NEW YEAR, NEW GOALS by Teresa Inge

January symbolizes a new beginning and a fresh start to the new year. It also brings resolutions and a time to adopt new habits.

To me, it's the month that I set goals and view all things writing for the upcoming year. I decide which writing conferences to attend, view book signing locations and events, schedule book launches for upcoming books, and replenish bookmarks, books, and swag.  

In addition, I add a new goal during this time. So this month I plan to create writing presentations to present at events. I've been fortunate to participate on many conference panels throughout the years to discuss my books so I'm looking forward to sharing additional knowledge with audiences. I plan to start with Nancy Drew and book marketing presentations since I have vast experience in both topics.   

Another continuing goal is striving to write quality short stories and novels for my readers. Of course, scheduling writing time and submitting my work to various publishers and publications is my ultimate goal.

My last goal is to network with other authors and grow my readership by sharing updates about my books and upcoming events in a newsletter.

What goals, resolutions, and plans do you have for 2024? 

Teresa Inge is president of the Sisters in Crime, Mystery by the Sea chapter, a member of the Hampton Roads Writers, Short Mystery Fiction Society, and a contributor to the Sand in Our Shorts blog.   

She is an author in the Mutt Mysteries series, Virginia is for Mysteries series, 50 Shades of Cabernet, Coastal Crimes: Mysteries by the Sea, Murder by the Glass, Malice, Matrimony and Murder, and First Comes Love, Then Comes Murder.  

When not writing, Teresa can be found on the classic car show circuit showing her 1955 Torch Red Thunderbird. She can be reached on all social media or by posting a comment on her website www.teresainge.com  

THE HISTORY OF SWEET TEA by Teresa Inge

    

As summer heats up, Americans will be looking to cool down, and what better way than with a cold glass of refreshing sweet, iced tea.   

It’s been called "The House Wine of the South," by Dolly Parton in the movie Steel Magnolias, which was never a truer statement. Talk about the South and sooner or later sweet tea comes to mind. In the South, tea is appropriate for all meals, and all occasions, and you start drinking it before you can walk. Sweet tea makes Southerners think of home, tradition, picnics, and hot afternoons “sippin” sweet tea on the front porch. Southern girls are taught how to make it by their mama’s thirst-quenching recipes.    

First Sweet Tea Recipe - Green Tea Leaves

Until the 1900s, iced tea was made from green tea leaves rather than black tea leaves. The oldest recipe in print was when sugar was first added by a housewife and socialite named Marion Cabell Tyree from Charleston, South Carolina. Her recipe was published in the cookbook, Housekeeping in Old Virginia in 1879.  

While sweet tea remains a Southern delicacy, originally Southern-style sweet tea was made by dissolving cups of sugar in batches of boiling water in which green tea leaves were steeped. Once the water cooled and the leaves were removed, the tea was ready to be served. 

But depending on the amount of sugar dissolved, the original sweet tea of the 18^th and early 19^th centuries had a sticky—simple syrup taste that was too sweet. That’s when alcoholic “Green Tea Punches” became popular among the British aristocracy. Then southerners created a “Planter’s Punch” made of sweet green tea with pineapple, and citrus juices, and cut with near-lethal amounts of rum, whiskey, and bourbon to tolerate the sweetness.

By the late 1820s, America’s love affair with a “strong drink” began to cool as a growing number of Americans began identifying as “Teetotalers,” advocating against alcoholic beverages. Iced tea was at the top of that list and the South preferred sweet tea sans the alcohol.   

1904 St. Louis World's Fair - Cold Black Tea Takes Center Stage       

Thanks to the 1904 World’s Fair, there was a lift-off in the popularity of iced tea as patrons searched for a cold beverage due to the summer heat. That’s when Englishman, Richard Blechynden who was selling hot black tea at the fair realized no one was buying his drink due to the intense heat. So, he began running the tea through iced lead pipes and served the beverage to people walking through the fair. Because of this, it changed the way Americans thought of tea, thus popularizing black tea in everyday households.   

World War II - Tea Importation Cut off

A British soldier with the 2/7th Middlesex Regiment shares a cup of tea with an American infantryman in the Anzio bridgehead, on Feb 10, 1944. 

During World War II green tea importation was cut off leaving Americans with British-supplied black teas imported from India. This impacted the switch from green tea to black tea leaves.

This was due to the British government making an unusual decision in 1942 to purchase all the black tea on the European market to help their soldiers' morale and comfort during the war. With 60 million people losing their lives, soldiers witnessed more death than any human ever should and they suffered severe psychological trauma and nervous breakdowns. Since the water was transferred to the frontlines in oil cans, tea masked the flavor and brought comfort in chaotic times. It kept the soldiers hydrated, refreshed, and energized due to the caffeine in the black tea. 

Eight decades later, black tea is still the preferred version in America.  

Tea Stats - Over 1,000 Varieties   

Today, there are over 1,000 varieties of tea, most classified as white, green, oolong, and black. Tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world next to water and can be found in almost 80% of U.S. households. It's the only beverage served hot or iced, anytime, anywhere for any occasion. On any given day, over 159 million Americans are drinking tea and 75-80% of it is iced.               

        
Aside from a frosty beer, no drink quenches a thirst like a glass of iced tea. In the South, it’s served sweet and unsweetened. But in the Northeast, Midwest, or West iced tea is usually served black—meaning unsweetened.  

National Sweet Tea Day & Iced Tea Day

As we approach National Iced Day on June 10 & National Sweet Tea Day on August 21, rest assured that Southerners will be drinking it with plenty of sugar and by the gallon. Whether using black leaves or green leaves, iced tea will flow freely this summer, helping Southerners to cool down from high temperatures.

Tea Fact Sheet 

Setting SMART Goals by Teresa Inge

 

Setting SMART Goals

After the holidays are over and you find yourself in a brand new year, it's time to reflect on what you can do to change your life for the better. That's where New Year's resolutions and goals come into play. But how do you know where to start?

Goal setting is one of the most basic and essential skills you can develop. Whether it’s a career, finance, writing, or a weight loss goal, any of these can be accomplished by first setting the goal and second sticking to it. The rest is up to you to make it happen.

As an administrative professional for nearly forty years and mystery writer in twelve books, I’ve learned to set SMART goals to manage dual careers. Meaning, they’re specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based. Below is a breakdown of how to set each goal.

Specific goals answer the who, what, when, where, and why of the goal. To make it specific, take “I want to learn Excel” to “I will register for an Excel class to build my skills to track and manage my budget.” Or “I need to improve my book research skills” to “I will use my library resources, the internet, and the historical society to improve my research skills for my book.” This way, you know exactly what you need to do and how you’re going to do it.

Measurable is the metric or progress of where you are now versus where you want to end up. This way, at any point throughout the goal-achieving timeline, you will know how far you’ve come and how far you have left to go to reach your goal.   

Attainable ensures you have the skills and resources to accomplish within the given time frame. If you set lofty and challenging goals that aren’t attainable, you’ll end up frustrated and possibly give up in the end. Keeping bigger goals in mind and breaking them into bite-sized pieces will achieve the ultimate win bit by bit.  

Relevant is the purpose of the goal to keep you motivated to achieve it. When goals are relevant, it means you’re spending your time wisely to make progress toward the bigger picture. There are probably a lot of things you want to get done in life with all types of goals but being passionate about something requires staying focused and picky about your time.

Time-based requires a deadline so you do not lose a sense of urgency. Having a completion date in mind will set your pace along the way and hold you accountable.  

Good luck with achieving your goals. Click here to access a SMART goals worksheet to help you begin your journey.