MARDI GRAS – WIMPS NEED NOT APPLY by Michael Rigg

Krewe of ALLA Parade 2023. 

I write short stories and novels set in two disparate locations: Virginia (mostly Hampton Roads) and New Orleans. I live in Virginia Beach, so local research in/around Hampton Roads is relatively easy. But New Orleans? While the Internet’s great, there’s nothing like visiting the proverbial “scene of the crime.” Computer-based research gives you a one-dimensional view; you can read about events, look at maps, and view photos and videos. New Orleans is not a one-dimensional place. The Big Easy involves all five senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. And there’s only one way to experience the mix—be there.

CREATIVITY FOR THE LOVE OF IT, PART 1: POETRY by Max Jason Peterson

Edgar Allan Poe

Today I want to begin talking about a particular passion of mine—art for art’s sake. In this series, I’ll delve into two forms of creativity that I deeply love, which provide great joy, meaning, and value for their creators and audience (and in my own life): poetry and fanworks. Though some creatives involved in these art forms may well be professional writers, I’m classifying these particular types of creations as art for art’s sake because they are typically not associated with providing a living wage by themselves. They can indeed lead to other opportunities, help the writer develop necessary skills or experience the pleasure of interacting with an audience, or help to spark creativity in other areas that do lead to income. But fanworks are not compensated monetarily, by their very nature; and poetry most frequently pays relatively small amounts or in copies. Thus, those who invest their time and talents in creating poetry and fanworks—while these can sometimes be part of the career of a professional writer, artist, or teacher—are generally making these works for the love of them. The pleasure of creating these works and sharing them with the audience is in fact the primary reward.  

BREAKING THINGS by Judy Fowler

Why was I breaking things? 

As I struggled to hang heavy curtains I'd sewn and lined, their fabric caught on the neck of a vintage pink vase and toppled that lovely heirloom to the floor. I froze. Four large pieces and smaller shards of irreplaceable glass lay near my feet. I wanted the pieces to jump up and put themselves back together. The vase had previously belonged to a grandmother I'd only known for four years before she died. 

THE POWER OF INFLUENCE by Sheryl Jordan

 

Do you ever think about what influences you or how you influence people? I have been thinking about this lately and realize how much influence is a part of life.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, influence is the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something, or the effect itself.

Merriam-Webster states influence is the power to change or affect someone or something—especially the power to cause changes without directly forcing those changes to happen. 

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  

IS THE PEN STILL MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD? AGATHA CHRISTIE PART 3: YOU DON’T KNOW AGATHA! BY KIMBERLY THORN

Happy New Year from all of us here at the Sand in Our Shorts blog!  We thank you for your continued support and wish you many blessings for 2024!

 

Up until now all of the information I have shared with you is from Lucy Worsley’s Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman.  Today I’m going to take you on a bit of an adventure.  Actually this adventure is going to be led by someone who is another huge Christie fan.  Today’s post will come from the BritBox special television series, Alan Carr’s Adventure with Agatha Christie.  In this three part series, Carr takes us on a true adventure learning more about Christie.  It should be on every Christie fan’s list of must watch.  While I will not give all of the surprises away, I will share with you some of the top most fascinating things that I learned in this wonderful series.  Won’t you come along with Alan Carr and me to learn some shocking things about Christie!

 

Itinerary #1.    The British Museum 

Wait, what?  Why are we stoping here for Christie?  I’m ever so glad that you asked.  Christie’s second husband, Max was an archeologist.  Ok, I know what you’re thinking.  Yeah, you knew that, right?  But did you know that while Agatha was with Max at his work, that “Christie is very connected to the early days of British archeology,” said Rakesha Dave, British Museum archeologist.  Yes, it is true, I was surprised to learn that Christie has ‘a gallery of objects that she, herself, conserved and found,’ Dave continued.  

 

Dave explained that ‘Christie was very intrigued by the conservation process.’  In fact Dave points out in the gallery that there are two pieces of ivory, one light and one darker in pigment.  Dave advises that the one that is darker is because Christie used her own face cream to clean it which left it darker in appearance than the one next to it.

 

Itinerary #2.    Barts Pathology Museum

Come on in, don’t be afraid. 

 

This pathology museum holds over 5000 specimens of the human bodies used for medical teaching. Sadly, it includes many specimens from victims of violent crimes.  The reason we are here is because Carr introduces us to Carla Valentine who is an author, and a qualified Anatomical Pathology Technologist.  It also happens that she is another huge fan of Agatha Christie. It is here with her pathology work that Valentine realizes the depth of Christie’s knowledge of pathology by her continued contributions.

 

“She’s contributed to the forensic landscape as we know it today.  She’s the person that coined the phrase the ‘scene of the crime’ before anybody else ever used it. She even invented a crime scene examiners kit and she gave it to Hercule Poirot in The Mysterious Affair at Styles.  It didn’t even get invented in real life until 1924.  So she was way ahead of the curve with that,” Carla Valentine explains.

  

Conclusion

I hope that you have enjoyed this short exploration of some interesting and I think, little known facts about Christie.  I have left it short for two reasons.  One, I don’t want to give you too many spoilers. You need to watch Alan Carr’s Adventures with Agatha Christie.  Please do and tell me what you think.  The second reason is that I’m still not feeling 100% well.  Anyways, take care and best wishes for a wonderful new year! 

 

IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO CREATE! by Yvonne Saxon

"Out For Christmas Trees"
by Grandma Moses

If you've always wanted to "try your hand" at creative expression, such as art, dance, writing, cooking, music, you name it, but you feel as if you're too old, or it's too late, keep reading! Here are just a few examples of women who seemed to be "late bloomers," but became successful in their creative field.

Julia Child didn't start learning how to cook until she was 36. Until the end of World War II, the American cooking icon was working for the Office of Strategic Services (a spy agency) where she met her husband Paul. In preparation for their marriage, Julia enrolled in a "brides to be" cooking class, but her first meal she described as a disaster! It only made her more determined to learn how to cook well. When the couple moved to France in 1948 she fell in love with "that glorious food and those marvelous chefs." Although she was determined to become a chef it wasn't easy: her first exam at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school she failed. Her first cookbook she co-wrote with Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck was initially rejected. Alfred A. Knopf eventually published the book in 1961 to immediate success. Then, at the age of 51 Child would become the host of PBS's very first cooking show, "The French Chef."

Toni Morrison, a Nobel laureate in literature, was almost 40 when her first novel was published. She began writing fiction at a Howard University informal poet's and writer's group. At one meeting she brought a short story about a Black girl who wanted blue eyes. Later, as a single working mother, she developed that story into her first novel, The Bluest Eye, getting up every morning at 4 a.m. to write while her two children slept. Another novel followed three years later and then her third novel, Song of Solomon won the National Book Critics Circle award. In 1988, her novel Beloved  won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Before her death in 2019, Morrison penned 11 novels, many short stories, plays, and numerous other works of literature.

Laura Ingalls Wilder also started later--she was in her 40's when she began writing in farm and other small publications. Her first novel Pioneer Girl followed 20 years later and was immediately rejected. Her daughter Rose Wilder Lane, already a successful writer, urged her mother to turn her stories into a collection for children. At age 65, Little House In The Big Woods was published, the first of 8 books in the series inspired by Wilder's youth. 

Anna Mary Robertson Moses or "Grandma Moses" began painting in earnest at the age of 78. Born in 1860 on a farm, she would draw pictures on the white paper her father would bring home. She was also inspired to paint by taking art lessons at school. Starting at age 12 and for the next 15 years, she worked as a housekeeper for wealthier neighbors until she met and married her husband, Thomas Moses. With her own house, farm, and children to care for there wasn't time to paint, but she was creative at home. She created quilted objects, used house paint to draw a scene on a fireboard, and made embroidered pictures of yarn for her friends and family. By 76, she'd developed arthritis, and it was suggested that painting would be easier than embroidery. So in order to create a postman's Christmas gift, she turned to painting. If one of her hands started hurting she'd switch to the other one. At 78, her paintings were seen in the window of a drug store by an art collector.  He bought them all and commissioned more, launching her public career. Grandma Moses painted more than 1500 canvasses in three decades, her last painting done when she was 100. She lived to be 101.

Why not start your new year creating a work of beauty? Write that story! Paint that landscape! Cook that gourmet meal! Dance that tango! Weld that sculpture! It's not too late and you're not too old. What are you waiting for?