I’ve gotten many beta readers, and I critique partners that have been a tremendous help, I enjoy this process.

person sitting at a desk writing and looking at social media on their phone

Social media groups help you to find contests as well. I’ve entered contests that I may not win, but I receive amazing critiques from industry professionals that are invaluable to me and to the writing process. I encourage any writer to seek these contests out. Some contests give you free help with edits, which have been amazing as well. All these have helped me move forward.

Then came the query process. Ugh! I’ve sent out many queries and had numerous rejections. I’ve gotten some requests for full or partial manuscripts, but in the end, I still couldn’t get an offer of representation.

Then, the time came for me to go back to work. My son was in pre-kindergarten and life’s challenges proved that I needed to go back. So, my writing slowed. I continued to work with critique partners and sent out queries to no avail. Then, I sent my query to Calumet Editions. I had an appointment to talk with Ian about their process. I thought about it, and the non-traditional route would be difficult for me, at the time. So, I just kept on critiquing and querying. Nothing.

Getting Through the Setbacks

Then, I started the new year at school. The ability to write slowed down. I was tired and not feeling well. My breathing was labored, and I thought I was catching the flu. I took some over the counter medications and started to swell. So, I decided to head over to the urgent care after work. The doctor looked at me, and said the words that really scared me, “congestive heart failure.” I headed to the hospital and didn’t emerge for six days. Not able to see my kids was difficult, and knowing my husband was having to do everything was even harder.

This put my writing on hold, again. But I started to feel better, slowly. I wasn’t entirely exhausted at this point, so I started to write again. I put my first book aside, which I loved because it was inspired by my sons and I had woven some of our culture and their names. But I was still writing, stealing moments when the boys were watching a movie or in bed.

My writing led to a second book, which I started to critique and send out query letters. I received many requests for a full manuscript, but still, they passed in the end. It was frustrating. I sent an email to Calumet Editions, again, but didn’t follow through. I was about to give up on writing, going through the ups and downs of sending out my work was taking its toll, and I didn’t want any more rejections. Publishing is super subjective, and I wasn’t breaking through or getting noticed.

Then, I got an email from Calumet Editions. They said they would like a full manuscript. So, I sent in my manuscript and got an email in a few weeks. Calumet Editions isn’t traditional. It’s a hybrid model of a partnership between the publisher and the author. I spoke to my husband and decided to get started.

From there, it was editing. Reading over my revisions at night, after the boys went to bed and my extra schoolwork was complete. Writing. Editing. Revising. All in my free time. Oh, and along the way, our social worker called a couple more times, and our family grew from five boys to seven boys. Yes, all boys. Not a girl in the bunch. Without my husband, I would never have had the opportunity to write.

So, I am back to stealing time in the evenings and weekends. I am exhausted most of the time. But December of 2020, I published my first book. I say first because I hunger to continue. I don’t want it to take me ten years to complete the process of writing my second book. I want to push through and really begin to market this book, so that my dreams of writing will continue.

Gina Castillo

Distinguished Favorite

2022 Young Adult Finalist

Interview with Gina Castillo (Sangre Cove)

Goodreads Giveaway Info

My Journey to Becoming a Published Author

Words on Paper

Getting Through the Setbacks

Calumet Editions Presents

Book Giveaway: Sange Cove (Link Below)

Sangre Cove

Distinguished Favorite

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