Sherrill Joseph's Blog, page 4

“The Party in Your Brain”

Hello to all my Readers,

Today, I present a timely guest blog from my fellow Blackbird Writer, Joy Ann Ribar, author of The Deep Lakes Cozy Mysteries series. She entitled it, “The Party in Your Brain.” I hope you find the following information as exciting as I do:

Did you know that April 17-23 is World Creativity and Innovation Week, declared by the United Nations? (Of course, creativity extends beyond one week, right?!)

Joy says, “Its aim is to empower creativity from all people in all functions of life to improve our world. That may sound lofty and maybe even cliché to some, but according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, every occupational field in the world is seeking creative minds to move the world forward in the 21st century. In the world we live in, creativity has become an essential skill and tool for a better future.”

Not feeling creative? Maybe you don’t think you are a creative person. Of course you are. As Joy says, “You have creativity. . . . And it is the truth. . . . Both hemispheres of our dynamic brains are connected with nerve pathways that communicate and work together. I call it the party in your brain.

The key to creativity is to cultivate it, like a garden. The soil is already present, it just needs fertilizing.

Joy goes on to say, “World Creativity and Innovation Week celebrates creativity of all sorts and empowers individuals to share their everyday creative ideas and to collaborate with others to find answers to problems. Because creative thinkers are able to see problems as opportunities, most everything has multiple right answers from a creative standpoint.”

Storytelling is one form of creativity, but there are thousands more!

You can check out ways to participate in this celebration and find all listed events at https://wciw.org/

And if you’d like to read Joy’s entire blog to see how important creativity is and some ideas to spark your creativity, please click HERE.

So, get a clue, Readers. I wholeheartedly agree with Joy’s closing statements: “I steadfastly believe that the stories we tell will always matter. Never doubt that somewhere out there is a reader who needed to read or hear your story for a particular moment in their life. It was your words that mattered and that is why words have power.”

 

Are You a Synesthete?

Dear Kids and All Readers,

I am a member of Blackbird Writers, a group of mystery, suspense, thriller, and crime fiction authors scattered across the U.S. Our motto is “We flock together to bring mystery and mayhem to the world.”

Each member is tasked about once every five months on a rotating basis with writing a blog that is posted on the group’s website.

Today was my turn.

My topic was “Are You a Synesthete?” That’s someone with synesthesia. Ever heard of it? Are you a synesthete?

Here are some opening paragraphs from my blog:

“Ms. J, what does my name make you taste?”

A fair question, the kind I am always asked by school students when I attend an author visit.

My kid-lit fans know I’m a synesthete. That’s a person with synesthesia. So is Rani Kumar, one of my detective characters. No worries. It’s not a fatal disease. She and I were born as synesthetes. We didn’t know the term until I stumbled across an article about the condition five years ago.  

What exactly is synesthesia?

The word synesthesia derives from two Greek roots: syn = union; aesthesis = sensation: a union of two or more senses. About four percent of the world’s population (roughly 320 million as of 2023) was born with this interesting neurological condition, resulting in unusual cross connections in the brain. Those cause one sense to trigger another, allowing synesthetes to apply two or more senses simultaneously. This “sensory fusion” is considered by many to be a mental ability, not a disability. . . . 

If you would like to read the rest of my blog on synesthesia, please click HERE. 

So, get a clue, Readers. I think you will find my article enlightening. And maybe revealing!

Want to know what your name makes me taste or smell? You may ask me HERE! I’ll do my best to reply.

Photo Credit:  Thank you, wikimedia.commons

 

Want to Make It to 100+?

Dear Kids and All Readers,

Did you know that there are almost 600,000 people worldwide who are at least 100 years old? And the numbers are expected to climb in the coming decades.

How did the longest lived reach this incredible goal? Is that your goal, too?

It is mine, so I’ve been doing some research. Below are four fascinating articles on the topic.

Turns out from an eighty-five-year Harvard study, the number one factor in achieving longevity is not social position or even health but ongoing social interactions: “relationships, relationships, relationships; loneliness kills.”

Diet (see the Blue Zones Longevity Diet and Info), exercise, joy, positivity, and genetics (somewhat) help, too.

And how about this? Has the First Person to Live to be 150 been born? It includes info about resetting the body’s molecules to reverse ageing and eliminating diseases. Whoa!

So, get a clue, Readers. I will leave you with another article with Expert Longevity Recommendations. Plan well financially for longevity. Welcome each of your birthdays joyfully; they beat the alternative. And kids, it’s not too early to start developing healthy habits to live a long, happy life. Hope to see joyful, healthy, and still financially comfortable you in the coming decades!

Photo Credit:  Thank you, Romario D’silva, on pexels.com.

 

 

Raven Mad

Hello, Kids and All Readers,

You might say I’ve gone “raven mad” lately. I refer to the bird, not my mental state!

Research for my Book 5, Jacaranda Street: Gravestone Image, has taken me to many sites about Edgar Allan Poe and ravens. I can’t seem to get enough of either topic.

But for today, I hope to make you just as enthralled with ravens as I am.

Here are some fascinating facts about these magnificent birds that I gathered from farmersalmanac.com and mentalfloss.com:

Ravens love to play. These sky acrobats can fly upside down and turn somersaults. Young ravens drop sticks in flight, then swoop to catch them.Ravens can talk and sing. They can make 100 or more vocalization with their deep voices. Ravens enjoy mimicking human speech and bird and animal sounds. When the bird in Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven” said, “Nevermore,” that could really happen! (Hint: Watch for a talking raven in my Book 5 this fall!)Ravens are clever and intelligent. They often work in pairs to find food and will steal food from people and other animals without remorse. Ravens are ranked in an intelligence class with dolphins and chimpanzees. They make tools to help find and bury food.Ravens eat anything they want. They are omnivorous and hunt their own food, steal it, or eat roadkill. They also enjoy insects, eggs, seeds, and berries. Like squirrels, they will hide food for lean times.Ravens have been the subjects of legends and lore. To some, ravens are dark and mysterious birds, appearing in literature throughout history and across many cultures. Some consider them harbingers of death and misfortune. Others see them as symbols of good luck. Edgar Allan Poe described his midnight-visitor raven as “grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, an ominous bird of yore.”Ravens are adaptable to different environments. They live in the snow, deserts, mountains, and forests and have a lifespan of twenty-five to thirty years.Ravens roam in teenage gangs. Once they mate, they pair off and mature.Ravens can show empathy. They can express concern for an injured bird, recognize a “friend” up to three years after seeing them, and even hold a grudge!Ravens have been kept at the Tower of London for centuries. They are considered good luck symbols.Ravens appear in the Bible in the Book of Genesis and in 1 Kings.

So, get a clue, Readers. How are ravens and crows alike and different? You can find out from the Audubon Society HERE. Now, maybe you’re raven mad, too!

 

Upping Your Happiness

Dear Kids and All Readers,

What’s the number one factor leading to lasting Happiness?

Check out psychologist Jill Suttie’s article, “What the Longest Happiness Study Reveals About Finding Fulfillment.”

Dr. Suttie, with the Greater Good Science Center, UC Berkeley, presents the findings from a Harvard study involving a diverse group of people that began in the 1930s to the present day.

The study is now a book entitled The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness, by Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz.

So, what did the ninety-year study find? 

The number one factor in achieving happiness, well-being, and longevity is Human Connections. Cultivating relationships in all areas of our lives is critical to happiness. The study cautioned that some cultures push people toward going it alone and overachieving, but relationships and positive social ties are, ultimately, more fulfilling, can help prolong our lives, and help us be resilient in the face of hardships.

If you’d like to learn some tips from the study on how to cultivate better relationships, click HERE.

So, get a clue, Readers. Let your happiness grow and become contagious by seeking out others and developing and maintaining positive social connections! It’s one of my goals for 2023.

(Photo Credits: Surface, Szilvia Basso, and Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash)

 

Of Grave Interest

Dear Readers,

During my research for Book 5, Jacaranda Street: Gravestone Image, which involves a mystery wrapped around the nineteenth-century American writer Edgar Allan Poe, I uncovered a fascinating, real-life mystery. If you’re a fan of Poe, you probably know that he died in 1849 at the age of 40. His cause of death is unknown, and his death certificate is lost–befitting the Master of the Macabre.

Since the 1940s, an unidentified man dressed in a long black coat, mask, white scarf, and wide-brimmed black hat would make his annual pilgrimage to Edgar Allan Poe’s original Baltimore gravesite in Westminster Church and Burying Ground to toast the writer on his January 19th birthday.

The “Poe Toaster,” as this figure came to be known, would arrive on foot between midnight and 5:30 a.m. each year with a bottle of Martell cognac and three red roses, one each for Poe, his wife, and her mother. He would lay the roses in a particular pattern on Poe’s grave, say a few words in Latin, sometimes leave a written note, and toast Poe with a glass of the drink. After leaving the rest of the bottle at the site, he would depart as mysteriously as he had arrived. Intrigue. Mystery. Solemnity.

A Poe Toaster continued this tradition until 2009, the 200th anniversary of Poe’s birth. The Toaster had indicated in a note left at the gravesite in 1993 that his son would someday take over the annual ritual. It is believed that the original Toaster died in 1998, his identity unknown to this day, though speculation still runs rampant, and some “faux Toasters” have tried to claim the title.

A perhaps “new” Toaster continued the ritual from 1999 to 2009. But in 2010, no toaster appeared!

What’s happened to this beguiling annual ritual? Has a successor stepped forward? Who was/is the Poe Toaster? If you’d like to read much more about this real Baltimore mystery, you can Google the topic or click HERE.

So, get a clue, Readers. Edgar Allan Poe’s legacy lives on through his spine-tingling works and adoring fans. Writing, like most art, can bestow a kind of immortality on an artist, with or without a “Toaster.” But I’m still glad that Poe had/has one. Happy 214th Birthday, Mr. Poe!  (Photo credits: geeksided.com)

 

 

Receiving and Answering the Call

Dear Kids and All Readers,

I set a goal for January 2023: On New Year’s Day, I would begin writing Book 5 in my Botanic Hill Detectives Mysteries series.

The day came and went. For various reasons–still in a holiday mood; more research needed; hot chocolate is ready?–I had not written one word of Chapter 1.

As the week wore on, I began losing sleep, a sure sign something big was about to happen. How did I know? Deja vu from the first four books! And like each book before, something big did happen.

On January 7, I heard my four detectives loudly calling to me. They shouted, “We need you to join us on the Hill immediately! We’re in a hardware store, and the owner, Mr. Kirby, thinks he has a mystery for us to solve. We’ve stumbled onto our next case! Please come listen to us now and write down what’s happening before the details disappear forever.”

That did it. I’m powerless against my detective children! So, before I knew it, my laptop and I were on Botanic Hill, surrounded by my precious characters. As my fingers clicked on the keys, I was thinking, aren’t I lucky? These amazing sleuths make it easy for me to be a writer. I just have to open my ears and compose. It’s almost cheating! 

As of today, January 12, I’m on Chapter 4. And the story is flowing. Yay! Thank you, Botanic Hill detectives, for pulling me into your world once again and always making me an honorary detective with each new mystery. I promise to return daily until together, we’ve recorded all your adventures, clues, red herrings, sorrows, and joys to bring the world your fifth case, Jacaranda Street: Gravestone Image, by next fall.

So, get a clue, Kids and Readers. What sparks your creativity? Do you answer “the call”? I hope you do. Here’s to maximizing your creative potential in 2023. Comments?

 

 

Wrapping Up 2022

Dear Kids and All Readers,

This is the time of year when many of us pause and reflect on the end of another year.

The joys and sorrows of 2022 have been washing over me the last two weeks as I holiday shop, send cards, and wrap gifts. Mainly, I am filled with abundant gratitude for my good fortune! Here is why . . .

I especially appreciate those of you who take the time to open and read my monthly newsletter. I hope you find one or more items of interest each visit–some news or events, perhaps a recipe or book recommendation; I do enjoy assembling it for you! And I’m always open to your suggestions to improve it.

2022 saw my Book 4, Saffron Street: Island Danger, join the stable of Botanic Hill Detectives mysteries. Hurray! One of my goals for 2023 is to get Book 5, Jacaranda Street: Gravestone Image, out to you next fall. In fact, my long-term goal is to produce one new mystery every year, which I must do if I am to get my four sleuths through all twenty-six cases–one for each street on the Hill! And I hope you’ll hang in there with us.

I am grateful that I finally got to visit my daughter, son-in-law, two grandchildren, and granddog on the East coast after a fifteen-month drought (due to the pandemic). We celebrated Thanksgiving, my milestone birthday, and an early Christmas in grand style. Holding my grandchildren in my arms was the highlight of my year.

Like many of you–I hope–I have been blessed with another year Covid free (knock on wood!). That has been no small undertaking, but being a solitary writer helps.

Some of you know that I proudly live in a 1928 Spanish Mission Revival house in a historic neighborhood. So, this year, I undertook to restore the bathroom to its original Art Deco grandeur. The project should be finished by the end of January, and I am so pleased with the results to date. During the redo, I have been blessed to live rent-free at my cousin’s studio apartment over her garage not far from home. From my elegant perch, I can see the ocean, San Diego Bay, the airport with planes landing and taking off, cruise ships coming and going, the Coronado Islands off the coast of Mexico, Downtown San Diego, and gorgeous sunsets. Thank you so much, Cousin Mary! Couldn’t have done it without your help. (I’ll move back home one of these days.)

My 2022 continuing heartbreak has been the loss of my sweet poodle-bichon, Jimmy Lambchop. He crossed over the Rainbow Bridge last March, too early at the age of ten, following emergency gallbladder surgery that led to pancreatitis, which, ultimately, took him from me. To say I miss him daily is an understatement; it’s an ache that I suspect will never leave me. R.I.P., my sweet little boy. My love for you only increases with each passing day. But memories and photos comfort me.

So, get a clue, Readers. How has 2022 shaped up for you? I hope you have had a fabulous year. Happy Holidays and a Prosperous, Healthy, Joyous 2023 to all! Comments Welcome!

 

 

 

Conversation Starters with Mighty Girls

Dear Readers,

You know the scene: You attend a holiday gathering and find children you see only this time of year or who are new to you. What do you say to break the ice with the younger set?

In Katherine’s article “Beyond ‘You’re So Cute’: Thirty Questions to Ask Little Girls This Holiday Season” (or anytime!), posted December 4, 2022, in A Mighty Girl newsletter, we are cautioned not to fall into stereotypical, appearance-based comments or questions about a little girl’s looks, nails, hair, or clothing.

The author mentions that body-image concerns for little girls have been documented as early as first grade! It’s definitely time to move to broader areas of interest that can spark great conversations, empower girls, and clue them in that we really care to get to know these mighty kiddos.

Here are some questions I randomly chose from the article to get you started:

Does your family have a holiday tradition you love?What’s your favorite thing to learn about?What’s your favorite book or author?What’s your favorite movie/tv show/hobby/animal/sport/song to dance to?Who’s your best friend? Why?Do you have any pets? Please tell me about them.If you could ask your hero one question, what would it be?What’s your superpower or one you wish you had and why?If someone gave you $100/$1,000,000, what would you do with it?What do you think is the most interesting job in the world and why?

So, get a clue, readers. Children deserve opportunities to shine forth beyond their appearance. I hope you will take these questions well into 2023 and use them whenever you have the privilege of conversing with a mighty girl or mighty boy. Happy Holidays to you and your family! Comments?

Spam?

Hello, Readers,

As we get ready for Thanksgiving in the USA, our thoughts increasingly turn to FOOD as we plan the feast: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and . . . Spam?

This week, I have found myself thinking about Hawaiian food, including Spam, no doubt in light of Saffron Street: Island Danger, recently released and set on O’ahu. And as it turns out, there is a link between Spam and the Japanese Americans’ incarcerations post Pearl Harbor, central to my book’s mystery. Keep reading!

I found an interesting article by Kiki Aranita about the history of Spam, a food abundantly served throughout the Hawaiian islands. According to Aranita, who grew up on O’ahu, many people on the Mainland denigrate this popular food as over-processed, unhealthy, salt-laden, canned junk food. Not so in Hawai’i! For Aranita and Hawaiians, Spam, especially served with eggs and rice, is wrapped in the history and nostalgia of the islands there.

Also from O’ahu, Chef Chung Chow of New York City’s Noreetah restaurant associates Spam with home. He serves Spam in a fine-dining context in an attempt to change Spam’s image on the Mainland. On his menu is an array of Spam musubi. He finds it interesting that Spam costs more on the Mainland ($5.00) than in Hawai’i ($1.99) despite it being produced in Minnesota and Nebraska!

Spam’s Hawaiian history was born of suspicion and food insecurity. In the late 19th century, “work contracts of the Japanese laborers who had come to work on Hawai’i’s sugarcane plantations expired. Many of them, skilled fisherman, turned to commercial fishing. They could earn more than working on the plantations. The Japanese displaced the Hawaiians in commercial fisheries . . . and eventually monopolized the deep sea fishing industry.

By the 1930s, the US military came to view this as a threat to national security. . . . There were concerns that the fishermen were being interrogated by Japanese Navy officials on hydrographic conditions in Hawai’i, ending the careers of many fishermen. But even after the attack on Pearl Harbor, none of these claims were substantiated. As Japanese Americans were incarcerated in camps on the mainland, this effective ban in Hawai’i on deep sea fishing by “aliens” obliterated the industry and left Hawai’i’s Japanese population stranded.

The iconic Spam musubi was borne from this sudden lack of fish to eat as people came to subsist on canned foods — an adaptation that is, painfully, not unique.”So, get a clue, Readers. I hope you will read Aranita’s article to learn more about Spam’s history and why it’s so special to the Hawaiians. Happy Thanksgiving for all our blessings, no matter what foods complement your feast!