Final Post

After five years of writing a blog every Wednesday, I’m retiring.  This is due to my falling in March and not recovering as rapidly as I would like. It’s been a wonderful five years and I thank those of you who have been my readers. I will miss you all.

To learn about my current books, go to my website at phyllishumphrey.com or my Amazon pages.

AMERICAN CREATIVITY

 I ran across an interesting article last week on the subject of creativity. The person who wrote the article expected to learn that the most creative Amercans lived on the coasts: New York in the East and California in the West. But his research showed something very different. The creatives live in the North, and non-creatives in the South.

According to the NEA (National Endowment for the Arts), creative people tend to live in northern states. They drew a line at the 36th parallel across a map of the country, and colored the states depending on how creative they were, 30%, 35%, 40%, 45%, 50%, 55%, 60% to 65%. All the states below the line scored in the 30% to 45%. All the states above that line scored in the 45% to 65% of creative endeavors.

That is, creating or participating in them, including what we normally consider the Arts, such as writing, acting, painting, music, etc. The NEA worked on this categorization with the Census Bureau in all 50 states in 2014.

The article received 46 comments, (a rather high number for the site reproducing the article), mostly from Southern readers, who were  protesting the findings. Many said Southern people just don’t call what they do as “Art.” They might call it a “craft,” or just some other word about “what they do in their spare time, or to help their church, or whatever.”

Personally, I think it’s rational to assume that people who live in Northern states would use their coldest days to create or participate in art. People in Southern states have more sunny days per year, in which to walk, swim, play golf, or just loll in a hammock, rather than get themselves sweaty or tired from working at their art.

There’s no mystery to this. It sounds like common sense to me. Of course, I live in California, so I get to do both.

FREEDOM FROM ADDICTIVE DRUGS

I‘ve been a reader of THE PASSIVE VOICE (and occasionally a commenter) for 4 or 5 years. Then, in March, I fell and broke the femur in my left leg and also got a blood clot in my right leg, which put me out of commission for the last four months. But I’m recovered from that now and caught up on all the TPVs I missed due to the fall. Since I‘ve wanted to contribute something that would be helpful to some of your readers, I’m attaching a true story.

This is not about writing, but could be about writers who have fallen into the trap of taking opioids and getting “hooked.” It happened to me almost five years ago. I had a knee transplant and was prescribed a painkiller that was very effective, but which I didn’t know (and no one at the hospital or doctors’ offices told me) that Percocet is very addictive. So, when I ran out, I took the form they gave me to my local Walgreen’s and ordered more.

When I decided I didn’t need it anymore, I discovered the awful truth. When I went to bed the first night I hadn’t had Percocet, I couldn’t sleep. I felt as if bugs were crawling all over me, and I had to turn over every few seconds. Neither my husband nor I could get to sleep until he insisted I take a Percocet.

Unlike today when newspapers and magazines are busy warning people about these drugs, five years ago there was no one telling me about the danger. My husband said I was addicted to it and he fashioned a way to get me free. He cut one of the pills in half and I took that half just before bedtime every night for two months. It worked. I could sleep without constant turning over or feeling as if bugs were all over me. Next he cut the half pill in half and I took that quarter pill every night for another two months. When I finally went “cold turkey,” I was able to sleep without the Percocet.

Yesterday our local daily newspaper ran a cover story about how over 200 people suffered (and some died) from overdoses of opioids that weekend. Officials are busy trying to learn who had provided the drugs and get it stopped.

I don’t know what doctors are advising patients to do, but if my experience getting off Percocet helps someone else get off these drugs, I’m glad I shared my story.

Thanks so much for giving us TPV every day. I never miss it.

AN INTERESTING MOVIE

 When I’m required to sit for some time with both my legs up on a footstool (doctors orders, among exercises and walking without my walker or wheelchair), I often watch old movies on television. Last week, it was THE INSIDER, about the tobacco-company worker who told the famous TV host of 60 MINUTES that the manufacturer knew smoking cigarettes caused lung cancer, but was keeping it a secret and had fired him.

 The show grew from an article, titled, THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, by Marie Brenner, which was published in VANITY FAIR. The story aired in 1964 and this film was made in 1999. It stars Al Pacino as Lowell Bergman, Christopher Plummer as Mike Wallace, and Russell Crowe as Jeffrey Wigand, the whistle-blower. Although telling the truth, which he thought was the right thing to do, Wigand lost his wife and children (she divorced him), in addition to his job. He became a high school teacher, and, after that, he lectured in cities around the world, hoping to stem the use of cigarettes.

 Although the film version didn’t earn as much money as it cost to make, it garnered lots of awards, including nominations and Academy Awards for both Russell Crowe and Christopher Plummer in the U.S., and other awards in other countries.

 I had seen this film when it first came out, but had forgotten lots of it in the years since then. It reminded me of the curent Presidential election, in which people have no great afffection for either Hillary Clinton (the Democratic Party nominee) or Donald Trump (the Republican nominee). But lots of unpleasant words are being tossed around, words we’ve never heard at a time like this before.

 I’m not suggesting you watch the film (unless you want to); however, it intrigued me and offers plenty of opportunities to worry about how this 2016 election managed to become so hostile. And how it will end.

SHERRY'S FRIEND'S WEDDING

 My Blog this week is about the fourth Sherlock Holmes short story. Yes, like many other authors, I’m writing about the master detective invented by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. However, Doyle’s stories were written in the 19th century, and my Holmes is living in the 21st century in the San Francisco apartment of Sheridan (“Sherry”) Holmes.

 In this story, Sherry’s friend tells her about her planned wedding and invites her to attend. Along with her sickly father’s nurse, plus Sherry’s grandmother, Tessa, and Watson, the young, good-looking man who keeps all the old San Francisco Victorians in good working condition.

 But, wait, strange things happen in this story. For one thing the fiancé’ is eager to marry her and take her to his home in Hungary to live. For another, the wedding chapel is painted purple and is staffed by a strange young man who doesn’t even know the groom. But then the groom never shows up. Instead, he writes her a lovely note explaining his anxiety to marry and take her back to Hungary with him. She’s eager to do so because she’s rather obese and never had a boyfriend.

 After that, things escalate. The bride wants to kill the groom, but strange things occur on the San Francisco Bay Bridge. What happens to the groom? Will the bride ever get married? What does Sherlock think of this strange story?


 If you haven’t read my first three Holmes’ stories, here’s your chance. The first story, titled A STUDY IN AMBER (Doyle’s first story about his Holmes, was titled A STUDY IN SCARLET.) And it’s free on Amazon. I made it free so readers who first find my stories by reading later novellas, learn how he came to be a ghost in the 21st century. Except for the three-book story, the rest will cost you the current price of the novellas, $1.99 each.

 A STUDY IN AMBER also contains a mystery which Holmes resolves, and the book (all the novellas) have a certain amount of humor along with a mystery. And, in addition, the fourth story, titled THE MISSING MAN, is coming out as an e-book at the same time. It, too, will show up in printed version later.  So, check Amazon for the new three-story book, and, if you have an e-reader, get a copy of THE MISSING MAN.
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HOLMES and HOLMES

My Blog this week is about a fourth Sherlock Holmes short story. Yes, like many other authors, I’m writing about the master detective invented by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. However, Doyle’s stories were written in the 19th century, and my Holmes is living in the 21st century in the San Francisco apartment of Sheridan (“Sherry”) Holmes.

 If you haven’t read my first three Holmes’ stories, here’s your chance. The first story, titled A STUDY IN AMBER (Doyle’s first story about his Holmes, was titled A STUDY IN SCARLET.) And it’s free on Amazon. I made it free so readers who first find my stories by reading later novellas, can learn how he came to be a ghost in 21st century San Francisco. However, if you want to read books two and three, (and I sincerely hope you like the first enough to try the others) they’ll cost you the price of these novellas, currently $1.99 each.

 As I indicated, Holmes’s story about how he came to live in San Francisco in the 21st century is spelled out in book One, A STUDY IN AMBER, so I’m not going to repeat that here. That book also contains a mystery which Holmes resolves, and the book (all the novellas) have a certain amount of humor along with a mystery.

 Originally, these novellas were e-books only, but I have a lot of relatives, most of whom don’t have an e-book reader, so they’ve been unable to read them. Until now. This coming November, however, will see a three-story book on Amazon, which will contain all three of those first stories in print. It’s titled (what else?) HOLMES AND HOLMES. And, in addition, the fourth story, titled THE MISSING MAN, is coming out as an e-book at the same time. Eventually, that too will show up in a printed version.

 So, check Amazon for the new three-story book, and, if you have an e-reader, get a copy of THE MISSING MAN. Doyle wrote some 50-plus stories about his 19th century Holmes, so I have plenty of work ahead of me. Book number five is already plotted and ready to be written and published. I hope you enjoy reading these stories as much as I enjoy writing them.

 Please tell your friends who were reading my Holmes stories about these new books. And Happy Reading to you-all.