TRIVIA TIDBITS
Within these articles you will find some fun facts about the subjects for my
short stories and links that will help fans learn more about specific fields of interest.

For these short stories I wanted to take the reader back to the 1930s. I must admit, I think my development of that could have been much better and I hope in a future story that is coming out I will have improved on it. But in this article I will highlight some links that I have used for research as well as some links that some that are avid ‘antiquers’ might find interesting.

My first link I would like to highlight is: 1930's At Home. I have linked the particular year I was researching however, one can find a variety of years and photos on a variety of different subjects.

Another website that has a lot of good information is: History Channel: 1930's. Here too, the reader can find a variety of different information on times gone by. However, the graphics are heavier on this site than the first one and so depending on your internet connection you may or may not be able to open it.

I have always been an antique enthusiast. My mother would often refurbish pieces of our home and I have tried my hand at it. But recently I came across a wonderful book entitled: 400 Tips for Antique Dealers. Within the pages of this book is a variety of tips not only for dealers but also for the consumer. I walked away from that read with a feeling of confidence with regard to my next antiquing experience.

The two stories had originally meant to go together but it was agreed upon by my editors that the Chicken Pox Revenge would make a good short story and so I separated the two. That segment of the storyline was based on my own real life experience. At age 39, over a year ago, while doing volunteer work on the island of Madagascar, I came down with chicken pox. The entire experience was a surprise as I had been exposed my entire life. Several times as a child, once in Ghana West Africa when more than 50% of the staff I was working with came down with it, and then again in Madagascar. But it was a cute little boy who had been down with it and supposedly was all better; that I feel finally brought me to my knees. At 4 years old, I picked him up and hugged and kissed him because we missed seeing him so much after his 2 week period of time. After that day, when the pox ravaged my body, I did some research on the actual recovery period. While many in the states now get a vaccination, there are those who prefer not to be vaccinated and so for them, this part of my article may be interesting: NHS Choices: Chicken Pox.This is a site based out of the United Kingdom and has a good definition of what Chicken Pox is as well as the differences in adults and children.

Top 10 Home Remedies: Chicken Pox. This site has some helpful home remedy tips for soothing the itch. I used oatmeal, honey and the one for vinegar although I did not have brown vinegar on hand. Then there was a type of calamine lotion commonly used here that I used.

Lastly, here are some photos from the 1930s here that have free license to use on websites. Maybe these will help the reader where my descriptive words lacked. They were found at this site:Shutterstock.com - 1930s.