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Dia de los Muertos

A year ago, Mom brought over a box of my old stuff. Like I need more stuff in a house that looks like Toys R Us stocked for Christmas! But inside were some outfits that my Grandma Nana had made for me. They’re stained, terribly out of fashion and smell like moth balls and I have no where to store them. But I couldn’t throw them out.

So this morning when I read Kathy’s post about Dia de los Muertos, she really got me. I’ve been thinking about my Grandma Nana a lot lately.

Eduvijen Holguin Melendez was a very quiet, simple woman. She wasn’t one for calling attention to herself. During Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter she mostly spent her time in the kitchen. She’d be the last to sit down for the meal, still wearing her apron and jumping up to get what anyone needed.

She was also a very talented seamstress, making extra money by sewing wedding and quinceanera gowns. My Grandma Margie remembers how she’d buy a bolt of cloth and then work through the night making matching dresses for her three girls. I can imagine Grandma Nana’s sewing machine whirring with the steady pressure of her foot on the wrought iron pedal. Outside the street would be dark, except for the light of her room glowing againt the mammoth Eucalyptus trees that lined her yard.

If you’ve read Hot Tamara and remember Senora Allende’s shrine with the glow-in-the-heart Jesus statue, that was inspired by the santos Grandma Nana had in her sala behind the TV. When we’d spend the night in the pull-out bed, Grandma would sleep on the lumpy couch so we wouldn’t be lonely. But I’d stare at Jesus’ heart, wondering if it would start beating like the animatronics in the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland.

Even though my Grandma Nana died when I was 11 years old, I still miss her chicken soup and I can still feel the tortilla masa between my fingers. I wish she could’ve lived to see the Little Dude in action because she would’ve just adored his big personality. Actually, I know she does love him because I can feel her when she’s decided to pay a visit. I bet she still covers her mouth when she laughs at his antics, like she used at mine.

Today, I’m starting a new book and I have her picture on my desk. There’s a little sadness in my heart as I write this but there’s also a lot more love and gratitude to have had a Grandma Nana like her and to still have her in spirit.

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It’s The Most Wonderful Time of The Year!

The sidewalks are shadowed with damp and the air crisp with the smell of fallen leaves and wet grass. Pumpkins smile grotesquely from porches and front windows while skeletons and ghouls creep up from the grass. Ghosts dance under the trees, their gowns whipping in the breeze. A waning moon lingers in the western sky and giant spiders busily take down their webs after a night of patient hunting.

Yes, it’s the most wonderful time of the year when you dig out your sweaters and boots. A cup of coffee or tea warms your fingers as you get to work or school. It’s my favorite time of the year … Halloween!

Before I don my kitty ears and take Little Batman trick or treating tonight, I want to thank all of you for taking the Chica Lit Halloween Tour and thank my fellow authors, Berta Platas, Sofia Quintero, Caridad Pineiro and Kathy Cano-Murillo for a week of freaky and fabulous stories!
If you haven’t read these amazing stories, don’t miss out!
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Southern California Wildfires Volunteers & Donations

Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers. The last Mom heard was that my dad was back at his station. The fires are still going so there’s a chance his strike team will be deployed.

I also received the following list from the Las Comadres network and wanted to share this with everyone.

To make a cash donation: Your donation can help organizations obtain goods and services locally to issue assistance to victims.

  • American Red Cross: Support their Disaster Relief Fund which enables them to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to victims of disaster
  • San Diego Humane Society and SPCA: Help to rescue and evacuate pets
  • Volunteer San Diego: Support their Disaster Program which allows them to meet volunteer needs locally
  • San Diego Foundation: Support their After-the-Fires fund which will provide food, shelter, housing and address healthcare needs of the victims.

To offer non-cash donations (blankets, food, etc):

  • Please call a special hotline set up by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services to offer your non-cash donations, 1-800-750-2858
  • To volunteer: Search for ways to volunteer at www.californiavolunteers.org
  • You can visit also : http://www.wishuponahero.com/ to give and receive help.

Here’s a link to help out in Orange County: http://www.ocregister.com/news/font-normal-style-1903511-span-class

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While I’m Stuck in the House…

I wanted to share what I’m doing while the Little Dude sleeps.
By the way, the sunlight is tangerine because the sky is a smutty pink gray. Everyone has been told to stay inside and after a brief venture with Rascal the Pug during his morning constitutional, I’m taking it seriously.

Also, my grandma and uncle were able to go home this morning. But they’re ready to leave if the winds change. My dad and his team were called to the fire near Jamul but were then sent back to the station. I think he’s bummed because like all fire fighters, he wants to put out fires.
I’m watching:

I’m reading my new favorite author:

I’m also wrote the first scene of my new book that I wanted to start on November 1st for NaNoMo but couldn’t wait any longer!
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Update on Mary’s Dad

First, thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers yesterday. I think it’s making a difference as the winds are very calm out here in Costa Mesa and down in National City where my family live.

Yesterday, my dad was at a high school fire set by two idiots who apparently were unaware that all of Southern California is burning. Luckily no one was hurt and the fire crews took care of the fire. Last night my grandma and uncle left Spring Valley and today, there are evacuations fo Spring Valley and Bontia.

It’s a very serious situation and I feel a bit helpless checking the updates. I think I’ll go through our stuff to set aside for donations.

If you want to stay on top of the news in San Diego, go to http://sosdfireblog.blogspot.com/.

For new in Orange County, go to the OC Register.

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In the Wings With Kikey Castillo

At the Catalina Magazine party last month I met Actress Kikey Castillo. (Isn’t she goregous?) It’s not often I meet another Castillo and when I do, we always wonder if we’re related.

Kikey will co-star in Virgin Love, a production of the new Ricardo Montalbán Repertory Theatre Company. Virgin Love is a musical Commeda set in the 1700’s on the fictional island of Latinia.

Chica Lit: In your bio, you said that you were on your way to becoming a CEO. How did you get into acting and what did your parents think?

Kikey: It’s true. I always envisioned myself a corporate career woman in suits. Senior year in college I took an elective course, “Intro to Acting” and really liked it. From there I pursued plays and got bit by the acting bug. I remember thinking: “I’m a month away from graduating college and all I want to do is move to LA and pursue acting. My mom is gonna kill me!” I think she was a little disappointed at first (though she may never confess to this) because she wanted me to have a better life and more opportunities than she had. And I can understand that, but when she saw that I was actually good at acting and that I was making money and appearing on TV, movies, and print then she really started to believe in me and now she’s my rock and my biggest supporter.

Chica Lit: Talk about your role in Virgin Love. What were the challenges of your character? What do you love about that character?

Kikey: I play Franceschina, the jeweler’s wife who loves jewels more than her husband and consequentially ignores him but is having an affair with the town bachelor (who is also having affairs with several women in town…it’s a comedy).

A big challenge for me was that i couldn’t sing and the play is a musical commedia! I was very nervous about singing and didn’t want to sound terrible in front of anybody, even my cast mates, so I hired a voice coach — thank God! She’s really brought me a long way.

I love my character Franceschina. She has an air of prim and proper about her but yet she has this youthful spirit about her. I found it really easy and fun to step into her shoes.

Chica Lit: How do you keep up the energy night after night, rehearsal after rehearsal?

Kikey: Energy? What is that? 🙂 The rehearsal process has been very physically tough at times. We have been rehearsing five nights a week for the last three months but it’s all worth it in the end. Our opening night is Friday, October 26, 2007, so high energy is definitely going to be required during our run. But for me that’s usually the easiest part. I can keep going and going during performances…there’s something about performing live that always gives me lots of energy.

Chica Lit: Where did you grow up? If not L.A., how did you adjust to becoming an actress in the Hollywood?

Kikey: I grew up in very small town in Eastern Oregon. My family were migrant workers and the work was good up there and we all stayed. Growing up in a small town was very nice, apple pie kind of nice, but I always wanted to live in a big city. So LA was an easy adjustment for me and I really love it. However being an actress in LA has been a lot of blood, sweat and tears…but it’s my passion, my dream and I wouldn’t dream of doing anything else.

Chica Lit: What struggles have you encountered in Hollywood?

Kikey: I think I’ve encounter the typical actor struggles here in Hollywood the whole “my agent doesn’t send me out enough”, “Getting good representation is hard”, having to constantly get new headshots, feeling like you never work enough and thinking to yourself why didn’t you know about that audition for the TV show, commercial or movie you just saw. Now saying it here makes it seem so comical but trust me, these are serious topics for an actor 🙂 LOL.

Chica Lit: What’s next after Virgin Love?

Kikey: I have a few projects in the works. I’m shooting a national Chevy commercial this month; I’m in an indie feature film called The Broken Hearts Club which shoots in December, more on-air hostessing projects and a webisode project. And si Dios quiere, a lot more!

For performances and ticket information, go to the Ricardo Montalbán Repertory Theatre Company.
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California Fires

It’s a bit scary out here today. The Santa Ana winds whip fiercely through the trees and you can see ash flakes and leaves tumbling in the air. The air is stripped dry and it hurts your eyes and throat to breathe outdoors. We’re supposed to have these winds till tomorrow.

Would you mind if ask you for a favor? My dad has been sent out on a strike team today to fight the fires in Southern California (we don’t know exactly where he’ll be deployed). Would you take a moment to think or pray or send blessings to the fire fighters out there, as well as the people whose lives, homes andbusinesses are in danger?

Thanks so much!

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Outting Myself

If J.K. Rowling outted Dumbledore, than I’ll out the fact that I’ve signed up for NaNoWriMo. I even have a profile! So for the next two weeks, I’m focusing on a short story for the blog, my adaptation of Switchcraft and all the pre-writing for my NaNoMo book.
If you want to join me, become my buddy here.
Truthfully, I’m a little nervous. I’ve never committed to 50,000 words in one month and with a nanny-less two year-old and Thanksgiving looming ahead, it’ll be a real challenge. (Not to mention a real kick in the ego if I don’t make it!)
But for the last three weeks or so, I’ve been in promo mode for Switchcraft, which has been a life of writing press releases, stalking bloggers and reviewers and setting up events. It’s been great but I miss writing and I’m starting to crack up. For example, in my non-writing interests I initially wrote “booking” when I meant “cooking!”
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Crafting with the Chica: Fabric Collage Dream Journal

My friend, Kathy Cano-Murillo taped some webisodes for Lifetime and in this segment, she demonstrates how to create a fabric collage dream journal. For every book that I’ve written, I’ve also kept a notebook. In them, I jot down lines of dialogue or those little spurts of inspiration that pop in my head when I’m no where near my computer, or when I need to be away from my computer and refocus on thoughts.

Today, I’m baking and preparing for my event tonight at Calacas but on Saturday, I’m going to create a journal that will accompany me as I write my new book!

Thanks Kathy!

Also, check out Kathy’s book!

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Taking Note

This Saturday I went to my first Orange County Chapter of RWA meeting in a looong, looong time. Best selling author, Robert Crais spoke about his childhood – he grew up behind a drive-in theatre reading comics – and his adventures in Hollywood and publishing. He did a good job, signed a ton of books and in all, I think everyone was happy.
As a member of OCC RWA, I’ve seen quite a few big-name NYT best-selling authors take our stage and realized that the only difference between a little fish like me and a guy like Mr. Crais is that he makes a lot more money than I do. So perhaps the true secret to success in publishing is to wait for the big fish to die or retire.
However, here’s my list of what I have in common with a New York Times best-selling author:
  1. No matter how many copies of books in print and sold, authors still count and remember their rejection letters.
  2. Even if their latest book debuts high up on the NYT list, best-selling authors still envy writers whom they think are (a) more talented than they are or (b) get more money and attention from their publishers.
  3. Best-selling authors always talk about how during their childhood, they were the family mutant. Only when we succeed do our families look at us in a different light. (Usually to see if we used them as a character in the book, or if we’ve made enough money to spring for lunch.)
  4. Best-selling authors always walk into the room looking a bit bewildered by everyone’s awe and reverance. Wait, that’s not true. Jackie Collins once paid a visit to OCC RWA and she made an entrance. Then again, Nora Roberts struts around RWA National like she doesn’t notice everyone staring at her so maybe it’s a guy versus girl thing.
    Moving on…
  5. Most best-selling authors – actually I should say that the ones who are still good and aren’t paying other writers to write their stuff – never lose that sense of awe that they get paid to make stuff up.
  6. No matter how many millions they’ve acquired (and that their publisher will fly them first-class and not put them up in a haunted hotel), best-selling authors still want us to feel sorry for them when they tell us how they struggled in the early years.
Hey man, I feel your pain. So when are you thinking about doing something else?
(Me, bitter? Nah!)