DeMarco, Kathleen 1966-

PERSONAL:

Born May 28, 1966, in NJ; daughter of a lawyer and a teacher; married, 2003; husband's name Emory. Hobbies and other interests: Running.

ADDRESSES:

Agent—Laura Dail Literary Agency, 80 5th Ave., Ste. 1503, New York, NY 10011. E-mail—KKdm@Kathleendemarco.com.

CAREER:

Lower East Side Films, New York, NY, producer; writer. Films produced include Joe the King, 1999; Piñero, 2001; Sexaholix, 2002; and Undefeated, 2003. Has also worked as blueberry picker, blueberry packer, bank teller, typist, secretary, international fertilizer trader, and market research aide.

WRITINGS:

Cranberry Queen (novel), Talk Miramax (New York, NY), 2001.

The Difference bewteen You and Me (novel), Talk Miramax (New York, NY), 2003.

ADAPTATIONS:

The Cranberry Queen has been optioned by Miramax Films; DeMarco is working on the screenplay.

SIDELIGHTS:

Film producer and writer Kathleen DeMarco is the granddaughter of one of New Jersey's most prominent cranberry farmers. She grew up in New Jersey's fabled Pine Barrens and even worked as a blueberry picker before embarking on a more high-profile career in movies and fiction writing. This familiarity with rural New Jersey informs DeMarco's debut novel, Cranberry Queen. The central character in Cranberry Queen, Diana Moore, finds her world turned upside down when her parents and brother are killed by a drunken driver. Already bruised by a broken relationship, Diana reels under the blow of losing her family. Well-meaning friends try to help, but their prying only makes matters worse. On the spur of the moment Diana takes off in her car, only to find herself stranded in a small community of cranberry growers in South Jersey. There, a stranger, Diana is free to reinvent herself and begin an arduous healing process.

A reviewer for Girl Posse.com found Cranberry Queen "a refreshingly original tale about loss, pain, and finding one's self." Peggy Lindsey on the MostlyFiction Web site noted that the novel "quickly becomes so very much more than an escapist romp through the trials and tribulations of single career girl life." Lindsey concluded: "If you've ever needed to be reminded not just that life goes on, but why it should, Cranberry Queen can help." Booklist correspondent Kristine Huntley felt that the book "gracefully portrays Diana's dueling desires to succumb to her loss and to escape from it." Cranberry Queen has been optioned by Miramax films, and DeMarco is working on the screenplay.

DeMarco's second novel, The Difference between You and Me, "is a frothy, fun look at the cutthroat world of Hollywood," to quote Huntley in Booklist. In alternate chapters the author introduces two vastly different women. Callous and ambitious Josie O'eary is clawing her way up the ladder of movie production. Carla Trousse, talented but socially awkward, journeys to Hollywood after the ceiling falls down on her New York apartment. Through a promising script the two women become associates although they loathe each other. Sheila Riley in Library Journal declared the book a "minor knock-out of a novel" and said that it "makes for fun summer reading." A Publishers Weekly reviewer likewise deemed The Difference between You and Me "a humorous take on the image-obsessed world of moviemaking and moneymaking."

In addition to her fiction, DeMarco is a producer with Lower East Side Films, where she works with actor/producer John Leguizamo. DeMarco has produced feature films such as Piñero and Sexaholix. On the MostlyFiction Web site, DeMarco said that she tried her hand at fiction after being told by a screenwriter, "You don't understand what I'm doing because you're not a writer." That statement spurred DeMarco to write Cranberry Queen, and she plans further fiction projects.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, May 15, 2001, Kristine Huntley, review of Cranberry Queen, p. 1730; July, 2003, Kristine Huntley, review of The Difference between You and Me, p. 1863.

Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2003, review of The Difference between You and Me, p. 553.

Library Journal, July, 2001, Beth Gibbs, review of Cranberry Queen, p. 121; June 15, 2003, Sheila Riley, review of The Difference between You and Me, p. 99.

New York, June 25, 2001, Daniel Mendelsohn, review of Cranberry Queen, p. 143.

Publishers Weekly, May 28, 2001, review of Cranberry Queen, p. 50; June 9, 2003, review of The Difference between You and Me, p. 37.

Redbook, July, 2001, "Headlong," p. G5.

ONLINE

Bookreporter.com,http://www.bookreporter.com/ (September 30, 2003), Shannon McKenna, review of Cranberry Queen; Melissa A. Martin, review of The Difference between You and Me.

Curled Up with a Good Book,http://www.curledup.com/ (September 30, 2003), review of Cranberry Queen.

Girl Posse,http://www.girlposse.com/ (autumn, 2003), review of Cranberry Queen.

Kathleen DeMarco, http://www.kathleendemarco.com (September 30, 2003), author's home page.

MostlyFiction,http://www.mostlyfiction.com/ (September 30, 2003), Peggy Lindsey, review of Cranberry Queen.