It's Almost Here! Coastal Crimes 2: Death Takes a Vacation Update by Michael Rigg

The wait's almost over. The finish line's in sight! We're in the final stages of coordinating the much-anticipated Mystery by the Sea anthology, Coastal Crimes 2: Death Takes a Vacation. We promise that you'll never look at a vacation the same way after you read the  anthology, which has fourteen short stories penned by the talented members of the Mystery by the Sea chapter of Sisters in Crime!

The authors have made their final edits. Our editor, Wildside Press, is pulling everything together. Next step is our cover reveal, which should be in January 2025. After that? Watch for news of our anthology launch party.  

THE SURPRISING POWER OF GRATITUDE by Penny Hutson

It’s November, and on the East Coast that means two things. The weather cools and the leaves turn to a beautiful red, gold, and orange. Across America we also celebrate one of my favorite holidays – Thanksgiving. Family and friends gather around the table for a wonderful meal in a meager attempt to honor the shared autumn feast between the Plymouth colonists and the Native American Wampanoag people back in 1621.

During the Thanksgiving holiday season, we often talk of being grateful or giving thanks for what we have. The word “thanks” is even in its name; but if you knew the true benefits of being grateful, you’d want to do it all year long.

In M.J Ryan’s Attitudes of Gratitude: How to Give and Receive Joy Every Day of Your Life, the author lists fifteen ways that being grateful is good for us. She calls them “the gifts of gratitude.”

While I won’t write about all fifteen, I will highlight a few that surprised or enlightened me. Of course, she included the more obvious results like feeling more joyful, kind and generous.

What I found interesting, however, was the medical evidence she cites showing that emotions such as gratitude and love strengthen and enhance our immune systems. When we harbor negative emotions like worry, anger, and hopelessness, we can reduce the number and slow down the movement of disease-fighting white cells in our bloodstreams. That’s not good.

However, the findings suggest that when we focus on being grateful, it reduces those negative emotions and instead releases endorphins into the blood stream. Endorphins are the body’s natural painkillers, and they stimulate the blood vessels. This leads to a relaxed heart and reduces the amount of adrenaline in our bodies which constrict blood vessels and raise blood pressure. In fact, too much adrenaline in our system can also damage arteries and even the heart itself.

So, while you may have known that being grateful is good for your health, you may not have known the specifics.

Ryan says that gratitude also keeps us current because “. . .when we experience a sense of gratefulness, we are usually contemplating some present circumstance.” We stop thinking about any past failures or future worries; thus, Ryan explains, “we are brought up to date with ourselves.”  In other words, we can’t harbor opposite emotions at the same time. We can’t be both happy and unhappy in the same moment. I suppose we could flip back and forth; but to Ryan’s point, if we’re practicing and truly focusing on being grateful, we won’t be focused on what’s wrong in our lives. She recommends we practice being grateful daily. I found all this information rather insightful.

Gratitude also cures perfectionism, according to Ryan. As a self-described perfectionist myself, I am particularly excited by this prospect. First, Ryan quotes Sarah Ban Breathnach who reminds us that after creating the earth, even God declared it “very good” not “perfect.” I don’t think she’s suggesting God is less than perfect. I believe her point is that He would not expect us to be.

Ryan points out that “. . . perfectionism is born of a sense of inadequacy, of lack,” and that “. . . gratitude counteracts it by tapping us into the experience of abundance.” Again, if we’re focused on what we’ve accomplished versus what’s yet to be done, we are less likely to feel inadequate and better able to resist the urge toward perfectionism.

Another surprising gift of gratitude is that it draws people to us and helps us keep them in our lives. “When we are grateful,” says Ryan, “we exude happiness and that makes us magnets that draw people toward us.” It’s true, I believe. Don’t we all prefer to be around upbeat, happy people? Of course, we all complain occasionally, but no one likes a constant whiner or an overly negative person.

And the last one I’ll mention is how gratitude can release us from the ‘gimmes.” According to Ryan, consumer debt and personal bankruptcies are “. . . at the highest level in U.S. history.” I didn’t research the accuracy of that fact, but I do know we are a culture of consumers and credit card debt. Rarely does a week go by at my house without at least one Amazon delivery. Ryan’s suggestion is to not buy anything new, except for food, for two weeks. During that time notice what you liked about that shirt or other items you already own. Focus on what you have. Ryan claims this gift can help us get “. . . off the consuming treadmill so many of us are caught on.”

The second half of Ryan’s book, which I did not discuss, details how to cultivate and create an attitude of gratitude all year, along with daily practices that will deepen your journey into a more joyous life.

May you have a wonderful, happy, and more grateful Thanksgiving.

Happy Birthday Mark Twain: November 30, 1835 by Michael Rigg

Samuel L. Clemens a/k/a Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known to most people by his pen name, Mark Twain, was born on November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri, the sixth of seven children. At the age of four, Clemens and his family moved to the small frontier town of Hannibal, Missouri, on the banks of the Mississippi. According to documentarian Ken Burns, Twain “. . . rose from a hardscrabble boyhood in the backwoods of Missouri to become . . .  America’s best-known and best-loved author.” 

In his nearly seventy-five years, Clemens was a man of many titles and occupations, including: printer’s apprentice, newspaper reporter, riverboat pilot, Confederate soldier (for two weeks), silver prospector, travel commentator, essayist, editor, publisher, and lecturer. His most well-known occupation was as an author. He wrote several books and novels, including:

Innocents Abroad (1869)

Roughing It (1872)

The Gilded Age (1873)

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876)

The Prince and the Pauper (1881)

Life on the Mississippi (1883)

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889)

Following the Equator (1897)

Lapham’s Quarterly summed up Twain’s life thusly:

Mark Twain was born on November 30, 1835—two weeks after the perihelion of Halley’s Comet. “I came in with Halley’s Comet,” Mark Twain commented in 1909. “It is coming again next year. The Almighty has said, no doubt, ‘Now there are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together.’” He died on April 21, 1910—one day after the comet had once again reached its perihelion.

(See, Mark Twain again follows Halley’s Comet. | Lapham’s Quarterly.)

Find a more detailed discussion of Twain’s life and legacy, see Biography - Mark Twain House. and Mark Twain - Ken Burns.

So, on November 30^th, raise a glass to Samuel Clemens and his writing alter ego, Mark Twain. As writers and readers, we owe much to him. For, as Ernest Hemingway is reported to have said, “All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. American writing comes from that. There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since.”

MY PRODUCTIVITY HACKS, PART TWO: THESE ARE OUR TOOLS by Max Jason Peterson

I like to sit and admire the azaleas while
writing in a notebook. Photo and blog post
(c) copyright by Max Jason Peterson.

Everyone has their favorite writing tools—and learning how we relate to our tools helps us be more productive with them. For some, staring at a blank page is the hardest part of writing; for others, that clean, pristine page is an invitation for words to happen. Are you motivated by the online tools available to you as a writer, or distracted by research rabbit holes and social media (maybe both)? The tools themselves can help us accomplish so much—including providing the focus we need to accomplish our dreams.

College dorm or retirement home? by Judy Fowler

 

  

You chose the campus. 

Either you sought freedom from your family, or your family sought freedom from you. When moving day arrives, the transition from home to communal residence feels permanent.

You meet other newbies and exchange names. Some of your new acquaintances immediately invite you to drink with them in their rooms. Everyone knows the lyrics to the same music. 

The residence manager is annoyingly motherly. She calls you by your first name and eyeballs your friends. Having meals available is a perk until you gain the freshman ten. Your body is losing its shape from too many free ice cream sundaes at the welcome bar and not taking the stairs. 

Due to the limited square footage of your new living space, you had to leave behind many of your possessions. Many of the residents had to leave their cars behind. There's a shuttle bus, which would be cooler if it didn't advertise where you live.  

You almost miss that noisy, code-violating neighbor from the cul de sac now that you're forced to get along with a complainer down the hall who tells management that your door decorations are a fire hazard.

You go to events only because someone left a flier about it near the mailboxes. That's how you ended up learning "How to Make Donuts in an Air Fryer" in the game room on a Saturday afternoon. Card sharks a few feet away encourage you to make more. It's no different than that dateless Saturday night long ago when you learned to make beer-drenched fondue on a hotplate for your roommate's friends while they played Scrabble for money.

The building has an impressive lobby, which no one spends more time in than they absolutely have to. Guests must sign in. There needs to be somewhere to put your family up when they visit, but there isn't.    

The whole first year is a yay-boo. Yay, at seventeen, you escaped your kid sister's knock-knock jokes; boo, you can't play with the family dog. Yay, at seventy, you escaped weekly lawn-mowing, but boo,  you miss watching your garden come up in the spring. 

You get a new nickname. Old friends want to know why your residence friends call you "Miss Sunshine" (because I smile in the morning) or "Lady Godiva" (someone spotted me wearing a skimpy robe one day when I took my trash to the incinerator chute). 

The residence is a hotbed of gossip. If you have a special someone, the two of you get a "couple name," and everyone in the building treats you like you're famous. If your sweetheart transfers his affection to someone else on the premises, you must pretend it's no big deal when you hear them called by their "couple" name.  

One night, someone who lives below you is alarmed by the sound of your drapes being pulled shut. They think you've had a heart attack and call the night staff to conduct a wellness check. In college, you tap-danced after hours, and the night staff got a call then, too. Nothing you do feels private anymore.

You move out after two years. Neither the management nor your family approve of your decision.  

 [This post is in memory of author Skip McLamb, 74, who died on October 23, 2024, and who came up with some of these comparisons in the winter of 2022.]

THE EVOLUTION OF HALLOWEEN by Sheryl Jordan

 

Halloween evolved from ancient Celtic rituals to a modern American tradition. Christianity, European myth, and American consumerism have influenced it. There are several schools of thought about the origin of Halloween. The most common is that Halloween dates back over 2,000 years to the Celtic Festival of Samhain in regions now known as Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, which took place each year on October 31^st. The Celts lit bonfires and wore costumes in the belief that ghosts would be warded off. It was thought to be when dead ancestors of the spiritual world could breach the natural world, so they dressed in animal and monster costumes in hopes that fairies wouldn’t kidnap them. Celts believed ghosts returned to earth to claim revenge for their deaths or to have one last chance to be redeemed. After the harvest, Druid priests lit bonfires and prayed throughout the night, trying to foretell if their communities would survive the winter, which was often cold and dark—a time when many died due to the brutal weather and lack of food that came with it.

Later in the seventh century, the Catholic Church designated November 1 as All Saints Day, also called All Hallows, to honor all saints and martyrs of the church. By the ninth century, Christianity had spread to the Celtic regions, changing Celtic beliefs and rituals. Eventually, All Souls Day was established on November 2 to honor the souls of the recently deceased. Many believe the church was attempting to replace the honoring of the dead with a Christian holiday. Years later, the three holidays became Halloween, celebrated in many countries on October 31.

During past festivities, activities and games were similar to those in today’s celebrations of Halloween: bobbing for apples, making jack-o’-lanterns from pumpkins or turnips, and sharing scary stories, to name a few. Trick-or-treating is believed to have developed from the early Celtic rituals of giving soul cakes and food to people who did not have enough food for the winter. During All Saints Day and All Souls Day celebrations in England and Ireland, poor people visited the homes of wealthier families. They received pastries called soul cakes in exchange for a promise to pray for the souls of the homeowners’ dead relatives. The practice known as "souling” was later taken up by children, who would go from door to door asking for gifts such as food, money, or beverages, an early form of trick-or-treating. 

Today, Halloween is celebrated in many ways. People attend costume parties dressed in scary, cutesy, or anything in between attire.    There are trunk-or-treat events where vehicles are lined up in parade style. The children dressed in costumes move to each vehicle, shouting Trick or Treat to receive a treat from the trunks or back of the vehicles. Some people decorate their cars, dress in costumes, and play Halloween music, making the event more festive. Trunk-or-treat events are held in shopping centers, schools, churches, parks, and communities. 

Fall festivals are also popular, creating a carnival-type atmosphere with various games and food. Haunted House attractions offer experiences of being frightened by mummies, monsters, and ghouls jumping out to give a spooky thrill. There are haunted hayrides near wooded areas and farmlands. Theme parks decorated in creepy Halloween fashion offer double the thrill of fast-moving rides and a good scare. During the season, houses are transformed into Halloween sanctuaries, decorated most imaginatively. I have seen houses where the decorations were so elaborate and precisely placed that it took the owners months to decorate and cost thousands of dollars to create and keep the scenes going during the season. What a treat to go for a drive to see houses decorated with orange, purple, and white flashing lights coordinated with the rhythm of songs such as Thriller, Ghostbusters, Bloody Mary, and Somebody’s Watching Me, to name a few. Interestingly, consumers spent over $12 billion on Halloween costumes, decorations, events, and candy in 2023, which is expected to rise even higher in 2024. Some contributing factors are that Halloween is a pastime many people enjoy, and nowadays, it is celebrated in many ways. We can't forget to include our four-legged friends during the festivities. Pet owners dress their adorable fur babies in the cutest pet costumes and enter them in contests, hoping they will be deemed the best dressed, cutest, or spookiest. 

Another Halloween pastime is watching horror movies and reading classic stories such as Dracula and Frankenstein. Whether you prefer horror or comic and nonviolent Halloween stories, there are many movies and books for everyone to enjoy.

I occasionally enjoy watching a good scary movie or reading Halloween-themed stories during the Halloween season. Do you participate in any Halloween celebrations? What are your favorite ways to celebrate? Do you have any recommendations for Halloween-themed movies or books? 

FRANKENSTEIN CREATED DURING A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT by Teresa Inge

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was an English novelist best known for her groundbreaking work, Frankenstein. Born in London on August 30, 1797, Shelley was immersed in the literary world from a young age.

Early Life and Influences

Mary Shelley’s parents were Mary Wollstonecraft, an advocate for women's rights, and her father, William Godwin, a political philosopher. Tragically, Wollstonecraft died shortly after Mary's birth, leaving her to be raised by her father.

As Mary grew, her father's home became a hub for intellectuals. This environment, mixed with a vast array of books, fostered her literary talents, and introduced her to the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, whom she would later marry.

The Birth of Frankenstein

In 1816, Mary traveled to Lake Geneva in Switzerland to spend the summer with Percy, their infant son, her stepsister, Claire Clairmont, Lord Byron, and Doctor John Polidori. At the time, Claire was pregnant by Lord Byron, the groundbreaking poet whose personal affairs had made him one of England’s most controversial celebrities.

After arriving in Lake Geneva, they found the area covered in fog from the Mount Tambora volcano eruption in Indonesia. The eruption killed 100,000 people. A million others starved while many died from a global cholera pandemic unleashed in the aftermath.

Some of Europe’s greatest artists created their darkest works during these dismal days. Mary Shelley was among them.

Since the weather was cold and stormy, the group stayed inside the Villa Diodati, the stately mansion Bryon had rented. They were left to entertain themselves with ghost stories and horror books. One night, as they sat in candlelit darkness, Lord Byron challenged each person to write a horror story, better than what they had just read.

Polidori accepted Bryon’s challenge and wrote The Vampyre. The short fiction was published in 1819 and is the first to include a blood-sucking hero, possibly modeled on Byron himself.

As the days passed, Mary conceived the idea of Frankenstein. She envisioned a scientist who created life only to be horrified by his creation. This concept was influenced as thunder and lightning echoed outside the villa and conversations turned to whether human corpses could be galvanized or re-animated, after death, a morbid topic of the time.

Legacy and Impact

Shelley began writing Frankenstein at age 18. She included the eerie setting of Villa Diodati and the poet’s conversations. The novel was published anonymously in 1818. It wasn't until the second edition, published in 1821, that her name appeared on the title page.

Throughout her life, Mary continued to write novels and short stories. She passed away on February 1, 1851. Of the group only, Mary and Claire lived past age 50. Polidori committed suicide in 1821. Percy Shelley drowned at age 29 in 1822. Byron took the daughter he had with Claire and sent her to a convent. She died there in 1822 at age 5. Byron died in 1824 after contracting a fever. Mary’s infant son lived to age 70.

But the book inspired by that stormy summer and, its life-after-death stories still live on today. Frankenstein is considered one of the first science fiction novels. Its impact is immense, spawning adaptations in film, theater, and other media.