Sylvia Shults's Blog, page 23

Days of the Dead Now Available With the Click of a Mouse!

Well, here’s some fun library news! Days of the Dead: A Year of True Ghost Stories, is now available on Biblioboard. What does this mean? It means that if you’ve got a library card, you can read Days of the Dead for free in ebook format. And you can skip the hold shelf — with Biblioboard, there’s no waiting, and you can order the ebook online. Just follow this link: https://library.biblioboard.com/…/c0a8deba-e4bf-4d3f… , have your library card handy, and with one click of a button, you can be enjoying a year’s worth of true ghost stories. Just be sure to keep the lights on!

Today I Learned …

A man tried to rob a convenience store in Fort Smith, Arkansas, in April 2012. His weapon of choice? A pair of hot dog tongs. (From Ripley’s Believe It Or Not: Eye-Popping Oddities)

Today I Learned …

On the day Judy Garland died, a tornado struck Kansas. Judy Garland was found dead at her London home late on the morning of June 22, 1969, twelve days after she had turned 47 years old. An F3 tornado touched down in Saline County, Kansas, on June 21. Sixty people were injured, but no one was killed. The tornado struck at 10:40 pm on the 21st … which, in London, was 4:40 am on the 22nd, at the presumed exact time of Garland’s death.

Today I Learned …

Great white sharks are 200 times heavier than domestic cats, but their brains weigh almost the same. (From 1,339 Quite Interesting Facts to Make Your Jaw Drop, by John Lloyd, John Mitchinson, and James Harkin)

Today I Learned …

Coyotes can run faster than roadrunners. (From 1,339 Quite Interesting Facts to Make Your Jaw Drop, by John Lloyd, John Mitchinson, and James Harkin)

Today I Learned …

Even when adjusted for inflation, the movie Titanic cost 50% more to make than the ship of the same name. (From 1,339 Quite Interesting Facts to Make Your Jaw Drop, by John Lloyd, John Mitchinson, and James Harkin)

Today I Learned …

In Finnish an exclamation point is a “shout mark”; in Spanish it’s a “wonder symbol.” (From 1,339 Quite Interesting Facts to Make Your Jaw Drop, by John Lloyd, John Mitchinson, and James Harkin)

Review of Grave Deeds and Dead Plots

So every month or so, I head on over to Ron’s Amazing Stories, and Ron Hood and I chat about the paranormal for a while. Ron was kind enough to get himself a copy of my brand-new book, and even better, he wrote up a glowing review of it. Here it is:

“I have had the chance to read this book and I can tell you there are stories that will blow your mind. Did you think that you knew it all about the Hamilton and Burr conflict? Sylvia tells a whole new chapter of that amazing saga. Or how about the early days of Abraham Lincoln and his encounter with cold blood killer Isaac Wyatt. You might want to leave the lights on for the story at The Haunted Crossroads where Tom Otter meets his maker in a most hideous way. These are just a few of 30 stories found in Sylvia’s new work.

This book reads like a dream and you can binge it or enjoy it at your leisure. Sylvia has taken the time to fully research each story and gives you the facts. But not in a cold dry manner. No, each story is told with passion and you will feel it deep in your bones.”

Thank you so much, Ron, for those kind words! If you’d like to check out this episode of Ghost Stories With Sylvia, where we chat about the book, and I read a story from its pages, please follow this link here.

Today I Learned …

The first country to ban foie gras on the grounds on animal cruelty was Nazi Germany. (From 1,339 Quite Interesting Facts to Make Your Jaw Drop, by John Lloyd, John Mitchinson, and James Harkin)

Today I Learned …

How long does it take for a flower to replenish its nectar supply?

It all depends on the creature the flower evolved to attract, says Gary Krupnick of the Museum of Natural History. Nectar is a sugar-based substance that lures pollinators so their bodies transfer bits of fertilizing pollen from flower to flower. Plants adjust their nectar production to match the needs of their pollinators. Small blue borage flowers, which attract bees and butterflies, can replenish their nectar in two minutes. Agave plants, which attract needle-nosed bats, produce nectar only at night. A recent study found that evening primrose is even able to detect the specific sound frequencies of its bee pollinators. When it does, it produces fresh nectar in three minutes to attract them.