Guest Post by Frankie Y. Bailey

Dining with Murder

By Frankie Y. Bailey

            When my Lizzie Stuart mysteries were published by Overmountain Press, the authors writing under the imprint, were asked to contribute a recipe to a small collection that could be offered to readers as a giveaway. I had an obvious choice. In Death’s Favorite Child, the first book in my series (being reissued by Speaking Volumes), the victim dies after eating a lethal substitute for the “yummy balls” her aunt made for her. I asked a friend to come up with a recipe (see my website) for the nonexistent snack I had described. But this was not the only appearance of food in that book. Lizzie was on vacation in Cornwall, England. I drew on the research I’d done in London and in the coastal town where a friend and I met for a holiday.

            In that book, Lizzie shares meals with her best friend, Tess, and the other guests at the private hotel. These are the people who will be among the “the closed circle of suspects” common in whodunits. She also has dinner with Philadelphia homicide detective, John Quinn. Like Lizzie, Quinn is on holiday in Cornwall. Like Lizzie, he is drawn into the murder investigation.

            In A Dead Man’s Honor, Lizzie has moved to Gallagher, Virginia, the fictional city that will become her home base. In this book, I introduce readers to “Miss Alice,” a woman who knew Lizzie’s grandmother when they were both children. Miss Alice continues to reign over the Orleans Café. As a crime historian, Lizzie spends time in libraries reading old newspapers and going through archival collections looks for clues. But she also knows the value of oral history interviews. Miss Alice is her source when she has a question that she is not able to answer or when she needs more context (See recipes from the Orleans Café on my website).

            In A Dead Man’s Honor, there are other characters with whom Lizzie shares intriguing conversations during meals -- including the soon-to-be victim and John Quinn. It is giving nothing away to say that as the series has evolved, Lizzie and Quinn have gotten to know each –and shared both romantic moments and conversations about murder as they ate. In Book Six, they will be in Santa Fe for Thanksgiving dinner before coming home to Gallagher.

Brief bio and links:

Frankie Y. Bailey is a professor in the School of Criminal Justice at the University at Albany (SUNY). Her areas of research are crime history, and crime and mass media/popular culture and material culture. She is the author of a number of non-fiction books, including local histories and books about crime fiction. Her mystery novels feature Southern-born crime historian, Lizzie Stuart, in five books, beginning with Death’s Favorite Child and A Dead Man’s Honor. The books are being reissued by Speaking Volumes. Frankie’s two near-future police procedurals feature Albany police detective, Hannah McCabe in The Red Queen Dies and What the Fly Saw (Minotaur Books). Frankie has also has written several short stories, including “In Her Fashion” (EQMM, July 2014), “The Singapore Sling Affair” (EQMM, Nov/Dec 2017), and “The Birth of the Bronze Buckaroo” (The Adventures of the Bronze Buckaroo, 2018). She is currently working on a nonfiction book about dress and appearance in American crime and justice, a historical thriller set in 1939, and the plots of the next Stuart and McCabe books. Frankie is a past executive vice president of Mystery Writers of America and a past president of Sisters in Crime.

www.frankieybailey.com

Website URL: www.frankieybailey.com

Twitter:  @FrankieYBailey

Amazon: A Dead Man’s Honor

https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Honor-Lizzie-Stuart-Mystery-ebook/dp/B07FTYK444/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1539976642&sr=8-1&keywords=dead+mans+honor

Amazon: Death’s Favorite Child

https://www.amazon.com/Deaths-Favorite-Lizzie-Stuart-Mystery-ebook/dp/B078FQT4XD/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1536271507&sr=8-1&keywords=death%27s+favorite+child

Saving Ferris - Guest Post and Excerpt

By A.R. Kennedy

ISBN-10: 1718150709

ISBN-13: 978-1718150706

Independently published

Paperback: 394 pages

September 23, 2018, $9.99

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Also available for Kindle

After Cecilia’s husband dies, she’s forced to become Ferris’s caregiver, something she does not immediately warm to. But when his life is threatened by an intruder, she shoots the intruder to save the golden retriever. Police Chief Holden Owens thinks Cecilia acted lawfully, but few agree. The prosecutor feels that Cecilia has committed murder, not self-defense. In the eyes of the law, one can use lethal force to protect themselves and others, but not property. Pets are considered property. Holden loses his fight with the prosecutor and is now in a new fight—his undeniable attraction to Cecilia. Celebrity defense attorney Wyatt Sewell identifies a sympathetic defendant, a case he can win, and a way to garner more acclaim. When he learns of Cecilia’s motive, to save Ferris, he sees a blockbuster case that can set legal precedent. He forces the jurors to ask themselves— Is your pet property or family? Will saving Ferris's life cost Cecilia her freedom? And a second chance at love?

Guest Post

Any writer will tell you the importance of editing. (And the importance of a having a great editor. Thank you Lourdes Venard!). Editing consists of two elements — developmental editing (big picture review of your story and its structure and characters) and copy editing (basic level review for grammar and spelling). 

When I first started writing I had the naive notion that you wrote a book, you re-read it to review it and then you were finished. Oh no, there are so many more drafts than just that first one and the final one.  

I have no idea how many drafts I had of Saving Ferris. There was the first one, the one I sent to beta readers, the first one I sent to my editor, the edited one she returned to me, the second one with many changes I sent back to her, the second edited version, several proofread versions and then finally the final one, which I hope you read (and enjoy!)

Last week I was in Israel. For 12 days, I traveled around the country with a group who first started out as strangers. By the end, a few of us were friends. (Getting lost in an Arab market and repeatedly being mistaken for family will do that).

I’ve always loved to travel. Trips over the past few years have a new objective as I seek inspiration for a cozy mystery series, The Traveling Detective, that I am currently seeking representation for.

After becoming inspired at the Dead Sea for an upcoming novel is this series (Yes, I know it seems obvious that the fictional death would occur at the ‘Dead’ Sea but when the muse strikes, it strikes!), we were off to Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. 

Per deadseascrolls.org.il, ‘Among the Scrolls are partial or complete copies of every book in the Hebrew Bible (except the book of Esther).’ 

Our guide, Adina, gave us a thorough tour of the area and told us that many of the scrolls found are identical to texts in the Bible.

(The deadseascrolls.org.il confirmed this. ‘Many biblical manuscripts closely resemble the Masoretic Text, the accepted text of the Hebrew Bible from the second half of the first millennium ce until today. This similarity is quite remarkable, considering that the Qumran Scrolls are over a thousand years older than previously identified biblical manuscripts.’)

I was astonished to learn this! Can you imagine copying manuscripts thousands of years ago in the desert? And not making mistakes? They didn’t have white-out, auto-correct, or extra paper to just start over. 

I’m a good typist but I still make a lot of mistakes. I cannot imagine the amount of mistakes I would make having to handwrite something, in the heat of the desert. 

While my fellow travelers were most likely overwhelmed by the scenery and the amazing find of the Dead Scrolls, I was reminded how much I am thankful for my MacBook and my editor!

Saving Ferris Excerpt     (First chapter)

Cecilia woke up. She’d never get used to the darkness of country nights. She rolled over to return to sleep and heard the noise that must have been the cause of the early wake-up call. A small yip from the window. She mumbled her displeasure and slapped her husband’s side of the bed.

“Joey, wake up.” No response. “Joey.” She reached for him again and found nothing but his cold pillow. A small yip again. “Dumb dog,” she mumbled. She was fully awake now, remembering why her husband’s side of the bed was empty. Why it would forever be empty. 

Cecilia sat up at the edge of the bed and hung her head. She no longer wanted to be in the empty bed. A low growl emanated from the dog. “Okay, Ferris. I’m coming.”

She snapped on a nightlight and shielded her eyes from the small, yet bright, light. In the city, she could have seen the bedroom without such an aid. Some people called it light pollution. Cecilia called it the life of the city.

She could make out the profile of Ferris, staring out the window onto their backyard. He stood tall enough that his head rested on the windowsill. She often found the golden retriever looking out any window of the house like this. Waiting for Joey to return, she assumed. She had done it for weeks too. 

But tonight, he stood at alert. 

“Do you want to go out or what? Remember, I’m not the one who likes you, so hurry up.”

He turned his head briefly and looked at her, then returned his attention to the backyard. “I am not taking you out in the middle of the night to chase a squirrel.” The backyard’s motion sensor light was on and she cursed the squirrel that must have triggered it.

She started to lie back down and return to her dreamless sleep. The dreams, in reality and in sleep, had disappeared with Joey. The call of nature diverted her and she headed to the bathroom instead. 

With the door to the hallway open and the rest of the house now available, Ferris took off and ran down the stairs. “I’ll take that as I got to go now too, woman.”

Putting Ferris’s bathroom needs before her own, she followed him downstairs to the kitchen’s sliding glass door, his exit to the spacious backyard. It was far more likely he’d have an accident than she and she didn’t want to spend the rest of the night cleaning up his mess.

She snapped on the kitchen light. Now that she was fully awake, the light no longer caused discomfort. She doubted she’d return to sleep again tonight anyway.

“Calm down,” Cecilia told the dog as she struggled to put on his leash. “I know Joey lets you run around but I’m not chasing you at two in the morning.” It was no surprise that Ferris continued to move. Listening was not his forte. It was how he got homed here. 

Cecilia finally got the camouflage leash on Ferris’s collar and opened the sliding glass door. Ferris squeezed through before she had it fully open, pulling her through as well. An alarm beeped and she reached for the doorframe to stop her momentum. “Ferris, come on!” 

Ferris had a lot of flaws but pulling her on their walks was not one of them. Holding the leash in one hand and firmly placing her foot over the doorframe, she quickly punched in the alarm code. The incrementally louder and faster beeping stopped. She stepped onto the patio and Ferris pulled her onto the backyard’s grass. “You really are a pain in the tush tonight.”

The motion light flicked on as Ferris pulled her into the middle of the yard. He stopped and surveyed what Cecilia figured he imagined as his kingdom. Again, he was in high alert. 

She looked around the yard but could only see as far as the backyard’s light illuminated. She couldn’t see the fence that ran around the acre of land. She couldn’t see her closest neighbor’s home. She couldn’t see anything but Ferris. And her breath in the cool night air. 

“What’s wrong with you?” She patted him on his back. Usually when she petted him on his back, he squirmed in glee. Tonight, she didn’t think he even noticed the touch. 

With the damp grass soaking through her socks, Cecilia wished she had put on shoes. The chill ran up her body and she regretted not putting on a jacket as well. Joey’s T-shirt and boxers did little to keep her warm. Hoping to generate a little warmth, she told Ferris, “Come on, one lap and we’re back in.” Several pulls on his leash yielded no movement. With no motion, the yard’s light flipped off. Suddenly engulfed in darkness, Cecilia let out a short scream. 

Ferris twirled around, yanking Cecilia with him. As the light flipped back on, Cecilia screamed again.

Alicia Kennedy

A R Kennedy was born and raised on Long Island, New York. (And no, she doesn't have that Long Island accent). The finale of her Nathan Miccoli Mystery series, the 8th in the series, is expected in 2019. 

When not working on her next novel, she works full time in healthcare to feed (and sometimes clothe) her two little dogs. Both are named after her favorite fictional characters from British entertainment, which few friends and neighbors understand. 

The Nathan Miccoli Mystery series is her debut series.
Her next book, Saving Ferris, is expected September 2018.

Guest Post - Catherine Dilts

Journey to a Dream by Catherine Dilts

Are you an aspiring author? Perhaps you’re just curious about how a person decides to become a writer, instead of a doctor, carpenter, or store clerk. Everyone’s experience is different. This is my journey to the dream of becoming a published author.

The first book I remember reading was One Fish Two Fish by Dr. Seuss. I was five years old when letters combined in patterns magically jumped off the page as words that meant something. It was like learning a secret code. I was hooked on reading from then on.

I enjoyed writing from a young age, too. My siblings and I wrote ridiculous plays that our indulgent great aunts would patiently act out with us. My favorite grade school assignments involved writing.

Yet when the time came to decide on a college degree, I shied away from creative writing. Warned that art was a fine hobby, but that I needed a job that would pay the bills, I set aside the dream of becoming an author.

While in my last year of college, I took a creative writing class as an elective. There I met two people who became lifelong friends. We encouraged each other in the dream of becoming authors. As I attended conferences and critique groups, I found my tribe. The world of fiction writing was where I felt most comfortable.

I won a writing contest, which fanned the flames of my confidence. Fame and fortune were within my grasp. Nope. Getting a book published is hard work. I had to learn to be thick-skinned, accepting criticism and rejection.

I spent a lot of time and money writing, going to conferences, and buying postage (this was the era of snail-mailing paper submissions). I used up enough paper to denude a rainforest. Other experiences in life taught me it is often darkest before the dawn. Illogical as it seemed, I kept pressing toward my goal.

In the meantime, I toiled away in an unsatisfying job that paid the bills. I believed as soon as I sold a book, I could quit working. Nope. I learned that most authors have day jobs. Very few make a living writing fiction. Although that was discouraging, I still wanted to become published.

I worked my way into a more satisfying career, which provided terrific inspiration. In 2012, I sold a short story and a novel. I had achieved my goal. Surely now things would become easier. Publishers would be clamoring for my work. Nope. Every story is a journey. I now have six published novels, and I feel like I’m just beginning to understand this business.

My newest novel, Survive Or Die, combines my experiences in the corporate world, set in my favorite place to escape work pressures, the Colorado mountains. A company team-building exercise at a survivalist camp results in mayhem and murder.

I’m living my dream. It looks different than I imagined, and doesn’t include fame and my own private island. But it’s where I belong. And maybe it’s where you belong, too. Keep writing!

Catherine Dilts is the author of the Rock Shop Mystery series, while her short

stories appear regularly in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. She takes a turn in the multi-author sweet cozy mystery series Secrets of the Castleton Manor Library with Ink or Swim. With a day job as an environmental regulatory technician, Catherine's stories often have environmental or factory-based themes. Others reflect her love of the Colorado mountains. The two worlds collide in Survive Or Die, when a manufacturing company holds a team building exercise in the wilderness. You can learn more about Catherine’s fiction at http://www.catherinedilts.com/

Guest Post - John R. Beyer

Why Research is the Key to any Writing

John R. Beyer

Walking beneath the rain forest canopy at midnight was both a beautiful and simultaneously, a terrifying experience. There were the deep barking sounds of the capybara – the largest rodent in the world weighing up to nearly 150 pounds – as they clambered across the forest floor or climbed up the massive trees for a bite of fruit. Our flashlights picked up long lines of leaf cutter ants scurrying near our hiking boots as they did their nightly duty of collecting whatever the Queen had ordered. A slight movement on a low hanging branch revealed a solitary assassin bug waiting patiently for its prey to come within range.

With the assistance of a trained guide, we made our way through mile after mile of narrow paths cut into the jungle itself. There are no paved roads here; only muddy foot paths for visitors and residents alike. It’s not easy traveling, but then again, nothing is easy within the Peruvian rain forest just steps from the ever-flowing Amazon.

A four-hour boat trip along the huge and muddy river in a fifty foot dugout was the only way to make the journey to a mosquito netted jungle encampment. This would be our home as I completed the research I needed for the novel ‘Iquitos, The Past Will Kill,’ and ending a month long adventure in the jungles of the Amazon. Alongside me was my number one traveling companion, my wife Laureen, as well as our best friend and cameraman, Paul Bakas.

I was once asked during a radio interview what the most important thing to keep in mind about when writing fiction?

My reply was simple and to the point:  You must write fiction as though it is nonfiction.

Readers want to travel to interesting locales, meet intriguing characters and be involved in emotionally gripping plots. It is the job of the writer to deliver on those desires. Research and more research is a must for any fictional storyteller to enable them to create a story which feels real to the reader.

There is nothing worse than staring at a page in a novel and knowing the words do not match reality. I remember reading a novel by a famous author with Hollywood credentials behind his name, about an assassin using a particular type of gun with a silencer. Of course, being a former law enforcement officer, it didn’t ring true. I researched and confirmed what I suspected: the type of weapon the author described would never have worked for that purpose. It turned out the revolver was much too loud for an assassin’s job. That might sound picky, but it ruined the flow of the story of for me. These details are critical in making stories believable for your readers. And, big Hollywood name or not, we can’t take such details for granted. It’s the details that matter. The details that make an otherwise good painting into a masterpiece. The details make a decent story into a great or a not-so-great novel.

When writing any piece, a novel or short story, I am always careful to ensure that what I type is as accurate as it can be. I want my reader to feel confident that what they are reading is so close to the truth that it becomes the truth – even for just the moment. The fiction becomes the momentary reality. If I am going to write something then I must do my best to experience what I am writing about. That is the purpose of my research.

For a writer, in my opinion, the research is the most critical aspect of any writing. A plot can be strong and characters interesting, but if it sounds like fiction upon completion then it wasn’t worth writing.

Another reason I research is to travel. I love visiting foreign locales, meeting people and experiencing new cultures. It is a side benefit to this world of writing!

Bio

Former street cop, training officer and member of SWAT John Beyer has been writing most of his life. He’s traveled to at least 23 countries (and was actually shot in the head in Spain in 2000 during a march between Neo Nazis and Communists two days after running with the bulls in Pamplona). He was caught in a hurricane off the coast of east Baja (Bahia de los Angeles) while kayaking and lived to tell about it. Essentially, it’s hard to tell where experience leaves off and fiction takes over. You’ll want to read his books.

Website URL: http://johnrobertbeyer.weebly.com/

Blog URL: http://jandlresearchandexploration.blogspot.com/

Twitter: @Drjohnrbeyer

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-john-r-beyer

Operation Scorpion buy link:

https://www.amazon.com/Operation-Scorpion-John-R-Beyer/dp/1626945969/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1485558943&sr=8-1

Guest Post by Katherine Prairie

The Blank Page

Katherine Prairie

www.katherineprairie.com

I’ve had the privilege of meeting many emerging writers over the past few years, and often they ask about my routine, or whether I’ve experience writer’s block. I understand these questions; I had them myself.

Every author has faced a blank page, struggling to find words. For me, it often happens after several days away from the keyboard, which means that taking the weekend off can make Monday a challenge. So I try to do a little writing — even a paragraph or two — every day of the week. That routine, something that can take as little as fifteen minutes, somehow makes the blank page less intimidating.

It doesn’t always work. Right now, while I’m busy promoting BLUE FIRE, it’s easy to make my to-do list a priority or to focus on research for my next Alex Graham thriller, instead of writing. But those tasks can easily fill a day or a week, leaving me to face the dreaded blank page again the next day! So I start my day writing, and push other tasks to mid-morning with the intent of restarting my afternoon with more writing. Even if my to-do list takes over, I’ll manage to put in at least a few of hours of writing time during my most creative time of day.  And I turn to music to get me started.

I’ve created several playlists, everything from dark and moody, to soft and reflective, that serve to narrow my focus and set the tone. Because I write in multiple perspectives, I select the music that fits the character telling the story in the scene I’m working on. Alex Graham’s music tends to be mostly rock, which seems fitting for the risk-taker and adventurer that she is. Dr. Eric Keenan’s songs, on the other hand, are energetic,  the music of a man racing to save lives in the emergency room!

As you would expect, ominous music fills my office when I’m writing from the perspective of my villain, but what I find interesting is that there’s always a one song that becomes a signature for that character. That was certainly true for Shen Li. His signature song, Ed Sheeran’s Make It Rain from the Sons of Anarchy series, makes me I feel as though I’ve dropped into the mind of this complex foe, and I often start my day with it.

Every writer develops their own strategies, but perhaps there’s an idea here that will work for you!    

 *****************************************************************************

FULL DESCRIPTION – BLUE FIRE

Tanzanite, a rare blue gem born in fire and revealed by lightning, is found only in the Merelani Hills of Tanzania. But now the death of a gem smuggler points to another possibility. A South American mine owned by Tabitha Metals may hold the find of a century. But why is it kept hidden from the world? Geologist Brian Graham can draw only one conclusion: the mine’s untraceable wealth is used to fund terrorism. And he must reveal the truth.

Brian heads to Colombia to check out mines there while his geologist daughter Alex and Tanzanian miner Mosi Ongeti start in Brazil. But their daring plan ends with a gunshot, and they are now pursued by the henchmen of a sinister, powerful arms dealer.

In a high-stakes race across two continents, Alex fights to expose the mine before the man behind Tabitha Metals can stop her.

SHORT DESCRIPTION – BLUE FIRE

A daring act reveals an incredible secret deep in a Brazilian mine, and catapults geologist Alex Graham into the world of a powerful arms dealer. She heads to Tanzania, to her father whose cryptic message started her quest. But her enemy is closing in.

AUTHOR BIO

Katherine Prairie brings her own experience as an international geologist to the Alex Graham thriller series. Her debut novel THIRST was shortlisted for the 2017 Whistler Independent Book Awards. She served as the founding president of Sisters in Crime - Canada West, and she is a 2018-19 Crime Writers of Canada director.

AUTHOR LINKS

https://www.katherineprairie.com

http://facebook.com/katherineprairie

http://twitter.com/authorprairie

Buy Links:

PUBLISHER BOOK/BUY LINK

https://stonedriftpress.com/books/blue-fire/

BOOKSTORE BUY LINKS

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Fire-Katherine-Prairie/dp/099493775X

https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/blue-fire/9780994937759-item.html?ikwid=katherine+prairie+blue+fire

http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780994937759

Guest Post: Randy Rawls

            

I was introduced to this author's writings when I was asked to review his book Jingle and the Magnificent Seven.  His books will engage you from the very beginning. So it is my pleasure to have  Randy Rawls write a guest post for my blog.

           My seventeenth book is underway. It’s the fifth in the Beth Bowman series. The idea came to me straight out of the headlines, a spin-off from the illegal immigrant problem. No, it’s not about a wall or the border guards who struggle to enforce our laws. It’s what can happen to young women who enter illegally and fall into the hands of unscrupulous people. As with Beth Bowman number 4, SAVING DABBA, I find myself digging into some dark areas I never considered before.

            When I look back, I see my evolution from a “pure” mystery writer (whatever that is) to one building on our social problems has been a gradual thing, beginning after I moved to South Florida. My first here involved the rape and murder of a 17-year-old girl. Then, a 13-year-old runaway, the kidnapping of a 5-year-old, a dirty politician, etc. As I look back, I see that each of those problems surface every day in news coverage. I even took a humorous poke at a fantasy/mystery about a terrorist group. And yes, that, too, was inspired by an actual event in S FL.

            Skipping a few of the incremental steps, we get to SAVING DABBA. As some of you know (not enough, I might add), Beth Bowman, a PI in S FL, is befriended by a group of homeless people. When someone or some group starts killing them, Beth is involved. From there we move into the business of “demonstrations.”

Now, don’t get me wrong. I support freedom of assembly and freedom of speech. I spent 20-plus years in the Army to help guarantee those rights. However, I also believe that freedom carries responsibility. Looting, burning, and stepping on the rights of others are criminal acts, not freedoms. This is the world that SAVING DABBA explores—a group who uses our constitutional freedoms as a business endeavor. The police are so busy protecting the demonstrators, they have little time to concentrate on its evil leadership. As things spiral out of control in Coral Lakes, FL, Beth and her friends take it upon themselves to act.

            So goes the story of SAVING DABBA. If you read it, and I hope you will, please accept it as I intend it—not to denounce those who march for worthy causes, but to denounce those who use our liberties to spread discord, hatred, and fear. And, to use each to enrich themselves.

            That’s the trip I’ve taken over my sixteen published efforts, starting with an arson and ending with SAVING DABBA. That’s Randy Rawls of today.

            Thank you, Sandra, for allowing me space on your blog.

Randy Rawls was born and reared in Williamston, North Carolina, a small town in the northeastern part of the state. From there, he says he inherited a sense of responsibility, a belief in fair play, and a love of country. As a career US Army officer, he had the opportunity to learn, travel, teach, and hone talents inherited from his parents. Following retirement, he worked in other ventures for the US Government. Every job has in some way been fun. Even the dark days of Vietnam had their light moments, and he cherishes the camaraderie that was an integral part of survival in that hostile world.

Today, he has short stories in several anthologies, and a growing list of novels to his credit. As a prolific reader, he reads across several genres and takes that into his writing. He has written mysteries, thrillers, an historical, and two fantasy/mystery/thrillers featuring a Santa Elf. The count is now at fourteen and growing. He is a regular contributor to Happy Homicides, a twice annual anthology of cozy short stories. He also has a series of short stories featuring a cattle-herding burro. Wherever his imagination will take him, he follows.

www.randyrawls.com

https://www.facebook.com/randy.rawls.315

Buy links for Saving Dabba

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Saving-Dabba-Beth-Bowman-4/dp/1984926691/ref=sr_1_1_twi_pap_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1520370020&sr=8-1&keywords=saving+dabba

Buy link for Jingle and his Magnificent Seven:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jingle-Magnificent-Seven-Randy-Rawls-ebook/dp/B0753D84HJ/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1520370495&sr=1-1&keywords=jingle+and+his+magnificent+seven

Guest Post - Berit Brogaard

What Drives Romantic Attraction?

Here's a dream scenario: No more awkward first dates. If you are single and hoping not to be, you can fill out a detailed questionnaire and submit the information to a database containing similar information from other relationship seekers. A computational algorithm then determines how well you match with others in terms of your personality  and what you are looking for in a potential partner. Once you have been matched with another person, all you need to do is arrange a date and go from there.

If this scenario sounds familiar, that's no coincidence: Many online dating sites provide at least some primitive version of the above scenario. People seeking relationships supply first-person insight into their personality and what they are seeking in a partner. They are then matched on the basis of this self-reported data.

As anecdotal evidence suggests, this approach can be successful. People do, occasionally, find love using online dating services.

However, the success of such services is unlikely to be a result of algorithms calculating who will be a good match for each other based on self-reports. In a recent study, published in Psychological Science in August 2017, scientists tested this sort of approach to dating and found that self-reports of personality from potential partners do not predict attraction.

The team, led by psychologist Samantha Joel of the University of Utah, asked volunteers to fill out questionnaires about their own personality traits and the traits they would like in a potential partner. The researchers then arranged four-minute, face-to-face speed dates and collected subsequent feedback about how attracted people were to their predicted matches during these brief encounters.

The researchers found that people were no more likely to be attracted to predetermined matches than they were to non-matches. 

The study methodology had well-known limitations: It only allowed for testing of initial attraction, not an attraction that may emerge from repeated encounters. Further, it followed the existing online dating strategy of relying on self-reports to determine personality and the traits one would like to see manifested in a potential partner. The first limitation is not necessarily a methodological flaw, as long as we draw a sharp line between initial attraction and longer-term attraction/romantic love. The second, however, is problematic. We are often very bad judges of our own personality and the traits we want others to possess. This limitation could have been avoided to some extent by using more sophisticated measures of personality and partner preference; for instance, by relying on third-person perspectives from family members, co-workers, and friends.

If this common dating approach fails, however, it raises the question of whether there might be other ways to predict who may be successful romantic partners. Information about personality by itself is unlikely to help predict good long-term matches. But a combination of feature-matching and behavioral modification—that is, teaching people how to remain attractive to as well as attracted to their partners—may hold some promise. 

Independent studies have found that long-term attraction and romantic love are more likely to occur when the attributes that generate attraction in general, together with certain social factors and circumstances that spark passion, are particularly strong.

Here are 11 features that together provide a decent indicator of who you will click with over the long term (Aron, et al. 1989):

1. Similarity. The similarity of people’s belief sets and, to a lesser extent, the similarity of their personality traits and ways of thinking.

2. Propinquity. Familiarity with the other, which can be caused by spending time together, living near the other, thinking about the other, or anticipating interaction with the other.

3. Desirable Characteristics. Outer physical appearance that is found desirable and, to a lesser extent, desirable personality traits.

4. Reciprocal Liking. When the other person is attracted to you or likes you, that can increase your own liking.

5. Social Influences. The potential union satisfying general social norms, and acceptance of the potential union within one’s social network, can contribute to people falling in love. Or, if a union does not satisfy general social norms or is not accepted by one’s social network, this can result in people falling out of love.

6. Filling Needs. If a person can fulfill needs for companionship, love, sex, or mating, there is a greater chance that the other person will fall in love with him or her.

7. Arousal/Unusualness. Being in an unusual or arousing environment can spark passion, even if the environment is perceived as dangerous or spooky (Dutton & Aron, 1974).

8. Specific Cues. A particular feature of the other may spark a particularly strong attraction; for instance, parts of their body or facial features.

9. Readiness. The more you want to be in a relationship, the lower your self-esteem and the more likely you are to fall in love.

10. Isolation. Spending time alone with another person can contribute to a development of passion.

11. Mystery. Some degree of mystery surrounding the other person, as well as uncertainty about what the other person thinks or feels, or when he or she may initiate contact, can also contribute to passion.

As the list makes clear, many of the factors that determine whether people should connect romantically are circumstantial or a result of how people behave in courtships and relationships. While it may be possible for modern technology to determine partner matches by relying not just on personality, but also on people's particular circumstances, no such algorithm can provide us with the skills necessary to maintain a relationship that is both healthy and exciting. These types of relationship skills may need to be acquired through long-term practice and training.

References

Aron A, Dutton DG, Aron, EN, Iverson, A. (1989) “Experiences of Falling in Love”, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships August 6, 3: 243-257.

Dutton, D.G., & Aron, A.P. (1974). “Some Evidence for Heightened Sexual Attraction Under Conditions of High Anxiety”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 30 (4), 510-517.

Joel S, Eastwick, P, Finkel, E. "Is Romantic Desire Predictable? Machine Learning Applied to Initial Romantic Attraction," Psychological Science. Published online August 30, 2017.

“Brit” is a Professor of Philosophy with joint appointments in the Departments of Philosophy and Psychology at the University of Miami as well as the Network for Sensory Research at the University of Toronto. Her educational background includes a medical degree in neuroscience and a doctorate in philosophy. Her areas of research include perception, synesthesia, blindsight, consciousness, neuro-psychiatry and emotions.

Brit has written over 75 peer-reviewed articles, some three hundred popular articles on neuroscience and health issues and two books: Transient Truths (Oxford) and On Romantic Love (Oxford). She is currently finishing a third book with Oxford entitled Seeing and Saying as well as working on another book for popular press.

Her work has been featured in various public media, including Nightline, ABC News, the Huffington Post, Fox News, MSNBC, Daily Mail, Modesto Bee, and Mumbai Mirror. She is also an editor of the international peer-reviewed philosophy journal Erkenntnis and was the first female President of the Central States Philosophical Association. Brit has fear-color/texture/shape/motion synesthesia. She has recently co-authored a book with Kristian Marlow, The Superhuman Mind, based in part on research at the lab.

Lab page:

http://www.brogaardlab.com/

My blog:

Psychology Today Mysteries of Love:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-mysteries-love

My blog:

Psychology Today The Superhuman Mind:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-superhuman-mind

Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/superhumanmind/

Links to books:

The Superhuman Mind

https://www.amazon.com/Superhuman-Mind-Free-Genius-Brain/dp/1594633681

On Romantic Love

https://www.amazon.com/Romantic-Love-Complex-Emotion-Philosophy/dp/0199370737

My website:

https://sites.google.com/site/brogaardb/home