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I have only recently talked about this fact: I had polio when I was 12. Everyone looks at me strangely when I say this, like I’m a dinosaur. No one gets polio anymore. But they did when I was young. I was one of the first to get an experimental vaccine, which my parents worked hard to get for me. Unfortunately, I think I was in the control group. One morning while I was dressing, I noticed that I had trouble bending down to tie my shoes and I had to force hard to get my chin to my chest. I told my Mom, but knowing that I had gotten a vaccine, she didn’t pay much attention. A couple of days later, I told her I COULDN’T tie my shoes. By that time, the word was out. The beach club where I swam and played tennis was closed because a number of the children had come down with the bulbar form of polio and were in iron lungs at our local hospital. Iron lungs were big machines that breathed for people whose diaphragm and rib muscles had been paralyzed by the polio virus. My mother had our family doctor come to the house to examine me (yes, they made house calls in those days!). I wasn’t part of the conversation, but Dr. Spelman said since I was still breathing well, he considered I had a light case and could recover at home. Recovery involved basically what I like to call TOT – Tincture of Time. There was nothing else that could be done. What this meant is that I was confined to bed until Dr. Spelman determined I could resume a normal life. That meant moving across the hall into the guest room, which was large, and had wonderful views of the ocean and a large bed. It also meant a bed pan; no getting out of bed. I was to lie flat and still. I had a radio for entertainment and piles and piles of books: Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Sue Barton, and anything else my parents brought me from the library. Luckily I was already a voracious reader, but it was lonely during the day. My parents hired a young woman from the Boston area to take care of my brother while they worked and they were gone morning and afternoon. Dad came in to gave me a massage every night to ensure my muscles remained supple. About six weeks later, I was allowed downstairs for the first time, but Dad had to carry me because I couldn’t walk. My muscles were too weak. But being young meant a fast recovery and for years, I played every sport under the sun, enjoying all the activity. Unfortunately, polio is a disease that keeps on giving. As I understand it, this is what happens: A motor unit is formed by a nerve cell (or motor neuron) in the spinal cord or brain stem and the muscle fibers it activates.  The polio virus attacks these specific neurons in the brain stem and spinal cord.  In an effort to compensate for the loss of these motor neurons, surviving cells sprout new nerve-end terminals and connect with other muscle fibers.  These new connections may result in recovery of movement and gradual gain in power in the affected limbs. Years of high use of these recovered but overly extended motor units adds stress to the motor neurons, which over time lose the ability to maintain the increased work demands.  This results in the slow deterioration of the neurons, which leads to loss of muscle strength. And this is happening to me. You can’t exercise your way back to strength, you just exercise to keep yourself going. There is no treatment, no drug, no magic bullet. I was lucky. I could have been in an iron lung. A colleague of mine who had also had polio as a youngster, walked with two canes and couldn’t stand up for long periods of time for as long as I knew him. I am still fairly active, even though long hikes and extreme exercise is no longer possible. I was lucky, but yes, I’m a dinosaur. 0 0

My book event was a success, at least from my point of view. It was not a reading but rather just a gathering of people who might be interested in reading Death in a Red Canvas Chair. It was held in the small reception area outside of a boutique called Havens in Charlestown, MA, and put on by the marketing firm I hired earlier this year, Yard Arm Media. The boutique itself was sort of amazing – a lighted tree with many branches hung from the ceiling, a large half-moon mirror with lights around on one wall, and an interesting collection of well- made and eclectic items from belts to clothing to jewelry to tables and vases. The owner, whose office occupied the back of the store, is also into marketing. The building in which Haven is located is an old bank building, converted into small stores and offices. In the front is a flower shop, so the air was redolent with wonderful flower scents; Haven is in the rear and next to it is a lawyer’s office made from the old bank vault. The original vault doors hang open and you can see the locking mechanism and the thickness. People trickled in (there was a sign out front) and I talked to them about the book and signed copies they bought. My first sale was actually to a woman from Maine who had come in just to look at the store; after I pitched the book, she bought it to read while she was waiting for the people on the bus she drove to finish shopping. I met a lot of interesting people from the area and we talked politics, the World Cup, and just about anything else you can imagine. I had a great time, low key, lots of chatting, and I sold books! Hopefully, I’ll get to do more of this – I can definitely handle it. Thanks to everyone who wished me good luck! I did have it. PS I have one picture of the event, but can’t upload it for some reason – since you are all writers, I’ll just let you use your imagination! 0 0

I will not be checking blogs for the next five days or so because we are off to a wedding on Cape Cod. Along the way, however, I get to do an event for my book, Death in a Red Canvas Chair, on Wednesday, the 11th (tomorrow) at Haven, a shop at 1 Thompson Square in Charlestown, MA. So if any of my blog readers are in the area, please stop by. I have no idea what to expect, since this is my first event of any kind. It was organized by Yard Arm Media, a small group I hired to help me with marketing, since like most authors, I dislike this aspect of book writing and publishing. I hope my years as a teacher will help me stand firmly on my feet and explain things without stammering! Wish me luck! 0 0

Today is the 70th anniversary of D Day, the beginning of the end of the ‘good’ war, fought by our greatest generation. It saddens me to think that our veterans who stormed the beaches of Normandy are almost all dead now, and that many of our children and our children’s children don’t even know what D Day was. The bravery of the thousands who died there and in the weeks that followed, to bring an end to the horrific evil that was Hitler and his regime must never be forgotten, and I hope those of us who do remember will continue to honor their memory in the decades to come. We had to learn the following poem when I was in school and was taught real history. It was written by a physician in the Canadian Army (Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) during World War I, but I still can recite it and it seems appropriate to this solemn day.   In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.   My deepest gratitude to all the armed service members, current and past, who defend us and our freedom.  And especially to my son, Staff Sergeant Patrick Granger, 82nd Airborne, currently serving in Gemany.     0 0

To follow up on the last memoir bit, The Belt or the Switch?, one of the last times the switch was used with any degree of force happened after what my brother and I later called the lemon cookie catastrophe. My father was addicted to lemon frosting-filled cookies, and every other week my mother would bring home a package of the sweet treats with the groceries, which would go into the metal bread box on the counter. The catastrophe began with the fact that both Jay and I loved cookies and tended to sneak them when no one was looking. As a result, the number of lemon cookies in the bag would diminish rapidly in just a few days, much to my father’s displeasure. “Who ate the lemon cookies?” Dad would ask in exasperation each time. “Noelle did,” Jay would answer. “Jay did,” I would reply. Finally, Dad’s patience wore out. Tired of never knowing who was to be punished for eating his cookies, he found a solution. “The next time I find that anyone has been eating my cookies, you will both be switched.” Sure enough, the following week he went to grab a cookie after dinner and found the bag had only one. “That’s it,” he roared and asked Jay and me who ate his cookies. “I didn’t, I swear,”  I vowed. “I didn’t eat your cookies this time,” answered Jay tearfully, knowing what was coming. Nevertheless, Dad cut a green switch from the back yard forsythia, returned to the kitchen and gave both Jay and me a thorough licking, energized by the fact that he was tired of our lying. I was sitting on the back steps, crying, when Mom came in from the drying area with a pile of clothes in her arms. I followed her into the kitchen, wailing about being punished for something I didn’t do. “What’s going on here, John?” Mom asked. “I’m tired of those kids lying about eating the lemon cookies,” he answered, “so this time they both got switched.” “Oh dear,” Mom sighed. “I forgot to tell you that the bridge club was here this afternoon and I served them the lemon cookies.” I remember wailing even louder about the unfairness of it all and not surprisingly, I was ordered to my room. I left, but not before I heard Dad say, “Well, shit.” 0 0

My my, just how much I’ve missed you…A few months ago, I mentioned to my husband that I had always wanted to see the stage production of Mama Mia, and that afternoon he presented me with two tickets to a touring company production held at the Durham Performing Arts Center. We went last night. My, my, how can I resist you?… It was an irresistible evening! I began to smile with the opening number and except for when I was singing along with the music, I don’t think the smile left my face. Pratfalls, lots of physical humor and plays on words and insider jokes – they just kept coming. And it was clear the cast was having a blast doing the show, responding to the enthusiastic audience. One more look and I forget everything, w-o-o-o-oh….At the end, everyone stood and we got to sing along and dance in place together with outrageously costumed the cast and dancers, to Mama Mia, Dancing Queen, and Waterloo. A perfect theater experience and why I love going to musicals where the audience knows the music. Bye bye doesn’t mean forever…I admit the audience was on the older side, unlike the Cher concert we went to earlier this year where the audience was more diverse. But the music resonated with so many people when Abba was at the top of the play charts, and the story wove in so many of their hits, that it was the perfect audience. Mamma mia, here I go again… I might have to see this again sometime. Yes, it’s fluff, but it’s great fun fluff. And brings back lots of memories. 0 0

I must be honest and tell you that I am always suspicious of books that are a spin off from a classic read. This time, however, I was completely in the wrong. All Hallows at Eyre Hall kept me tightly bound to my reading of it and constantly entertained with its twists and turns. I was never a great fan of the original Jane Eyre. I thought she was wimpy and colorless and Edward Rochester pusillanimous. Now, more than twenty years later, Jane has a backbone and Edward is still spineless, whining, and morally corrupt. But now Jane is fully cognizant of his failings and no longer loves him. The book begins with Edward on his deathbed and I thought, At last, Jane is free and can live her own life. Richard Mason returns, brother of Bertha, Edward’s first, mad wife, who lived locked on the top floor of Thornfield Hall – the same man who interrupted Jane’s first wedding ceremony by claiming bigamy because his sister was still living. With him comes an evil that threatens to destroy everything Jane holds dear – her sanity, her family and Eyre Hall. The venal Richard tries again to insinuate himself into the Rochester estate and its money by bringing with him to Eyre Hall a young girl, whom he claims is the offspring of Edward and Bertha. He also plants a mole at the Hall to spy for him. During this period, Jane once again falls deeply and inappropriately in love, but this time with a much younger man, whose status as staff at the Hall creates a love story with unexpected twists and turns. There is a lot more to this love story, but I don’t want to be a spoiler. What Richard demands to keep both Annette’s lineage and Jane’s love a secret aroused murderous feelings in this reader. There are also new revelations of extent of Edward’s depravity, creating more impossible stressors in Jane’s life. Jane’s response to these threats to her future and to that of her son John (who has an immediate and innocent attraction to the Annette), is planned out with her usual practicality, but will it work? Will she be strong enough to go through with her plan? The reader will need to get the next volume in this trilogy, out this fall. I found the characters in All Hallows at Eyre Hall richly drawn, and the descriptions that maintain the period of the piece well researched and in perfect continuity to the original book. Whether you liked or disliked the original Jane Eyre, you will find this sequel alternately engaging, surprising and impossible to put down. 0 0

Irene Watters has put me on the spot with a blog hop. Irene is a lot like me: she blogs about her life, challenges, animals, fiction, haiku, travels, and she also provides lots of beautiful photographs (that’s not me). Her blog is a one rich menu of interesting reading. Right now she has applied for a grant to get her Master’s degree with a thesis on writing. Check her out at  http://irenewaters19.com/about-2/ The questions Irene sent to me: 1 What am I working on at the moment? Right now I am trying to get some short stories into submission quality while I wait for the beta readers of my second book, Death in a White Dacron Sail, to give me their overall comments. This book is the next in the Rhe Brewster Mystery series, and you can see the cover of the first here on the blog site. As soon as I get those comments, it will be a grand adventure in drudge work to make my last edits. I am waiting to hear from a publisher who might pick up both books, but if that doesn’t work out, I will publish again with CreateSpace. And just for fun, I’ve written the first two chapters of the third book. I can’t seem to put down my main character. 2 How does my work differ from others of its genre? While both Death in a Red Canvas Chair and Death in a White Dacron Sail are cozies in the genre of Sue Grafton’s alphabet series, my protagonist is a typical modern woman with a career, husband and young child. Along with acute investigative abilities and the tendency to get herself into dangerous situations. So a Kinsey Milhone in the modern day with family obligations. Rhe Brewster’s marriage itself becomes a character in the second book. 3. Why do I write what I do? That’s hard to answer because my writing has taken me all over the place, from a story on lobsters in Coastal Style, to one on becoming southern in Deep South Magazine, to another about an old woman who survives a hurricane in Sea Level Magazine. I am also working on an idea for a second chapter to add to a story about four cats – A Comfortable Clowder – that I haven’t been able to find a place to publish. So maybe a book? I write about whatever floats my boat. But the Rhe Brewster character is with me all the time. 4 How does my writing process work? Very simply, I just sit down and write. After a lifetime of planning for research, analyzing results and mapping out papers and grants, it is freeing to just write. Sometimes a prompt, such as an off the wall idea, a challenge, a picture, or an experience will lead to a story. With the second and third books, I did quite a bit of research in Maine, wrote up scenes in advance as they occurred to me, and kept a running list of ideas for each book. But basically it’s still the same: sit down, let my mind go, and put it on the computer screen (not paper, unfortunately; my handwriting is illegible, even to me). I am sending this blog hop on to three wonderful writers: Robert M. Bird http://byrdwords.wordpress.com/ Luccia Gray http://lucciagray.wordpress.com/ Sylvia Villalobos http://silviatomasvillalobos.wordpress.com/ 0 0

One of the lovely people I met during the A-Z blog challenge is Irene Waters. She gifted me with several awards that I would like to accept and pass on, as she and the founders of the awards suggested. Irene is a very talented writer and photographer, and her varied blogs never fail to interest me and provoke some discussion. You can find her at: http://irenewaters19.com/about-2/ 1.The first is the Inner Peace award, which only requires that you write a short piece on why you are accepting it. So: I am accepting it because this is something I’ve always wanted to have on a regular basis, hard to achieve, hard to maintain. There is one instance in which I truly experienced it and recognized it at the time: a winter night when it was very cold. My husband and I were sitting in our family room and there was a fire going in our fireplace. My son was sitting on the floor playing a game on which he was totally focused (so remarkable for an ADHD kid), and my daughter was ‘reading’ a book with her Dad. I remember looking at all of them and thinking I wish this could last forever. The Rules Accept, thank, nominate and inform another fourteen. I am passing this on to the people listed at the end of this blog. 2. The Angel award, which came to Irene from Don Charisma, amazing name and another person whose blog never fails to interest me (http://doncharisma.org/about/), has no requirements, other than accepting it. This, too, I will pass on. 3. I think The Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award is a wonderful name. I have met so many talented women last month and enjoy their blogs enormously. We do stay in loose contact; I often send haikus to Jemima Pett (http://jemimapett.com/about/), who writes wonderful children’s fiction, has a fabulous garden and some cute-as-a button guinea pigs. When I was off line after some surgery, she emailed me to make sure I was okay. That was such an unexpected and sweet thing to do! So yes, we have a Sisterhood. The Rules Accept, thank, nominate and inform another fourteen. Again, thanks to Irene and my nomination are below. 4. To quote Irene since I couldn’t say it better, the WordPress Family was created by Shaun Gibson (http://shaunynews.wordpress.com/about/ ) for everyone who is part of the Word Press Family. “This represents ‘Family’ we never meet, but are there for us as family. It is my honor to start this award. Thank you”— Shaun Gibson. We bloggers certainly do create an enormous family with very talented and diverse members and our written comments serve to support, reaffirm, teach, bless. 5. The Premio Dardos Award (Premio Dartos = prized darts!) is an honor for bloggers who transmit core human values through their post, pictures and other work. This is a really special award because it recognizes personal, ethical, cultural and literary values ​​transmitted through writing and it is an incredible honor that Irene would give this to me. I will certainly pass this on! The Rules 1) Accept the award by posting it on your blog along with the name of the person that has granted the award and a link to his/her blog. 2) Pass the award to another ten blogs that are worthy of this acknowledgement, remembering to contact each of them to let them know they have been selected for this award. 6. Finally, and by now I am weighed down with all these special lovelinesses, the Team Membership Readership Award. To quote Irene and not reinvent the wheel, “The creator of this award said: “As bloggers, we are also readers. That is a part of blogging as listening is a part of speaking.” If we weren’t compelled readers, there would be no blogs and I love the fact that many of my fellow bloggers pass on recommendations for things they are reading. I have a long and growing list of books I am going to dip into, as a result. The Rules 1. The Nominee of the Wonderful Team member Readership Award shall display the logo on his/her post/page and/or sidebar 2. The Nominee shall nominate 14 readers they appreciate over a period of 7 days (1 week) – this can be done at any rate during the week. It can be ALL on one day or a few on one day and a few on another day, etc. 3. The Nominee shall name his or her Wonderful Team Member Readership Award nominees on a post or on posts during the 7 day (1 week) period. 4. The Nominee shall make these rules, or amended rules keeping to the spirit of the Wonderful Team Member Readership Award, known to each reader s/he nominates. 5. The Nominee must finish this sentence and post: ”A Great reader is…” Irene mentions that the word reader comes from an old English work meaning a dream interpreter, and I can’t think of a greater blessing we have as human beings than a brain that allows us to communicate with each other and dream. All it takes to be a great reader is curiosity, a brain and our ability to dream. As an anatomist, I love to watch the medical students each year as they see an actual brain for the first time: a rather soft and squishy and delicate work of evolution that in its simplicity and complexity makes us who we are. Here are my nominees for these awards. These are all bloggers whose posts I follow and who entertain, educate and teach me. They may accept or not, as they prefer. http://kateloveton.wordpress.com/ http://rosieamber.wordpress.com/ http://njmagas.wordpress.com/ http://kelworthfiles.wordpress.com/ http://lucciagray.wordpress.com/ http://stephenyhoughtlin.com/ http://awomanswisdom.wordpress.com/ http://septuagenarianjourney.wordpress.com/ http://alex-hurst.com/ http://graysonqueen.wordpress.com/ – in honor of his wife, who posted under Rarasaur http://blessedwithastarontheforehead.wordpress.com/ http://chrismusgravewriter.com/   0 0

This week three members of our Early Birds critique group had an ‘event’ at Panera Bread in Cary, NC. The idea came from a session I attended at the spring conference of the North Carolina Writers Network, where one of the presenters mentioned that they had had a book sale at the place where they ate lunch once a week. The EBers have been meeting at Panera for two+ years, where we work on our books, and three of us published in the last year. I thought why not have a book sale there? We contacted the manager and he gave us the thumbs up. After we got permission to use the Panera logo, my daughter, the clever artist, made us a banner (reusable!). I contacted the Triangle Writers group (of which the Early Birds is one small group; we now number over 500), a press release was sent out, and we also contacted a local TV station. In retrospect, we should have done this sooner, more than a week ahead. We set up shop at 9 AM and handed people bookmarks and cards throughout the day, but discovered that you really need to talk to people to get them to stop by. So I went inside and chatted to customers while they ate and told them what we were about. Shameless self-promotion! For the most part, they were very receptive and kind, and I avoided interrupting anything that looked like a business meeting. Note: Bring a lot of bookmarks, postcard, and business cards advertising you and your book. We sold ten books, possibly got a gig talking to a book group about our experiences, and had a great time meeting all sorts of people. We collectively decided it was a great experience and plan to do it again next year, when more of our members will have books out and two of us will be on our second! 0 0