WHAT YOU CAN LEARN about writing FROM WACKY FAD DIETS

By wacky fad diets, I mean those diets that basically allow all you can eat of one food but restrict intake of other foods. Some of these diets have the names of famous people attached to them, but I’m leaving the names off, to avoid controversy.

Examples of fad diets are:

The Morning Banana Diet Basically dieters can eat all the bananas they want for breakfast and snacks but no other foods at those times. Some promoters of this diet allow milk with breakfast.

The Grapefruit Diet (sometime called the Hollywood Diet) Generally dieters following his plan eat grapefruit with all meals and are not allowed other carbohydrates, such as sweets or grains.

The Ice Cream Diet Early renditions of this diet allowed those wishing to lose weight to eat all ice cream they wanted but nothing else. Now those promoting this diet suggest dieters eat 1,250 calories per day in a balanced diet and once serving of ice cream.

Baby Food Diet This diet plan allows weight watchers to eat all the baby food they can gag down for two meals a day and snacks. They are allowed one normal meal a day.

I’m sure you can name many more fad diets

Will these diets work?

It’s amazing how boredom can decrease your appetite. Most of us will eat less if we are faced with limited choices. Let’s be honest, after a week you can develop a real aversion to bananas, grapefruit, or baby food, and maybe even ice cream. And then you’ll probably eat much less. That why the early renditions of the ice cream diet often failed, many could eat prodigious amounts of their favorite dessert for weeks on end.

In modern renditions of these fad diets, dieters are encouraged to eat a low calorie (about 1200 calories daily) balanced diet with these foods and to exercise more. This increases the likelihood of weight loss.

So what did you learn?

Basic science holds true. If you consume less calories and exercise more you lose weight. Fad diets add a little advertising pizzazz to this bland advice. That makes some people stick to their intentions long enough to lose weight.

Does this apply to writing?

Strong writing is like your basic balanced 1200-calorie diet with plenty of exercise. It works and produces the desired results – a good, maybe even great novel. However, it often takes a well-known name, a dynamic platform (which mean lots of hard work doing promotional activities), and/or catchy advertising gimmicks to turn it into a best seller.

Have you found the fad diet (advertising gimmick) to sell your books? I’d like to hear about it. I’m sure other writers would too.

JL Greger

In Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight, physician Linda Almquist, Sara's sister, is investigating an ambitious "diet doctor" who may be eliminating anyone who thwarts his career plans. You'll think of this book before you start your next diet. Learn more at www.jlgreger.com. 

When it comes to dieting, do you feel confused?

Many of us appear to have a bipolar relationship with food. We’re either feasting or dieting. Doubt me?

Flip on your TV and watch the ads. First there’s one for a restaurant with pictures of smiling, thin people and sizzling steaks or pizzas dripping with gooey cheese. Next a slender actress coos about a diet regime while she shows you tiny portions of foods that look like plastic models. After a small break for the program, the ads are back.

That’s why I wrote Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight. I thought the love – hate relationship most of us have with food was a good backdrop for a murder mystery. And Albuquerque was the perfect location. Let me explain.

There are similarities between dieting and solving a murder.

 1) Both are hard work.

 2) Both should be taken seriously. Obesity is life threatening; it’s not just a cosmetic problem. Although humorous scenes add to murder mysteries, murder isn’t funny.

3) Little things (like calories and seemingly insignificant clues) are important.

4) Patience and persistence are the keys to success in losing weight or solving a murder.

In Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight, the protagonist Linda Almquist struggles to lose weight, to fit into a new job where she’s not really wanted, and to help the police catch a killer before he strikes a third time. At times, you won’t be sure which of these activities is hardest for Linda.

Albuquerque is a great restaurant town.

I set many scenes in real restaurants (Flying Star, Hurricanes, Jason’s Deli) because Albuquerque is home to a lot of great southwestern cooking – burritos stuffed with everything but the kitchen sink and dripping in cheese, fried chili rellenos smothered in red or green chili sauce, and pork tamales with guacamole and sour cream on the side. Note southwestern cooking isn’t known for its’ low-calorie entrees. And tension builds (I hope) as the “dieting” Linda peruses menus and reluctantly chooses salads with dressing on the side.

Now let’s get’s personal and address your love-hate relationship with food.

This advice comes from a nutritionist who loves eating and cooking and doesn’t always follow this advice.

1. Learn to enjoy more activities that don’t involve eating or drinking.

2. Don’t make a stop for ice cream the reward for exercise.

3. Make a couple of new rules at your house: no eating or drinking in front of the TV or computer or in bed. Hopefully, the activities in these locations will be so interesting, you’ll choose not to get another snack. And you can tell yourself and your spouse, this will reduce messy mistakes.

4. Don’t buy your favorite snack foods. If potato or taco chips aren’t in your house, you can’t eat them. Sometimes I think the main advantage of buying some “diet” snack foods is that they don’t taste good, so I eat less of them.

5. Read more books. And make it a rule not to eat or drink while reading. Remember, resale vendors don’t like books that have food or drink stains.

Okay, these hints are great but they should make you think. How often do you eat because you bored, not hungry?

Why not satisfy your taste for mystery and suspense, by buying Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight and Coming Flu on Amazon or if you’re in Albuquerque at Treasure House (on the square in Old Town Albuquerque) or Menaul Book Exchange (at 9409 Menaul Boulevard)? 

JL Greger

Tag sales line for Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Murder-New-Way-Lose-Weight/dp/1610090624/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1365534310&sr=1-1&keywords=Murder+A+New+Way+to+Lose+Weight

Tag sales line for Coming Flu: http://www.amazon.com/Coming-Flu-J-L-Greger/dp/1610090985/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1363872699&sr=1-1&keywords=Coming+Flu

Website: www.jlgreger.com

BUGS FOR DINNER?

Today I’m pleased to welcome Sharon Arthur Moore to the blog. This Arizona resident is an intrepid cook and recipe developer. She “transitioned” several years ago after thirty-nine years as an educator  (elementary school to university) to full-time fiction writing. Her first culinary mystery, Mission Impastable, is being published this August by Oak Tree Press.

When you read this blog, you’ll be eager to taste her fiction, if not her food.

Sharon’s Food for Thought

Janet’s blog title inspired this post. I’ve always been interested in biology, and when thinking what I could talk about here, bugs came to mind. My protagonist, personal chef Allie Wesson in the “Dinner is Served” series, takes a job at a cooking school in Prime Rib and Punishment. There she gives students an assignment to cook up a tasty bug recipe. No surprise, the head chef of the school doesn’t find the assignment consistent with classic French cuisine. But then, he dies, so who cares what he thinks?

Truth be known, Americans are behind the rest of the world in recognizing bugs as a food source--that is as an advertent food source. Estimates are that inadvertently we eat about one pound of bugs yearly. The FDA even has guidelines for the amount of bug parts allowed in our processed foods.

You can legally ingest 60 insect components per 100 grams of chocolate, 30 insects parts per 100 grams of peanut butter, and as many as five fruit fly eggs and 1-2 larvae for every 250 milliliters of juice. Bet you didn’t know that. Then there’s the swallowing of small flying insects as you go through a swarm of gnats.

We are unusual as a people in not embracing entophagy. About two billion of earth’s people choose to chow down on insects. That’s because they are an inexpensive, safe, and readily available food source. Name an endangered insect (other than butterflies) if you can. And they don’t emit methane like cows to add to the greenhouse effect. It costs much less to food-farm insects than mammals. Insects make up 80% of the world’s animals and so are easily obtained even without farming. With population soaring, embracing entomophagy could be all that stands between starvation and survival.

Some nutrition facts. Bugs . . .

Have comparable protein levels to beef and fish, with some varieties

having more protein.

Are an excellent source of calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, zinc,

selenium, and iron.

Are a good fiber source and low in fat.

Are less likely to carry diseases that can be transmitted to humans.

The most commonly eaten bugs are bees, wasps, locusts, grubs, ants, mealworms, crickets, beetles, and grasshoppers. And recipes for preparing them abound. Hop on over to my blog and get some recipes if you’d like to surprise family or guests at dinner tonight.

Check out the second part of this a two-part blog at my blog, “Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time”. (www.sharonarthurmoore.blogspot.com)

WOW! Doesn’t that sound tasty? Bug says he's not eating her bug recipes.

Sharon's sources for this blog post:

http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2013/05/15/where-to-eat-insects/?hpt=hp_bn11

http://qz.com/84127/five-reasons-we-should-all-be-eating-insects/

http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2013/05/14/eat-insects-save-the-world-says-the-u-n/?hpt=hp_bn11

http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2010/07/15/the-case-for-eating-insects/

SHOPPING FOR IDEAS?

Shoppers, tired of malls packed with teenagers, peruse mail order catalogues for clothes, household items, and gifts. In spring, gardeners stop looking at seed catalogs and wander through nurseries. Where do writers shop for ideas?

My inspirations for fiction is real science.

Old habits are hard to break. So even though I’m no longer an active scientist, I continue to scan articles in science journals. When I read how a few mutations (changes) could turn a bird flu virus into one that can infect humans, I knew that I had the basis for a medical thriller. Then I read John Barry’s account of the 1918 flu pandemic The Great Influenza. The statistics were staggering – more than 50 million people died of flu during 1918-20. Coming Flu, a medical thriller, reflects my answer to the question: What if a new, unstoppable flu virus hit a community like mine?

You’re probably thinking I’m pretty strange.

The inspiration for my second novel Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight is less academic. Like everyone, I see many endorsements of weight loss regimes and products on TV. The sizes of some of the servings of food in these promotions make even small salad plates look large. I’ve tasted some of those advertised “delicious” shakes; they made me nauseous. It appears promoters of new diets will say anything to promote their diets and products. In my medical mystery Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight, readers get to see how desperate diet doctors can be. Could they become murderers?

I like to travel, especially to locations a bit off the beaten path. As I was sorting through cheap souvenirs and postcards from a trip to South America, I spied items from Bolivia, which are becoming the basis of my third novel. What are they? If I tell you, it’ll ruin the surprise

Where could you find ideas for your writing?

Several authors have created cozy mystery series, based on their hobbies (such as cooking and quilting) or their pets. Others find travel to exotic location is a source of ideas and tax write-offs. But you don’t have to travel far for ideas. Have you ever wandered down a street in an old section of your home town and wondered what happened behind those facades last year, ten years ago, or even a century ago?

To create funny characters, surf through blogs on the web. Find three competing bloggers and let the mayhem begin. Please don’t choose me.

The trick to successful shopping is to find ideas that fit you. 

 Bug thinks Pet Smart is a great place to shop. Come to think of it, you do hear some odd (one-sided) conversations between pets and their owners at pet stores. 

Janet

Amazon Sales link for Coming Flu: http://www.amazon.com/Coming-Flu-J-L-Greger/dp/1610090985

Amazon sales link for Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight: http://www.amazon.com/Murder-New-Way-LoseWeight/dp/1610090624/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1365534310&sr=1-1&keywords=Murder+A+New+Way+to+Lose+Weight)

My Family Is Driving Me Crazy

Today I’m pleased to be hosting Lesley Diehl, a retired professor of psychology and author of several murder mysteries: Dumpster Dying, Grilled, Chilled and Killed, A Deadly Draught, Poisoned Pairing, and Angel Sleuth. I asked her about two topics on which she is an expert: murder mysteries and the psychology of family relations. Now that’s a killer blog!

Family and Murder

In the programs I do for libraries, literary groups and others, I often comment on the downside of being a psychologist.  Many assume that if you chose to go into the mental health field it was because of family issues.  So I say in defense, “No one assumes that Mary became a mathematician because she couldn’t add a column of numbers.  Sadly, however, there is much truth to the assumption that many psychologists choose the field because of family history.  In my case, I can safely say it was because my mother was more than a little odd.  Okay, she was crazy I guess.  My father, however, was about as sane and normal as a guy can be.  Me?  I carry some of Mom’s kookiness, but I knew when I was about three that she wasn’t like other mothers and by my teenage years, I knew better than to blame myself.  Goes to show you how one normal parent can help.

My family background coupled with my training can’t help but influence my writing. I think its impact is not as direct as one would suspect. I don’t dwell on the mentally unstable adults and their impact on their children; rather I focus on the family broadly defined and weave that together with my background in developmental psychology specifically with the issue of individual identity. Identity seems to me to be the major developmental hurdle for all of us, and it is one we confront again and again, redefining who we are when confronted with challenges in our lives. 

Murder constitutes a perfect challenge to use as a way of viewing a protagonist’s change and growth. Like other developmentalists, I believe we leap forward in making ourselves emotionally, socially and intellectually stronger when confronted by life change events. Certainly finding a dead body can be construed as one of them!  And events requiring adjustment can shake the identity we’ve so carefully constructed, even positive happenings.

In the case of my protagonist Hera in the microbrewing series (i.e. Deadly Draught and Poisoned Pairing), she has defined herself as a microbrewer with a love for her art. But what about when she stumbles over the dead body of her closest competitor? And what happens when she falls back in love with her old college flame? Who is she now? I answer that in the book by forcing her to find the killer to save her business. She’s suddenly an amateur sleuth. And her passion for her old lover?  It opens her heart to the possibility of love again, of taking emotional chances.

In my other work set in rural Florida (i.e. Dumpster Dying, Grilled and Chilled and Killed), I focus on family by examining what happens to both my protagonist and her friend when they keep family secrets. In this case I do so with humor, yet the message that change is necessary when confronted by murder and the truth influences both of their lives.

Only in my stand alone work, Angel Sleuth do I explore the impact of bad parenting upon the adult child, and, in this case, the mother is not so much mentally unhealthy as simply confused and in need of some identity work of her own.

In all my work, I enjoy writing about the family and identity and making murder the vehicle for my protagonist’s journey in the book. What issues do you like to explore in your protagonists’ lives to propel them toward change? A man, a parent, a child, emotional damage, money, career issues, marriage, children?

Learn more about Leslie at her website: www.lesleydiehl.com and her blog  http://anotherdraught.blogspot.com.

FIVE REASONS FOR READING Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight

I got my copy of my new medical mystery/suspense novel last Friday. Here’s why you want to read Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight. 

You’ll feel like an “insider” not a patient in a hospital.

In this novel, you get a behind the scenes view of a medical schools – the excitement of scientific research, the quirkiness of at least some faculty members, and the infighting for limited resources.

Linda Almquist, who seldom even smiled, laughed.

Richard Varegos had done it again. He had arranged books and a computer on the front counter of the hospital pavilion for a photo shoot. In the resulting glossy, full-color flyer, he sat at his make-believe teak desk in his supposedly marble-walled office. She read the flyer’s title: THE DIET DOCTOR HAS ANSWERS FOR YOUR WEIGHT PROBLEMS.

Was there no end to his ego?

Maybe this intro doesn’t build confidence in this diet doctor, but don’t you want to know what he does next? So do Linda and the police after the other diet doctor is found dead.

You’ll learn a little science and smile a lot.

The “diet doctors” in this mystery are investigating whether they can help obese subject lose more weight and keep it off by altering their gut flora. Sounds strange? It is an active area of research on weight control. Check out Science, volume 328, pages 179-80 or Science, volume 332, pages 32-3. 

You’ll feel the pain of all the red tape that investigators face when trying to do their research. Or you may feel relief that there are controls on their activities. I guess it depends on your politics.

And then there’s the murder. The possibilities are endless in a medical school.

“Motive?” Hitchings (the lead police investigator) scanned the crowd and motioned Omar (medical examiner) back to him. “Omar, do we even have a murder? Looks like natural causes.”

“Can’t tell,” replied Omar.

“But no bullet or stab wounds? So natural causes are likely.”

“You’re in a medical school.” Omar walked closer to Hitchings and spoke more softly. “Everyone in this building probably knows how to kill someone without using a gun or knife. A complete tox screen will take weeks. And this woman was only in her thirties, pretty young to die suddenly.”

The suspense might help you lose weight.

The protagonist Linda Almquist of this mystery did, as she raced down the long corridors of the medical school after clues and lost her appetite when threatened again and again. It’s amazing how much weight you can lose it you eat less and exercise more. Of course you won’t have the same incentives (I hope) that Linda did.

The reviewers’ comments are good.

You do want read this medical mystery... Scary shenanigans in the medical research field, so possible. You could lose more than INCHES

Virginia Reaves, freelance writer

Linda and Sara are back, this time involved in a plot with plenty of twists and turns and a good deal of wry humor. A fun read, great believable characters and a real sense of place. Marilyn Olsen, President of Public Safety Writers Association

Murder:  A New Way To Lose Weight starts with a memorable title, followed by a unique crime, and continues with quirky, colorful characters, and snappy dialog.  A satisfying follow-up to Greger’s debut novel. Rob Kresge, author of the spy novel Saving Lincoln

Bug is back.

My own Japanese Chinn dog Bug is the only “non-fictional” character in this novel and it prequel Coming Flu. For more information on my books, Bug, and me, please check out my website (www.jlgreger.com).

Thanks for stopping by.

JL Greger 

From Marie Curie to Gut Bacteria

Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight is now available on Amazon.

Three very different stops on my Diet of Murder Blog Tour this week. 

"Make a Woman Scientist Your Heroine" on the Discoverific blog (a blog where science meets storytelling). Katie Slivensky is my host. I chose this topic because in Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight the protagonist is woman physician and the first victim is a woman scientist.

"Beach Chat with JL Greger" on Life's a Beach blog (a blog that probes authors' psyches and secrets). Jayne Ormerod is my host. You get to meet the real Bug, the prototype for the Japanese Chin Bug in my novels. And you get to decide if there's any similarity between me and my heroine Linda Almquist in Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight. I was once an associate dean in a medical school like Linda; otherwise I don't think there are any similarities. She's shorter and nicer.

"The Microbes Made Me Eat It" on the Lake House Mysteries blog (the blog author includes bits of science in her novels too). My host uses the alias of IC Enger. I chose that topic because the two "diet doctors" in Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight are studying whether they can help obese patients lose weight and keep it off by altering their gut bacteria. No I'm not trying to be funny; this is a real research topic. Well, maybe I did choose this research topic because it's interesting(?) and actually promising.

Guess where I'll be next week.

JL and Bug

Don't forget Coming Flu (the prequel to Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight) is also available on Amazon.