Where Are All The Heroes?

I attended a ceremony yesterday to honor three Viet Nam War veterans for their service to their country. Fifty years it has taken us to recognize and say ‘thank you’ for what they endured. At their discharge, these three men had simply been handed an envelope, containing at least six medals for service and valor. One veteran recalled that when they got off the plane they were warned to keep a low profile because people might spit on them.

 There was a Purple Heart, which brought a lump to my throat, because I had never seen one and the recipient is profoundly disabled with PTSD and has two service dogs with him at all times. It has only taken fifty years for us to honor their service.

As I sat in that small room in a shopping center in Fayetteville, Arkansas, among some fifty friends who had shown up to honor these men, I listened to their stories and the history of these wars. I’m old enough to remember the Second World War and the ensuing conflicts and, as I listened, I recalled the monstrous acts of brutality perpetrated on our soldiers by the Japanese, the Germans, the Koreans, and the Vietnamese. How could we have forgotten this? The Bataan Death March? The tortures the VC perpetrated? These men haven’t forgotten. The rage is still there.

Why do we react with such outrage to interrogation techniques used at Guantanamo, which are part of the militant Muslim’s culture and expected by them? Indeed, our disgust is, to them, an example of our weakness.

I think it’s time, on this Veteran’s Day, to take another look at what I feel is one of the finest films on the Viet Nam War—Born On The Fourth of July. Tom Cruise earned his acting chops on this one. It is told from the disabled veteran’s point of view and is the story of a young man who bought the whole myth of men proving their courage by fighting for their country, an attitude championed by his parents. He joined up, came home in a wheelchair, and had to deal with the scorn of his fellow countrymen. His scream of rage at the end when he demands to know, “What was it all for?” says it all.

You can rent this film for $2.99 from Amazon Film Library and play it on your Kindle or computer. Let’s give real homage to these veterans of all these thankless wars including Iraq and Afghanistan by remembering. Watch the film.  

Short Term Memory-Making It Better

There is so much talk about failing memory and symptoms of Alzheimer Memory loss these days that the subject is on every mind. I am an older persons and I’m acutely aware of this. Because my children are instantly suspicious of the slightest sign that Mom might be “losing it,” it being short-term memory. I’m sure they have had the conversation, among themselves, that begins, “What are we going to do about Mom when her mind begins to go?” I’m over eighty and besides forgetting, sometimes, what I have entered a room looking for, I’m sharp as a tack, because I exercise my mind.

After much consideration I’ve become convinced that mental function declines in direct ratio to boredom. If you don’t exercise your mind, challenge yourself with new tasks, and stay current with what is going on, you’ll lose your mental acuity rapidly. I’m a writer. I write novels that deal with subjects new to me because it requires research and much note taking. In the course of the six books I’ve written I’ve explored American history, cattle ranching, Texas Hold’em Poker, and time travel. I know more about whale parasites, drug addiction and ghostly manifestations than I ever want to.

I’m also involved in local government because I’m an elected official, which is a whole new world requiring study. The point of all this is that I exercise my mind constantly and it is in better shape than the rest of me.

But, you are not me and you don’t have this interest. What can the average person, concerned about mental aging, do to stay sharp?

In the thirty years I had a retail store with many daily conversations with customers, I’ve discovered everybody worries about this problem. I discovered one simple thing we all can do to keep short-term memory sharp—work jigsaw puzzles.

Consider the process. First you have to create a system to deal with the various size and shapes of the pieces. I recommend starting with no more than 700 so you won’t get bogged down. I sort according to color and subject—sky, grass, roads, etc. Find all the pieces with straight edges because these are your border pieces and you’ll start with the border.  Keep them in a special place.

By now your brain is working and ready to begin. The reason why jigsaw puzzles work so well is because you have to memorize the shape and size of the whole you want to fill while you look for the shape and color of the piece you need to fill that whole. This requires short-term memory. At first you’ll be slow, but in about three or four days you’re going to see tremendous improvement in the way your eyes see things. 

I recommend painted street scenes or landscapes with some activity or a few people. The Thomas Kincade style puzzles are perfect. They usually have flowers, grass, houses and some people and even though at first glance there seems to be a lot of grass or shrubbery, you’ll notice that the character of the brush strokes changes from one spot to another. Lots of variety is what you need. Stay away from photos of a pizza or monotonous stuff.

Try this for a month and you can stop worrying about aging memory.

  

Where Have All The Leaders Gone?

In three years we will have a Presidential Election choosing the person who will take our country through the next four years.  This election will test our resolve to take back the personal freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution, presently usurped by a greedy and corrupt government, and restore the rest of the world’s increasing conviction that our democracy, based on the stunning idea that governments shall exist by permission of the people, to be governed by the people, for the people, is destined to fail.

We must succeed in this task, but how do we determine which candidate is a true leader and which ones are the manufactured product of self-interested political hacks lusting for the power and money, and prestige victory will bring them?

The possible answer is in the most unlikely place—The Psalms of David, found in the New Testament. If you’ve read my book, Accidental Alien you’re aware I am not a fan of organized religions as practiced today, but lately, in an attempt to understand how this vast schism between Muslim and Christian has happened, I’ve been reading works by religious scholars and gained some perspective.

Among those recognized as prophets, and there are many, I’ve found a blueprint for the perfect leader in the writings David, one of the five prophets generally recognized by Western religions.  The others are Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad.

I’m referring to the 23^rd Psalm, an achingly beautiful hymn of devotion. If it is paraphrased to take out any religious references that might color our reception, it gives us the profile of the perfect leader. Hopefully you won’t resent my presumption while I give you my interpretation, inserting “leader” in place of references to the Lord.

The leader is my shepherd; I shall not want

            To a true leader, the welfare of his people, their comfort and their needs, is always paramount to his own. He does not lead for personal gain of wealth or power, or for fame. His motivation is to do what is best for his people.

 He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul.

            He imparts a sense of security. He instills faith that all will be well.

He leads me in the paths of righteousness

            He has a strong ethical, moral code and a personal belief system that follows the code of The Ten Commandments.

Though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.

            There will be many times during the Presidency when the country will be facing danger from her enemies. He will face these trials with courage, resolve, and complete confidence that, after listening to the will of the people, he will make the right decisions that will reassure his followers.

Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

            The Office of President of the United States confers great powers. A true leader never hesitates to show his muscle to the world to ensure the safety and well-being of his people. Although not given to impulse or rash actions, he will be willing do whatever it takes.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of mine enemies

            Our chosen leader willingly expresses his devotion to the ideals that gave birth to this government. He is proud of his country and exhibits his devotion to the ideals of our Founding Fathers, proclaiming as often as necessary his belief in the Constitution of the United States and his determination to preserve the idea of a government of the people, by the people and for the people.

Therefore, surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives.

            How can we possibly know if that is the character of a Presidential Candidate? If you’ve read my blog, “Aftermath,” about my take on the incompetence of the campaign advisors in the last election, you’ll realize you have to be able to see the real man underneath the cunning of his advisors and ferret out the true character of the person. He must have a record that demonstrates the values we demand.

His words must demonstrate an allegiance to democracy instead of the socialist “government takes all” philosophy of the present leader. In his past history he must have demonstrated successful leadership that shows the devotion of his followers. That is a tall order, but the survival of our way of life depends on you to determine the facts and make the right decision.

Mock Apple Pie and Desperation Cake

The day has finally arrived when my new western romance is on the press and due for release September 1. Though it has been a month since my last blog, and the world is full of harrowing events that deserve examination, the event calls for something lighter. Writing any novel takes the author on many journeys of research. Maddie called for more than most. One chapter involved an old fashioned  barbecue to celebrate Abe's sixteenth birthday. The entire town of Peachville pitched in, everybody bringing a food dish. I wanted to have old recipes that had been in families for years and that sent me browsing through my collection left over from the days I wrote a cooking column for a newspaper. I'll share a couple of them with you.
The first is Mock Apple Pie, a creation that is at least as old as 1940. It's an invention of the Ritz Cracker people.Though called "apple pie," it doesn't have any apples and was all the rage in the 40s--something like "Green Bean Casserole," which is a must at Thanksgiving. Start with a baked pie crust. Crumple 36 Ritz crackers into the crust. In a saucepan boil 2 cups sugar, 2 cups water, 2tsp. cream of tartar for 15 min. Add 2 tblsp. lemon juice, grated rind of 1 lemon, some butter and cinnamon. Cool. When cool, pour syrup over crackers.

Desperation Cake. The story is this was created by a cook on payday. The cupboard was bare and no money to shop, so this is a dessert made from almost nothing. Beat one egg and a half cup sugar. Add 1 cup flour mixed with 1 tsp. baking powder and 1/4 tsp. salt. Then add 1/4 cup milk, 3 tblsp. melted butter and 1 tsp. vanilla. Bake in a greased and floured  11" x 7" pan in preheated 350 degree oven 25 minutes. Serve with any syrup or crushed fruit.

Okay, one more. Chocolate Gravy.  This is one Maddie, who is from New York, never heard of, but is a Southern favorite, served with biscuits. She becomes acquainted with this along with sweet tea and Jalapeno Corn Bread. Melt 2 tablsp. shortening in skillet. Add 2 heaping tblsp. flour and heat until golden brown. In a mixing bowl combine 1 cup sugar, 4 tblsp. cocoa, 2 cups milk, 1 tsp. vanilla extract. Pour into skillet mixture and cook until thick. Serve over hot biscuits.
Go to my website to read more about Maddie's Choice.  http://joycezeller.com

I Want To Write A Book, or....Where do ideas come from?

So you want to write a book. What should you write about? How do you find an idea?

I've published two books, appeared in one anthology, have a western romance coming out later this year and have two more finished novels and a novella to sell. Where did the ideas come from?
You've been told, "Write what you know," but what if you don't know anything? You're not an expert on anything and you don't know anyone who is. You just want to write a good, entertaining story.

Ignore this  advice. Being smart is not about what you know; it is how fast you can find out. Research is half the fun of writing fiction. My new book, Maddie's Choice, due in October, is about modern day cattle rustling in the Midwest, Angus bulls, motorcycle gangs, methamphetamine dealers and PTSD--all of which I knew almost nothing. Once i had the idea I had to research everything and met a lot of interesting people in the process. It is part of writing. I discovered people love to answer questions. So where did the idea for this book originate?

I live in a tourist town in Arkansas, and one weekend members of a large motorcycle gang known as Hell's Angels came to town to celebrate an event. Yeah, the gang Marlon Brando made a movie about. This group is from California and the East coast. There is another gang, called the Bandidos, out of Texas who consider this their private territory, and they arrived to throw the others out. A knife fight ensued. Paramedics were called, along with police and the FBI, who happened to be in town, because the meth trade in this country is controlled by motorcycle gangs and the Feds had been watching them. I didn't know anything about drug trafficking, biker gangs, and the FBI, but I knew a story idea when I heard it.

About that time the newspapers were reporting several cases of cattle rustling at the small ranches in the area. That's when the "what if" question that is the start of every novel, hit me. What if there's a drug dealing motorcycle gang in the area--let's call them The Red Hand--and  they're about to get a big delivery from Mexico? To keep the local police too busy to notice they start rustling cattle from these small ranches who can't afford the loss. The book could end with a big gun battle.

So far, so good, but this is a romance. Besides a small cattle ranch right outside Peachville, Arkansas, I need a man and a woman, who must live together on the ranch, in unlikely circumstances, who can't stand each other but have to get along.
Okay. Let's suppose the woman, Maddie a romance novelist with a thriving career, from New York who's never been near a cow, has writer's block and desperately needs a change of scene.

The guy will be moody, and rough-edged. He's Gideon, the ranch boss--big, handsome and hostile to women, especially New York Bimbos. He clearly needs the love of a good woman but he's afraid to get near because he's suffering from PTSD, a result of ten years in combat in Special Forces. Oh yeah, he's guardian of two orphaned nephews yearning for the love of their uncle. Throw in an Angus bull addicted to chocolate, a barn cat named Deuteronomy, and we're on our way.

I had a lot of fun and pulled out all the stops writing this book. I added some evil dirty guys, some eccentric small town residents, a lot of romantic dialogue, passionate sex, and some really good fights between Maddie and Gideon before they finally get together. The final kicker: Twenty thousand dollars worth of Angus cattle were rustled in Southern Missouri last week.
 Maddie's Choice, to be published by Coffeetown Press this fall thanks to my agent Jeanie Loiacono.

Fragrance and Missed Opportunities

The perfume industry is full of missed opportunities because no one is courageous enough to try something new.

The thousand-year-old theory of Aromatherapy maintains that some natural fragrances send signals to the brain telling us how to interpret our environment when we sense their presence. Why isn’t this used?

Some scents tell us to feel happy, optimistic; some inspire us to action and decision-making; some make us feel nurtured, loved, and in a safe haven.

It’s common knowledge that some essential oils, when absorbed into the system, will change a mood or stimulate an emotion. I used this idea in my book, Accidental Alien,” when Daniel mixed a sensually stimulating oil for a female friend. He used Champaca oil, from a flower that is a relative of frangipani. This oil is no secret in perfumery. It just isn’t talked about. I had this oil in my store and had a lot of fun with it, demonstrating it o customers who quickly became believers after a few sniffs. To my knowledge, it has never been used commercially and I can’t imagine why.

A perfume company in New York used St. John’s Wort oil briefly. I had the cologne in my store. It was wildly popular because of the special oil, which lifted the users’ mood almost immediately. Inept marketing put the company out of business.

Sometime in the 1980s Haarmann and Reimer, the international fragrance giant, commissioned a study on this subject, the aim being to divide humans into personality types who would then respond to certain fragrance notes, and be attracted to persons wearing that scent. The study was published in six volumes titled, “The Psychology of Fragrance,” and is probably still available. Not much came of all this research and I’ve often wondered why. My thirty years experience as a custom perfumer taught me that absolutely certain personality types are attracted to certain fragrance blends.

Instead of creating a fragrance that smells good to the client, why not create a scent that will tell others how to feel about you? It would say to the beholder, “This is the kind of person I am and this is the kind of person I would like to be with.” Even more daringly, use them to communicate in a crowded room, reaching out to the kind of person you’d like to have as a friend. Humans are attracted to each other by hormonal scents that their nose can't detect, so why not fragrance?

I experimented with this in my store and discovered that, while not perfect, there was enough truth to warrant further exploration.

What a missed opportunity for some courageous perfume house!

I don’t have room to explore this deeply, but I can give you an overview. You’ll just have to find the books for more. There were five unisex personality types.

1.                    The Dynamic Activist – energetic, natural leaders. The party gets going, and things get done when they’re on the scene. Very fresh, citrus, lightly floral appeal here.

2.                    Sensitive Individualist – they prefer evenings alone rather than with someone they don’t like. Warm, spicy fragrance, amber, maybe frankincense.

3.                    Extrovert – Lively, cheerful, surrounded by color, modern and unconventional. They show courage in the face of adversity. They like unusual scents—fruity like orange, fresh, green notes.

4.                    Emotionally Ambivalent – They need stability. They are organized, cautious and careful. They like floral, sweet and oriental fragrances, mossy, animalistic, and impeccably correct.

5.                    The Rebel – The women I this group have an impossibly wild streak; the men are pure masculinity. Musk appeals to this group, tempered by balmy odors of wood and amber.