Happy New Year!

Hello!

I’m Kay Castaneda whom many of you know from writing groups, classes, blogs or social media. I thought it was time to update you about my writing and other news.

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How are you? I hope you are getting a chance to wind down for a few days. Thanksgiving and Christmas are over at our house. We ate two Christmas meals. One was a Posada we hosted at our house for family on Dec. 22 for about 60 people. We ate tamales and pozole. Christmas Eve is when most Mexicans celebrate. It’s hard for me to go to dinner at midnight so Tony and I stayed home. On Christmas Day, I cooked a turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, gravy and more. I wanted some traditional food from Indiana. Turkeys are only sold at Christmas time. I was happy even though it was a lot of work. We still have New Year’s to get through.

The word posada means inn or lodging. Traditionally posadas are a celebration of the Christmas story. They take place on nine nights from December 16 to 24 and commemorate the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph’s search for a place to stay where Jesus could be born. Posadas in Mexico feature hot food and drinks, sweets, music, and piñatas. Mexico has many variations. We live around the corner from Our Lady of Guadalupe church and the processions pass in front of our house.

Throughout Mexico, churches and communities still celebrate these festivities with their traditional, religious elements. Almost any party held around Christmas is called a posada.

Another feast in Christianity is Epiphany on January 6. It commemorates the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child, and thus Jesus Christ’s physical manifestation to the Gentiles. It is sometimes called Three Kings’ Day, and in some traditions celebrated as Little Christmas. Not only Catholics celebrate Christmas. Our Protestant brothers and sisters celebrate Jesus’ birth. I’ve learned that many people from other faiths put up trees, lights and give presents to family and friends.

It’s confusing to some people due to the various Christian traditions of Eastern Christianity, Western Christianity, Orthodox Christianity etc. not to mention whether your branch of Christianity follows the Julian calendar or the Gregorian calendar! One thing for sure is the celebration.

On Epiphany, Mexicans have Rosca de Reyes (Three Kings Bread) with Chocolate Caliente ( Hot Chocolate Milk). The favorite chocolate is named Abuelita ( Little Grandma). The chocolate comes in hard tablets that you melt in boiling milk. It must be made with a molinillo, a wooden whisk. Take the molinillo, place it between both palms and vigorously roll it back and forth until milk is frothy.  Rosca is everywhere so we buy ours from the store or bakery. Something amazing is there’s a tiny plastic baby Jesus inside the bread. Imagine! We receive the gift of Jesus once again. Whoever gets Baby Jesus in their piece of bread has to host next year’s rosca party. Nobody remembers who had Him last year. I think we’ll draw names.

As Father Dudzinski back at St. John Vianney Catholic  Church in Fishers, Indiana used to say on January 6, “Now you can take down your Christmas tree!” 🎄

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A New Book 

My work in progress is a novel featuring Emmie, the protagonist of “Emmie of Indianapolis: The Story of an American Girl.” In my new book, Emmie is now 15, living with her mom in Indianapolis, Indiana in the 1960s. Emmie gets to fulfill her dream of becoming a detective when she decides to investigate the disappearance of an older woman. Emmie’s group of friends from the first book want to help and she welcomes their ideas. WHERE ARE YOU IRIS ROSE? isn’t an emotional story of Emmie’s life as in my first book. It’s a light mystery and Emmie must find Iris Rose.

I have ideas for three more Emmie detective novels.

WHERE ARE YOU IRIS ROSE? AN EMMIE O’BRIEN TEEN DETECTIVE MYSTERY

https://www.amazon.com/WHERE-ARE-YOU-IRIS-ROSE-ebook/dp/B0D76FJFWL

Fifteen year old Emmie O’Brien discovers that a middle-aged woman in her neighborhood is missing. Iris Rose Rogers is a regular patron of the library where Emmie works part-time. When Iris Rose fails to make her Friday trip to the library and doesn’t return the books that she borrowed, Emmie’s boss sends her to the woman’s home with an overdue notice. The woman doesn’t answer her door so Emmie leaves the notice in the mailbox. Emmie searches the property before leaving. The next door neighbor says she hasn’t seen Iris Rose for a week. Emmie gets a sense that something isn’t right. It’s that strange feeling and the ideas that swirl around in her mind whenever she encounters a mystery. Where is Iris Rose Rogers? Emmie is determined to find out.

Product Details 

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Coming Up
A Short Story Collection
&
A Memoir Collection

I don’t have titles yet for these two books. 10 short stories are finished. I would like to have 15 and I hope to finish in 2026. For my memoir collection, I have 6 stories done. I want to have the same number, about 15 short memoir pieces, for a complete book.

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Poetry

Submitting to poetry journals-My poetry manuscript was almost accepted! I received a nice editor’s note and was told to submit again. Editors usually don’t give comments so that’s a plus to get a note. The submission process is frustrating. You might not get an answer for a year!

My new hobby-learning about and writing Syllabic Poetry. Three of my tanka poems (rensaku) were published in Sunflower Tanka Anthology Nov. 2024.

Three Rensaku by Kay Castaneda

• Run Girls Run
• Promise Me
• Midnight Hike

Thanks to Colleen Chesebro and Robbie Cheadle for all your help!

https://www.amazon.com/Sunflower-Tanka-Anthology-Prose-Experimental-ebook/dp/B0DPVJD2PC/

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Creative Writing

Participating in Story Chat online writing group this past year has been fun. I had the chance to read and comment on stories by the group participants. Marsha Ingrao is so encouraging with everyone’s creative work. And a plus is she grew up in Indianapolis-a fellow Hoosier!

I had one of my stories published in Marsha’s anthology of Story Chat authors’s work in Nov. 2024.

• The Cozy Cafe by Kay Castaneda

Here is Marsha’s description of the book: Story Chat started as a unique online blogging program for authors and readers. This second book includes a diverse set of original short stories by authors from almost every continent in the world. While most of the stories would fall into the category of drama at all ages from children to older adults, this collection includes sci-fi, comedy, and two non-fiction articles about the writing process. All of the selections are family-friendly, even though the topics are aimed at adult readers. All of us, known as Story Chatters, hope this book will make an impact in your lives.

STORY CHAT VOL II: INTERNATIONAL SHORT STORIES GENERATING CONVERSATIONS

https://www.amazon.com/STORY-CHAT-VOL-INTERNATIONAL-CONVERSATIONS-ebook/dp/B0DNKPY19R/

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Other Writing

Mental Health, Being an American Retiree in Mexico, Travel, Religion, Family, Aging

But Not Everything is Perfect! 

• Migraines, Migraines!
• Will I Ever Get Used to 8,000 ft. Altitude Since I Grew Up in Flatlands Indiana?
• Extreme Homesickness Sometimes.
• It Doesn’t Matter A Lot That I’m Not Fluent in Spanish Because My Hearing is Decling Anyway.
• What If I Forget Who I Am Because My Mind is Getting Older?
• I Keep Falling-My Hip, My Knees, My Ankles, My Nose, My Wrist, My Toes (4), My Head, My Jaw, My Cheek, My Tooth. They Healed and I’m Thankful.

Personal News

Something I always wanted to do is study Irish history and culture. I began researching my ancestors of both my parents sides. Geneology is fun. My Dad’s parents were from Dublin, Ireland and came to the United States in 1917. I’ve gone back to 1699 on my Dad’s mother’s line and to 1710 on my Dad’s father’s line. All this family history is in Ireland.

Ireland has been keeping records in English since the 12th Century and before that in Gaelic back to the 3rd Century. Churches were the primary holders of information about people, real estate, history and more. Friars transcribed data by hand on parchment then to paper manuscript books, then priests, nuns, doctors and lawyers recorded entries using hand-writing. Digital photographs and now computers allow people to see baptism records or an ancestor’s signature on documents.

Some things are funny. According to jail records in a small village, my great great great uncle was “delivered to jail but not arrested and held for being inebriated while walking on an extremly dark country road.” I bet there were no well-lighted and paved Irish country roads on the way home from visiting friends in 1785! No Ubers, taxis, cars, buses or easier ways to get home. There were horses and donkeys, but my relative probably didn’t own one. Or he could have lost his horse or donkey, traded it or given it away.

I found the burial record for a relative in 176? (can’t read the complete date).

Name: John F. Turner

Previous Occupation: Pirate

Height: 5 ft. 9 in. Slim build, Black hair, Green eyes.

His physical description sounds like my Dad! I want to learn more.

On my mother’s side, I discovered some amazing things about the family in Tennessee going back to 1800.  A sixth cousin was captured by the Yankees in the Civil War and held prisoner until the war ended. He was fourteen years old. After he was freed, the government awarded him citizenship in the new country of the United States of America and a plot of land in Eastern Tennessee.  Maybe I’ll write a book! 😊

Thanks for reading. Have a healthy and happy new year! Let me know what you’ve been up to in 2024 and any projects for the New Year.

Never Stop Dreaming

Kay holding an owl

Giveaway

I will choose a name at random of those who read this newsletter and leave a comment before January 10,  2025. The giveaway is an ebook copy of my book Emmie of Indianapolis: The Story of an American Girl plus a surprise gift. 🤩