FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – October is American Archives Month, and the University of Arkansas Libraries’ special collections department is commemorating the month by hosting a series of lectures titled “Mysteries, Mistresses and Murder: Celebrating Three Arkansas Authors.” Laura Parker Castoro of Pine Bluff, Ark., will be the first speaker in the series, in a lecture scheduled from 3 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8, in the Special Collections Reading Room in Mullins Library (MULN 130). A welcome reception will begin at 3 p.m. with the program following at 3:30 p.m. The event is free and the public is welcome to attend.

Castoro is author of 38 novels in the genres of historical and contemporary romance, western, romantic suspense and young adult fiction. She began her career writing historical and contemporary romance novels that were published under the name Laura Parker. In 2002, she published Crossing the Line, a work of mainstream African American fiction under the name Laura Castoro; a sequel to that novel titled Love on the Line will be published in February 2009 by Harper Collins Publishers. Other recent titles include A New Lu (2005), which was chosen by Forbes.com as a featured book, and Icing on the Cake (2007). Both are humorous looks at the contemporary life, loves and trials of women of “a certain age.”

Castoro was born in Fort Worth, Texas, but grew up in Pine Bluff where her family, the Parkers, have lived for five generations. Castoro attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., and studied at Texas A&M (Kingston) toward a degree in microbiology.

Castoro has received the Golden Leaf Award for best historical romance, the New Jersey Writers' Award, the National Readers Choice Award for best long contemporary romance, two "Literary Lion" citations from the Southwestern Booksellers Association, and several Reviewers Choice Awards from the Romantic Times magazine. She was inducted into the Arkansas Writers' Hall of Fame in 2005.

The second lecture in the series will feature Radine Trees Nehring of Gravette, who will present from 3 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 22, in the Special Collections Reading Room in Mullins Library (MULN 130). A welcome reception will begin at 3 p.m. with the program following at 3:30 p.m. The third and last lecture in the series will present Kevin Brockmeier of Little Rock, who will read from his recent work, followed by a question and answer session with the audience, from 3 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29, in Giffels Auditorium in Old Main. A welcome reception will begin at 3 p.m. with the program following at 3:30 p.m.

American Archives Month is a collaborative effort by professional organizations around the nation to raise awareness of the value of archival materials and to encourage persons and organizations to preserve records of enduring historical value. The special collections department of the University of Arkansas Libraries was created in 1967 to foster research and writing in the history and culture of Arkansas and the surrounding region. It is an archival repository of more than 12,000 linear feet of documents in the Manuscripts Collection, more than 28,000 cataloged titles in the Arkansas Collection (which houses books by Castoro, Trees Nehring, Brockmeier and other Arkansas authors) and the Rare Books Collection, and more than 150,000 photographs, broadsides and maps.