Welcome to the round up of posts you might have missed on Smorgasbord this week.
A quick intro today as I have very little to report on the home front.. the weather is the same, lockdown extended to March 5th and more travel restrictions in place. On the bright side, we did binge watch the last four James Bond’s to get ourselves ready to watch the new one when it eventually gets released.
We are also enjoying our foreign language series,particularly the Scandinavian shows, and amazing how quickly you forget the subtitles. They are also very well made and thankfully missing so much of the unnecessary chit chat that the English speaking series seem to contain.. in one show we watched last week 20 minutes of a murder mystery was spent with two of the detectives bickering in a car on their way from one scene to another.. I must be getting old…or grumpy… or both.
Anyway.. thankfully there are some great people around to cheer me up including William Price King and the hits of the 60s.. four guests join us this week in the special shows.. the first today and one tomorrow.. Hopefully more of you will join us with your memories of the music of the time as we move through the decades.
Also of course Debby Gies who has been sending funnies my way to share with you.. she does a great job.. And thank you for visiting and sharing the posts, it is very much appreciated.
Welcome to the round up of posts on Smorgasbord that you might have missed this week.
Despite being a momentous week in many ways around the world,very little has been going on in our neck of the woods as our lockdown continues until February 1st. The children here in Ireland are meant to go back to school on 31st of January but I expect that might change as the numbers are still very concerning. They were over 8000 two weeks ago and still at 2,000 + a day.. for a population of just under 5 million it is not good. Still not sure what is happening with vaccines for our age group yet but no doubt they will filter through eventually.
It is however a cold, frosty but sunny day which cheers things up and I have spent some time in the garden repairing our homemade bird feeder. Designed to limit access by the crows (I don’t mind them having a mouthful but they tend to descend as a mob, scaring off the other birds and eating the lot).. Anyway, the crows spend a great deal of time thwarting my efforts and had removed some of the sticks on the outside of the pyramid by undoing the string holding them… If I didn’t find them so amusing….
I also had to break the ice on the two watering holes.. one is a meter square former seed box which is a favourite with the starlings who dive in and have a bath whatever the weather and sometimes there are up to 15 or 16 carrying out the ablutions with much joy.
There are often four or five in the smaller bath which requires constant fill ups in the summer as they splash around having fun.
Not having a dog at the moment, these and the sparrows, tits and the doves are my babies and they have certainly given us much pleasure during lockdown…
Anyway, I hope your week has been good and thank you for visiting today… also my thanks to William Price King (The Breakfast Show), Debby Gies (first relationship column 2021) and Carol Taylor (brand new column, Carol’s Green Kitchen) for their ongoing contributions and I hope you will pop into their posts to enjoy..
Health and energy and long life all begin with a correct pH balance. The pH balance refers to the acidity or alkalinity of every living organism. The scale for measuring this balance is called Potential for Hydrogen or pH balance and each system or organ has its optimum balance for health.
Thank you very much for visiting and your support.. it is much appreciated.. I hope you will join me again next week…enjoy your weekend.. thanks Sally.
Welcome to the round up of post on Smorgasbord you might have missed this week.
There seems to be little let up from either virus or weather this week and apart from a trip the supermarket and a few turns around the garden I have not ventured out relying on indoor exercise options. I am grateful apart from an inquisitive robin who sat on the windowsill one day, nobody has seem me bopping around the kitchen to Status Quo and Tina Turner with a carrot peeler and wearing my apron.
In case you are wondering this is not a new trend of mine.. here I am the first Christmas in our first home 40 years ago. Only I seem to have a glass of sherry in my hand rather than a carrot peeler. For some reason I thought a goose was a good idea for Christmas dinner..more fat than meat.. and I had those pans for at least twenty-five years. And I seemed to have two aprons.. nothing like changing for dinner.
Some good news to share as D.G. Kaye and Carol Taylor will both will be back this week with the first of their 2021 columns.
Debby Gies will be entertaining and inspiring us with her first Relationship column of the year on Monday and I am sure as interesting and inspiring as always. If you would like to catch up on the posts from 2020... Here is the link
Carol Taylorbegins a brand new monthly column on Wednesday – Carol Taylor’s Green Kitchen and this week she will be looking at recycling, the plastic wrap most of us use in our food preparation and storage, and a recipe for some great sandwich bread. I hope you will join us and discover ways we can become more environmentally aware.
I have been out and about this week..
My thanks to Sue Vincentfor inviting me over to her place this week to talk about the sewing connection between the generations of women in my family.. I also share my own needlework passion which is tapestry. Sue Vincent – Guest Sally Cronin – The Sewing Gene
And finally…The 2021 Posts from your Archives list is now at 20 bloggers and there is still time to add your name and participate in this series.. It is another opportunity to promote your blog or books or both… and you can never have too much of that… check the post for details and all you need to know is let me know if you wish to take part.
If you, like me, have enjoyed the luxury of indulging over the last few days, you might like to get up and get some exercise to these five favourite rock tracks of mine. They are on my playlist and when I am in the kitchen preparing meals I try to do so to the beat… you just have to watch you fingers when chopping the carrots….
I have hundreds of rock songs in the music folders and on tapes, vinyl and CD… and it was tough to just pick five tracks to share with you..
If I had to choose my top bands then Status Quo would definitely be on the list…here is Caroline…I dare you not to tap your feet… uploaded by Mahogany Records
Then of course there has to be Queen with a song that gave hope to all well endowed girls in a time of skinny models…. Fat Bottomed Girls…uploaded by Queen Official
Thank you for tuning in and I hope it has got your heart pumping and your feet tapping
New for 2021 – The Breakfast Show with hosts William Price King and Sally Cronin every Tuesday.
Each week throughout the year, William and I will select two top ten hits from the years 1960 to 1985. We will also share the top headlines in the music industry for those years and we will be inviting guests to join us to share their favourite music from that era.
The first Breakfast Show is next Tuesday January 5th and we hope you will tune in.. thanks William and Sally… Happy New Year..
Welcome to the posts that you might have missed on Smorgasbord this week.
I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas Day despite the restrictions. We were quiet and enjoyed some telephone calls with family and a Spanish themed lunch of Sherry, Paella and a very good Rioja.
It will be 2021 for the next round up and at least there is some positivity to look forward to with Brexit (which will hopefully pass in Parliament next week) various vaccines and a new President in the USA. Fingers crossed it all goes smoothly and we can focus on getting our lives back on track.
Have a lovely week and hope to see you when you have the time.. a few posts to keep you amused and of course some books and reviews.
My thanks to William Price King, Debby Gies and Daniel Kemp for their contributions to the week and to you for all your support…
Thank you for dropping in today and I hope you enjoy the rest of the holidays.. Look forward to seeing you again during the next week… Merry Christmas Sally.
Welcome to the round up of post that you might have missed this week on Smorgasbord..
Well this week has certainly been a rollercoaster ride. Televisions around the world have been overheating and the screens shouted at as the American Election took place and lockdowns and further restrictions were announced to try and harness the rampaging virus. So many lives in the balance for one reason or another and after months of this, it would be really amazing if next week starts to see a de-escalation of hostilities on all fronts.
All we can do is watch and stay safe.
It has been the usual week here on Smorgasbord, but I did get out and about earlier in the week for an interview which was great fun and did me the power of good. A link to that post further down the page.
I am also working on the Christmas promotions. I will be starting the Christmas Book Fairin a couple of weeks as I will be featuring all current authors in the Cafe and Bookstore and in the Children’s Cafe too and that will take several weeks.
William Price King will be sharing some wonderful international carols in two special posts in December. And I am planning on having a Christmas Tea Party for bloggers and authors closer to the holidays.
All the regular posts will be featured with plenty of music and funnies.
I hope that gives you something to look forward to and that you will join us when you can.
Time for the posts from the week and as always my thanks to William Price Kingand Debby Gies who are this week’s contributors, and to you for all your support.
This week I was delighted to be the guest of authorMarcia Meara... I was sharing my thoughts on the gift of blogging and my gratitude for the contributors who bring such interesting and entertaining content to the blog, and those who have supported Smorgasbord for the last 7 years: Marcia Meara Writes Guest Post
Thanks for dropping in today and thank you for all your support during the week. Have a great weekend and may we all wake up on Monday morning with good news on all fronts.. thanks Sally.
Welcome to the round up of posts on Smorgasbord you might have missed this week.
Well what a week.. from the headlines to the weather it has been one rollercoaster of a ride with nobody quite sure where the ride is going to end.. even those holding the reins!
Thankfully things around our virtual world seem to be maintaining normality however I would like to mention two people who are firm favourites here with guest posts and their books.
Mary Smith and Sue Vincentwere due to meet up in the last few weeks in Scotland but for both of them shock medical news has become a priority for the present. Both of them have posted about their diagnosis and I link to them here. Unfortunately due to Covid restrictions they cannot enjoy the level of physical support so necessary during their treatment. Both are wonderfully strong and resilient, but you can never have too many friends, even in the virtual world on your side. If you too are friends with them please head over to keep in touch and let them know we are there now and as they continue to blog during their treatment. Two amazing women.
I am still in the middle of getting my next release ship shape… longer than I intended as I have been, like most of you lacking in some focus on the creative side in the last few months. I have however begun to apply myself more and I am scheduling a couple of weeks ahead at the moment which gives me some breathing room. I am so grateful for William Price King, Debby Gies, Carol Taylor and Silvia Todesco for their weekly and monthly contributions and whilst I am not accepting individual guest posts at the moment, I hope to do so in the New Year.
If you are an author in the Cafe and Bookstore it would help me enormously if you could let me know as soon as you have a date for any new releases so I can include in the Cafe Updates in a timely fashion. Either on pre-order or available is fine.
My intention is to increase my reading time which is as important to me as writing.. and hopefully you should see more book reviews each week on a more consistent basis. I have just ambitiously added another 10 books to my TBR and looking forward to some great reading.
Thank you very much for all the support you give every week and it is much appreciated as it keeps me motivated. Just heading into my 9th year of blogging and 8th year as Smorgasbord Blog Magazine.. doesn’t time fly when you are having fun….
It is 20 years since I wrote Just an Odd Job Girl and to celebrate I am giving away FREE Ebook copies and sharing the background to the real odd jobs that litter my career. This I am 14 and start my first paid job.
Welcome to a new season of the Music Column with William Price King and the first headliner today is Jazz Saxophonist and Composer Michael Brecker (1949 – 2007)
Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of Music in 2004, and was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame in 2007.
Michael Brecker was born in Philadelphia and raised in Cheltenham Township, a local suburb. Born and raised in a Jewish family, his father Bob (Bobby) was a lawyer who played jazz piano and his mother Sylvia was a portrait artist. Michael Brecker was exposed to jazz at an early age by his father. Brecker began studying clarinet at age 6, then moved to alto saxophone in eighth grade, settling on the tenor saxophone as his primary instrument in his sophomore year.
He moved to New York City in 1969, where he carved out a niche for himself as a dynamic and exciting jazz soloist. He first made his mark at age 20 as a member of the jazz-rock band Dreams–a band that included his older brother, trumpeter Randy Brecker, trombonist Barry Rogers, drummer Billy Cobham, keyboardist Jeff Kent and bassist Doug Lubahn. Dreams was short-lived, lasting only from 1969 through 1972, but Miles Davis was seen at some gigs prior to his recording Jack Johnson.
Brecker was in great demand as a soloist and sideman. He performed with bands whose styles ranged from mainstream jazz to mainstream rock. Altogether, he appeared on over 700 albums, either as a band member or a guest soloist. He put his stamp on numerous pop and rock recordings as a soloist. Discover more about his work with the top rock and jazz musicians of the 70s and 80s: Wikipedia
Let’s hear some music from Michael Brecker
“Pilgrimage” recorded in 2006, was the last studio album by Michael Brecker due to health issues. Heavyweights Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, Brad Mehldau, John Patitucci, and Jack DeJohnette accompanied him on this final production. All of the compositions were Brecker originals and are considered his best work. The album represents a remarkable end to an equally remarkable musical life. It is cohesive and focused, and his phrasing is more acute than ever. “Pilgrimage” won two Grammys, one for ‘Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group’, and one for ‘Best Jazz Instrumental Solo’ with the song “Anagram”
“Song for Bilbao” dedicated to audiences in Bilbao, Spain and composed by Pat Metheny, is from the album “Tales from the Hudson” This album was recorded at the Power Station in New York City in 1996 and released on the Impulse label. Brecker is accompanied by Pat Metheny on guitar, Jack DeJohnette on drums, Dave Holland on bass, Joey Calderazzo and McCoy Tyner on piano, and Don Alias on percussions. The melodies are memorable and varied, providing a great vehicle for improvisation and the solos are just as creative as one would expect from Michael Brecker’s recordings.
“Peep”from the album “Now You See It … (Now You Don’t)” 1990, is a fantastic up-tempo mixture of fiery cymbals, and visceral funk that snaps into a thunderous rock rhythm with the help of Jay Anderson on bass and Adam Nussbaum on drums, yielding an amazing solo between Brecker and Nussbaum. Brecker appears to be more confident as a songwriter, which reflects his growth as an improviser as well as his identifiable tone on his instrument “Now You See It … (Now You Don’t)”is a very different and captivating album which relies on technology and percussion, with some tracks having as many as three percussionists in addition to the drummer. This is one of Brecker’s major works and certainly one well worth hearing.
“Some Skunk Funk”was recorded live by the Brecker Brothers in 2003 in Cologne, Germany, shortly before Michael Brecker was diagnosed with the myelodysplastic syndrome. They were joined by the WDR Big Band,* offering a fusion of bop and groove in the jazz tradition. Michael’s metallic sound is riveting and the most distinctive on the album, with luxurious tones, bluesy high notes, accelerated harmonic runs, and rich jazzy grooves.
*WDR Big Band – a sophisticated jazz ensemble, based in Cologne, featuring an evolving line-up of some of Germany’s best musicians who are musical ambassadors charged with promoting jazz and culture at home and abroad.
Join us in two weeks for another outstanding artist from the world of music.
William Price King is an American jazz singer, crooner, and composer.
His interest in music began at an early age when he studied piano and clarinet in high school. At Morehouse College in Atlanta where he grew up, he sang in the Glee Club and studied classical music. After graduation he went off to the Yale School of Music where he earned a Masters degree. From there he journeyed to New York where he created a jazz trio ‘Au Naturel’ which performed in some of the hottest venues in Manhattan including gigs on Broadway and the famous ‘Rainbow Room.’ These gigs opened doors for performances in Montreal and a European tour.
While touring Europe he met a lovely French lady, Jeanne Maïstre, who, a year later became his wife. King left the group ‘Au Naturel’ and settled in the south of France where he started a new life on the French Riviera, opening his own music school – the “Price King Ecole Internationale de Chant.” He has had the pleasure over the years of seeing many of his students excel as singers on a professional level, and some going on to become national celebrities. He continues to coach young singers today, in his spare time.
His debut jazz album was entitled “Home,” and was a collection of contemporary compositions he composed, with lyrics written by his wife Jeanne King. His second album was a Duo (Voice and Guitar) with Eric Sempé on the guitar. This album included original songs as well as well known standards from contemporary jazz and pop artists. The “King-Sempé” duo toured France and thrilled audiences for more than three years before going their separate ways. King has formed a new duo with French/Greek guitarist Manolis, and is now exploring new ideas, in a smooth jazz/soul/folk direction.
In addition to singing and composing, King has been collaborating with author Sally Cronin over the past few years on her blog “Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life,” with the series “A Man And His Music – Jazz, Contemporary, Classical, and Legends” and now, the “William Price King Music Column.” Working with author Sally Cronin has been an exhilarating experience in many ways and has brought a new dimension to King’s creative life. King has also created a micro blog, “Improvisation,” which features and introduces mostly jazz artists from across the jazz spectrum who have made considerable contributions in the world of jazz; and also artwork from painters who have made their mark in the world of art. This micro blog can be found on Tumblr.
His vocal mentors are two of the greatest giants in jazz, Nat King Cole and Mel Tormé. King has a distinctive wide-ranging voice which displays a remarkable technical facility and emotional depth.
Welcome to the round up of posts that you might have missed this week on Smorgasbord.
It is finally a lovely sunny day and I intend to take full advantage and be out in the garden most of the day.
I have finally given myself a very good talking to and put into action a long overdue plan this week. It involves books and reviews and my unsuccessful efforts to whittle my TBR list down effectively. I was only reading at night and it was five pages and then lights out so to speak. Something needed to be done.
I now have a mandatory reading hour in the afternoon either in the garden or in our sitting room if the weather is not warm enough. I have finished two books this week instead of the usual one, and I feel far less guilty about the books sitting their so patiently waiting for my attention.
I am delighted that the new Children’s Cafe and Bookstore is going well with 5 new authors joining and you will meet them in promotions over the next week. One of the problems for children’s authors, especially with picture books for younger children, is getting reviews. In part because many children’s books are given as gifts and parents may feel that there is no where for them to share a review if they have not bought from Amazon or other book sellers online.
This is why it is important to have a Goodreads author page as a Children’s author so that reviews can be posted worldwide and without having been bought.
Having said that, if the parents or grandparents don’t know that they can put a review on Goodreads, it is not as useful as it might be.
If you are an author of children’s books could I suggest that at the back of your books you put a short note asking for reviews and providing the link to https://www.goodreads.com/ and explaining that it is also a wonderful resource for other children’s books, often at special prices.
In the coming weeks I am going to be putting together some specific children’s book promotions to encourage reviews and it would be great if you help spread the word. This includes a children’s review watering hole…where even if the books are not in the Children’s Cafe and Bookstore, reviews can be shared and I will add the blurb and the links to the books. The promotion post for this new series is scheduled for Tuesday at 18.00 UK time.
I cannot imagine my life without books and my love of reading began at age four. It is such an important skill to have in life and children’s authors deserve all the support we can give them.
And on the subject of reviews...I was delighted this afternoon to receive a wonderful 5* review from Marjorie Mallon for Life’s Rich Tapestry..If you have time I would be so pleased if you would head over and read in full..thanks Sally.
Here are the posts from the weekand as always a huge thank you to the guest writers for their amazing contributions.. this week William Price King and Carol Taylor. And to you for dropping in, liking, commenting and sharing the posts, the support is very much appreciated.
Project 101 – Resilience a reminder of the aim of the series.
Let me say upfront, that I cannot promise that what you will read over the next few weeks will prevent you catching a viral or bacterial infection, but what I would like to do is to encourage as many people as possible to take themselves out of the identified high risk categories by making some small changes to their lifestyle and diet.
One of the highest risks is to those over 70, particularly those who have underlying health problems. However, those health problems are predominantly lifestyle related and do not have to be for life. For example, Obesity, Type II Diabetes, Inflammatory diseases, nutritional deficiencies such as Vitamin D and High Blood Pressure.
I see a window of opportunity for all of us to review our health, diet and lifestyle and see where we can make improvements to boost our immune systems, reduce our risk factors and feel more confident about going back out into the world again. A chance to get our bodies fighting fit.
Over the last 20 years or so of working with 100s of clients as a nutritional therapist, I have discovered that making sweeping changes does not work. There are three elements that require attention, physical, mental and emotional, and making small but key changes in these areas is much more effective.
One of the areas that seems to cause the most confusion is calories...and yes they can be a pain to count each day but it is still one of the best ways to lose weight. Energy in and energy out.. too much of one or the other and your body does not run efficiently.
The key to healthy weight loss is to make sure that the calories that you do consume may be reduced by are nutrient dense
Getting the most out of your 1500 calories
I established in an earlier post that a woman needs a minimum daily intake of 1,500 calories and a man needs a minimum daily intake of 1,800 calories to provide sufficient calories and nutrition to run the body’s operating systems.
If you weigh 200lbs your body will require more calories per day to function – approximately 10 calories per pound. If your body requires 2000 calories per day and you eat 1500 calories you will create a deficit of 500 calories x 7 = 3500 calories per week, which is 1lb weight of body fat.
As an example at 330lbs I needed 3300 calories per day just to carry all that extra weight around. My initial programme allowed me to eat 2000 calories per day which was quite a lot of food (of the right kind). I lost an average of 3lbs a week once the initial water loss was completed.
If you only need to lose 10lbs you will find that in a moderately active day you will still be using 2000+ calories.. so by eating 1500 calories you will still be able to create a 500 calorie deficit which will be 1lb loss per week.
Always remember that the most important aspect of those calories should be the nutritional content.
Let’s look at two sample menus of around 1,500 calories.
Menu 1 – Bad example
• You could eat three chocolate bars, which would be 1,500 calories or around 60 fat grams.
OR, you could have ALL of the following;
Menu 2 – Good example
Breakfast
• Bowl of sugar free cereal such as porridge (30 g) with skimmed milk with a handful of blueberries (150 calories)
• Slice of toast with scrape of butter and jam or marmalade (130 calories)
• Cup of black coffee or green tea and a small glass of cranberry juice (50 calories)
(Total: 330 calories)
Morning snack
• Two pieces of fruit such as a small apple, pear, mandarin or one banana (100 calories)
Light Lunch
• Whole grain bread salad sandwich with chicken or fish (350 calories)
• Fat-free yogurt and one piece of fruit (105 calories)
(Total: 555 calories)
Dinner
• 150 gm grilled cod or small chicken breast (140 calories)
• 100 g potato (85 calories)
• Generous helping Broccoli, cabbage and carrots (120 calories)
• Tomato and basil sauce (100 calories)
(Total: 445 calories)
Evening snack
Fresh fruit salad and low-fat yogurt (watch the sugar in the yogurt) (250 calories)
Total for the day: 1,580 calories or 28 fat grams.
What you should notice here is just how much food you can eat and still lose weight. You would not be hungry with a daily menu similar to this. But, if you had eaten only three chocolate bars, you would not just have been very hungry at the end of the day but you would also have filled your system with many times the amount of sugar you need, and your fat intake would have been far too high.
We need a balanced diet whatever weight we are, but it is particularly important if you are trying to lose weight.
Every individual requires a different balance in their diet, depending on age, sex and activity level. If you are pregnant, elderly or recovering from illness then you will require a different balance to the types of food you are eating on a daily basis. I discuss supplements in a later post, since it is very difficult to achieve optimum nutrition even on 2,000 calories per day. This is why eating lots of fresh (or frozen) vegetables and fresh fruit is so important.
Carbohydrates play a crucial role in our energy levels and it is important to include a healthy amount in your program. Usually it is what we serve with our carbohydrates that cause us problems. A healthy slice of whole-grain bread at about 75 calories suddenly becomes the snack from hell when you add butter, a slice of cheese and two slices of ham.
As a guideline, if I were on a regime of 1,500-1,600 calories a day, I would expect to eat the following amounts in the various food groups.
• Carbohydrates:– 4 to 6 servings depending on your activity level. ( 1 slice of breads, small bowl of cereal and starchy vegetables such as carrots large tablespoon, potatoes 1 medium, turnip 1 large tablespoon, swede large tablespoon and beans tablespoon).
• Green and salad Vegetables:- 4 servings – 1 quarter of a plateful per serving.
• Fruit:- 2 – 3 servings – An orange, apple, pear, banana, handful of berries (variety)
• Protein:- 2 servings, (1 egg, lean meats, 150 gm chicken or fish)
• Fats:- In meats, chicken, oily fish, olive oil and small amounts of cheese in the week.
• Milk:– You can use semi-skimmed milk or skimmed milk, but tea does not taste the same to me so I use full-fat milk and just have a small amount on cereal.
The important thing to remember here is that you may need to increase your intake of carbohydrate to fuel certain levels of activity. I have worked with a number of athletes among my clients and their programs were planned around their training sessions. They would eat more carbohydrates, in the form of pasta or beans, on the day before training. This increases their energy and stamina levels even just hours later.
Now time to work off some of those calories and get your blood flowing with some music therapy.
One of the perks of being a radio presenter was being asked to MC charity events and my job was to warm everyone up before the walk or race with some motivational music… over the course of these posts I will be sharing my playlist for those events and to help build your resilience and improve physical, mental and emotional well-being.
Give yourself a break after reading this post and get up and get moving. Ideally every two hours of inactivity should be followed by at least 15 minutes of activity.
If you are not particularly active at the moment then you can walk on the spot, but swing your arms in time to the music so that you activate your breathing. If you are a little bit more adventurous then take to the floor and have fun. Another artist that I have always enjoyed working out with is Bruce Springsteen and here is Dancing in the Dark uploaded Bruce Springsteen
I am a qualified nutritional therapist with twenty-two years experience working with clients in Ireland and the UK as well as being a health consultant on radio in Spain. Although I write a lot of fiction, I actually wrote my first two books on health, the first one, Size Matters, a weight loss programme 20 years ago, based on my own weight loss of 154lbs. My first clinic was in Ireland, the Cronin Diet Advisory Centre and my second book, Just Food for Health was written as my client’s workbook. Since then I have written a men’s health manual, and anti-aging programme, articles for magazines and posts here on Smorgasbord.
If you would like to browse my health books and fiction you can find them here: My books and reviews 2020
I write southern historical fiction and local history. The novel I'm writing is set in the Carolinas in the 1760s. I blog about my journey as a writer and a reader.
