Q&A with Carl S. Goldstein

  

 

 

Dr. Carl S. Goldstein is the co-author, with Olivia Thomas and Christina Badaracco, of the new book Mix It Up: The Culinary Medicine Cookbook for Big Flavor: No Salt Needed. He is a nephrologist and is a clinical professor of medicine at Rutgers University School of Medicine in New Jersey. 

 

Q: What inspired you and your co-authors to write Mix It Up?

 

A: I have labored for decades to escort patients to a no-salt diet based on a healthy balanced nutrient platform to benefit a number of medical conditions. I realized that telling patients not to eat salt was analogous to my mother telling me to be creative. Generally good counsel but no structure or direction. 

 

I discovered Olivia Thomas through her participation in a Columbia University course on culture and nutrition. Her role was in video presentations of practical kitchen application of the nutritional principles discussed in the preceding lecture. 

 

She was great! Charismatic, demonstrations enriched with hints on both food and kitchen safety. The problem I had was that every recipe had salt. For a program on culinary nutrition, that did not resonate with me. 

 

I reached out to share my thoughts on her great presentation confounded by the liability of salt in each meal. We exchanged a series of e-mails and ultimately agreed to write a no-salt book predicated, in part, on her (and consulting partner Christina Badaracco) earlier Mix It Up cookbooks for general health and weight management. 

 

The division of labor was their reformulation of earlier recipes to be no salt and the creation of many new no-salt recipes. I was the concept guy and author of the front matter setting forth the use case for no salt as centrally important to human health.

 

Q: The book’s subtitle is “No Salt Needed” – do you think most people use too much salt in their recipes?

 

A: Absolutely!! The science is that the human body requires about 500 mg of sodium daily; the average American eats between 3,500 mg and 11,000 mg. High sodium content is a significant part of the malignancy of ultra-processed foods. 

 

We know that stroke rates around the world are highest in areas with the highest per-capita sodium intake (Spain, Portugal and Japan). We also know that a 30 percent reduction in sodium intake has a more significant effect on cardiovascular risk reduction that cigarette cessation. 

 

Salt is that big a factor. Salt is addictive and Big Food has weaponized this the way Big Tobacco weaponized nicotine.

 

Culture is a big factor, too. In the 19th century the only way to keep food from spoiling was by salting it. That was so important that Roman soldiers were paid in salt (the word salary is from the same Latin root as salt). But with the advent of the ice box and refrigeration, food preservation no longer required salt.

 

When descendants of people from those earlier times seek to replicate meals made by their grandparents and ancestors, they remember the flavor effect of the added salt. Grandma had to use salt but grandchildren do not. Separating culture from diet composition is a sentinel event to a salt-free cuisine.

 

Q: Do you have any particular favorites among the recipes in this book?

 

A: I have a lot of favorites! We provide an array of exchange tables for protein source and seasoning. Many dishes can be made vegetarian or vegan and can be easily customized to personal tastes. 

 

There are no-salt recipes to make pickles, several salt-free pesto recipes, a variety of chili and meatball (can be beanball) recipes. Some great salt-free dessert ideas, too.

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?

 

A: My goal is to show the panorama of what a no-salt diet is. Highly seasoned, big flavor, no salt.

 

Many patients hold the prejudice that no-salt foods taste like cardboard and the objective of this book is to counter that misconception. I hope readers see the spectrum of no-salt possibilities and embrace both the salt-free benefits and the underlying healthy meal structures in the book.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am trying to develop a Culinary Medicine curriculum for the residents at my hospital, Overlook Medical Center. All of my share of the profits from the book from every distribution channel is being donated to the Overlook Hospital Foundation, hopefully to cultivate an endowment sufficient to get this didactic program started.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I don’t think it is possible to overestimate the role that nutrition plays in human health. 

 

I am discouraged by the content on the Food Channel and similar commercial food networks. The amount of sodium in these offerings is often stunning and legitimizes the use of some very unhealthy foods (salt is on top of my list followed closely by things such as Chicharron and the profane ubiquitous use of bacon).

 

I think salt literacy is generally low, obfuscated in part by Big Food which does not want you to know how much salt is in ultra-processed foods (or you wouldn’t buy or eat them). 

 

Understanding the dangers of a high-salt diet (hypertension, heart failure, kidney stones, osteoporosis, stomach cancer), I hope, favorably influences dietary salt reduction among readers and improves overall nutritional content of meals and general health.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Judy Foreman

  

 

 

Judy Foreman is the author of the new novel The Scallop Plot. Her other books include the novel CRISPR'd. She lives outside of Boston.

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Scallop Plot? 

 

A: I had a handywoman when I had a summer house near Provincetown on Cape Cod and she was a scallop fisherwoman.  I was in awe and very intrigued.

 

Q: As you alluded to, the novel is set on Cape Cod--how important is setting to you in your writing? 

 

A: Cape Cod is very special to me. My husband and I had a house in Truro for many years.

 

Q: How did you create your cast of characters? 

 

A: Well, I used my trusty female reporter. Samantha Fuller, the reporter, was the star in my previous thriller, CRISPR’d, and I very much wanted to highlight her again.

 

I used my handywoman as a model for my feisty scallopfisherwoman. And I created the scientists who alter the scallop embryos because I love writing about gene editing.

 

I created my evil wind farm developer from scratch because I needed an interesting villain.

 

Q: How did your background as a science and medical writer affect the creation of this novel?

 

A: Totally. I did a lot of research into the gene editing process, I talked to scientists about enhancing growth and size in fish, and I learned a lot about the pros and cons of offshore wind.

 

Q: What are you working on now? 

 

A: Ah, that’s a secret.

 

Q: Anything else we should know? 

 

A: I really had a blast writing this book. I hope other people enjoy it as much as I did.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Judy Foreman. 

Q&A with Rebekah Carmichael

  

 

 

Rebekah Carmichael is the author of the new book The Not-So-Scary Guide to Ghosts: How to Make the Paranormal Normal.  

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Not-So-Scary Guide to Ghosts?

 

A: The Not-So-Scary Guide to Ghosts came as a solution to a personal problem I faced 10 years ago: What if I didn't have to be afraid of ghosts?

 

As I experienced my own spiritual reawakening in one of the most underrated haunted hotspots in the south, Wilmington North Carolina, I regularly had interactions with spirits that were casual and even heartwarming.

 

No mediums I could find were talking about the concept of friendships with ghosts, let alone how to safely connect with them with humanity, ethics, and mutual respect.

 

As I shared my experiences online, I realized I wasn't alone. I realized people were looking to understand and didn't know where to start. I wrote a book that not only addresses this, but allows people to really empower themselves through their own grounded experiences and perceptions.

 

Q: What do you think are some of the most common perceptions and misperceptions about ghosts?

 

A: The most common misperceptions about ghosts are that they're either all "demons," are all malicious or dangerous, and are a stain on our plane of existence that therefore need to be moved on. Imagine kicking a grandma out of her house who filled the kitchen with the smell of fresh ground coffee in the morning! Is she really the enemy?

 

As far as common perceptions go... I think many people can agree that ghosts can exist, but what they are and why they're there and how to talk with them? That's up for debate.

 

Q: What do you say to people who are skeptical?

 

A: People are skeptical of ghosts because the concept makes them uncomfortable. Imagine repeating your tragic slow painful death over and over again. No one in their right mind would want that! Imagine being stuck in heartbreak and waiting for a long-lost lover to come home for 100 years. Sounds awful!

 

Ghosts represent some of the deepest emotions humans can muster. They are the parts of us we never took time to grieve and make space for. They represent the holes in our greatest insecurities. When we're not ready to face those parts of ourselves, of course ghosts would make us uncomfortable. 

 

Q: What do you hope people take away from the book?

 

A: If there's one thing people take away from the book it's this: if you're interested in ghosts, there's a reason for it. You may not know the reason why - I know I didn't for most of my life! - but trust there is a reason there. 

 

I hope readers feel empowered to share their interests with others and really learn from each other's experiences. Ghost stories have always been a link between time, space, and people in our culture. Let's keep that connection alive together.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Besides my regular Patreon courses and workshops that I've been leading for years, I'm working on a book that dives into the depths of differentiating spiritual frequencies and densities.

 

In TNSSGTG I have a single introductory chapter on this topic. It really deserves an entire book. I have rarely shared my many stories of inhuman entities, elementals, fae, aliens, daemons, deities, and more with the public as this topic goes well beyond ghosts. I'd like to change that.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: All my info can be found on my website: www.rebekahtheghostguide.com For safety, I'm never in DMs. No exceptions.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Aug. 12

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Aug. 12, 1937: Walter Dean Myers born.

Q&A with Jennifer Ashley

  

 

 

Jennifer Ashley is the author of the new novel Murder in Blackfriars, the ninth in her Below Stairs mystery series. She also writes under the name Allyson James. 

 

Q: What inspired the plot of your new Below Stairs mystery, Murder in Blackfriars?

 

A: The plot in Murder in Blackfriars (Book 9 of the series) is part of the ongoing character arc that started in Book 1—who is Daniel and what are his origins?

 

I always planned to explore Daniel’s past and decided it was time. When a man comes forward who says he might recall what happened to Daniel years ago, Daniel can’t resist discovering what he knows. And he, of course, asks Kat to help him. Things go wrong from there.

 

Q: How do you think your characters Kat and Daniel have changed over the course of the series?

 

A: Kat has become much more trusting of Daniel and new friends she’d made along the way. She’s also deepened friendships with Joanna, who takes care of Kat’s daughter, and is watching her daughter grow up.

 

Kat has become more resilient, less willing to rely on securing a good “place” as a cook, and more focused on becoming an independent entrepreneur.

 

Daniel, likewise, is now freer to pursue his own ambitions, having worked off his debt to Scotland Yard (though he enjoys investigating so won’t put those days completely behind him).

 

Kat and Daniel’s relationship has flowered from hesitation to a shared desire to remain together as long as they can, hopefully the rest of their lives.

 

Q: How did you research the novel, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?

 

A: I research constantly. Even when I don’t have a novel in progress (which is rare!), I’m reading the latest books or websites about Victorian England, looking for new discoveries about the past, or going through maps to find interesting places for Kat and Daniel to explore during their investigation.

 

For this book, I learned more about the Crimean War, which occurred 20 or so years before the setting of Murder in Blackfriars, as one of the characters is a veteran of that war. I researched the medals these men, who survived an awful war, were given and used them in the plot. I found that very interesting and also quite sad.

 

Q: Do you usually know how your novels will end before you start writing them, or do you make many changes along the way?

 

A: I start each novel with a somewhat vague idea (“this book will explore Daniel’s past,” or “this book will focus on Sam and Joanna, who are fostering Kat’s daughter”). The situations, characters, mystery, and whodunit reveal themselves to me as I go.

 

I usually know what scenes I’m going to start the book with, and once I write those, I brainstorm the next three or four scenes. I find that the act of typing out what’s going on in my head stimulates more ideas. Those situations logically lead to the next ones and the ones after that.

 

I have a very hard time planning the book before I start. It grows organically. This means I have to go back and revise extensively, but I’m not bothered by that.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m writing more mysteries in different series and also working on another Below Stairs mystery novella that I will self-publish later in the fall. And then on to the next Below Stairs mystery!

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I love writing about Kat Holloway, Daniel, Grace, Cynthia, Mr. Thanos, the staff she works with in Mayfair, and all the others. These have been nine books of my heart, and I’m grateful so many readers love Kat too.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Lorelei Brush

  

 

 

Lorelei Brush is the author of the new novel The Boy with the Butterfly Mind. Her other books include Uncovering. She is a former professor of child development, and she lives in Falls Church, Virginia. 

 

Q: In your new novel’s acknowledgments, you say that you worked on it for more than 25 years--can you tell us about how the manuscript changed over the years?

 

A: My early drafts of The Boy With the Butterfly Mind were more like a memoir than a novel, more like journaling to figure out what was going on in my marriage and divorce than a story others would want to plow through.

 

One early reader said it was “edgy” and “sad.” A couple of readers said they didn’t like either member of the couple and didn’t want to read a whole book about them. Another said I really had to change the ending, which had the couple divorcing. She thought they (and I) should work through their differences, so the book had at least a hopeful ending.

 

I decided I really had to write a novel instead of a memoir, starting with inventing the characters. I searched through magazines and tried the Internet to track down pictures of the parents I was calling Julie and Luke.

 

With two models in mind, I built a large spreadsheet of their characteristics (and those of minor characters as well). I had the usually bodily descriptors like hair color and texture, height and weight, and age and also emotional wounds and childhood experiences. I even went back a couple of generations to decide on inherited traits.

 

All this was successful in shaking me loose from the reality of my marriage and allowing me the freedom to imagine theirs.

 

I still had an issue with the likeability of Luke. Readers pointed out I seemed to be blaming him for what was wrong with the marriage, and perhaps Julie should take a good look at herself and recognize she had a role. Not a great message to hear!

 

But I took it to heart. I decided to write chapters in alternating points-of-view. I didn’t feel I was doing a good job of living into the life of someone with ADHD, and this change allowed me to move deeply into his character.

 

Although I felt I had a much better understanding of Luke’s character and actions, my readers found this approach a “downer.” They wanted less of Luke and more of Julie’s struggle. So, the final manuscript digs more into her emotional journey—and still pulls readers into Luke’s side of the story.

 

Creating a hopeful ending of the book demanded lots of research. Though I have a Ph.D. in child development, I am not an expert in disabilities. I needed to learn a lot about ADHD as its viewed now, the potential co-occurring conditions, the available treatments, recommended strategies for parenting, and reasonable outcomes.

 

I decided that as well as making this a good read about a single family, I wanted the novel to be helpful to those learning to deal with such families. It can serve as a case study for people studying to be teachers, therapists, medical professionals, etc.

 

I have Julie and Luke discovering that their child has ADHD and Tourette syndrome, but I think there’s a good chance that some readers and professionals will disagree not only with the diagnoses but also the treatment. I’d love the book to be the center of just such debates! And—spoiler alert—it does end hopefully. But not “happily ever after.”

 

Q: Can you say more about how you created your character Julie and her family?

 

A: I’d like to go into more detail here about their jobs and their emotional journeys. My spreadsheet of characteristics set the context for the story.

 

I made Julie a high school math teacher, as that seemed an excellent model for a career of a neurotypical woman. She likes the organization and rules of math; she loves problem solving; and she wants to please others—including her students. She works hard to make algebra and calculus relevant to those students.

 

But many people with ADHD have trouble following rules, hate the repetitiveness of solving similar math problems, and rebel against the discipline required. Her husband is definitely one of those people.

 

Luke, her antagonist, does training for a computer company. He devises training activities that are fun and free-flowing, which is not exactly what the executives above him in rank are looking for. He gets in trouble for not keeping up with the administrative side of the job and eventually for drinking.

 

His job is, in some ways, like Julie’s. He is in front of groups of people, instructs them through activities, and reports to higher-ups. But his approach is different.

 

Where Julie is meticulous about details; Luke only takes care of the details that matter to him. Julie is on time and on budget; Luke is often late and doesn’t pay attention to cost. Julie is rational; Luke is far more overtly emotional, avoids confrontation if at all possible, and tends toward depression when life doesn’t go his way.

 

They are bound to come into conflicts on lots of levels. Add in a son who is kicked out of preschool, and the family dynamics really heat up.

 

To immerse their lives in the realism that hits such families, I added additional characters with whom one or the other had difficulty. Julie’s father is a conservative preacher with rigid views about how Julie should behave and a boss at school who seems to dislike her. Luke has a mother devoted to being a victim and a boss steeped in detail. But the couple also has friends to help them move forward.

 

I let the process of writing unfold first in my mind’s eye. I watch what each character says, assess their emotions, let the action develop, and imagine the outcome.

 

If the scene isn’t leading into my next planned scene, I might rerun the visualization a few times to get a different outcome. Or I might change the next scene to accommodate the outcome my characters charted. Then I write. My eye stays on the goal of developing the emotional arcs of the characters.

 

Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

 

A: I love the analogy between the behavior of butterflies and the workings of the minds of people with ADHD: that butterflies flit from flower to flower tasting the possibilities, and when they find something they like, they dig in for as long as they want.

 

So too do many people with ADHD as their minds often jump from one topic to another, focusing for a minute amount of time on each one. However, when deeply invested in something, they may hyperfocus and resist any interruption.

 

In earlier drafts, I called the book Butterfly Minds with the intention of planting in readers’ minds the idea that ADHD has generational elements, which are obvious in the multiple family members in the story. However, my publisher felt the focus should be on Julie and her child. Also, I believe, they felt the full title invited readers more fully into the story.

 

Q: What impact did it have on you to write this book, and what do you hope readers take away from it?

 

A: I feel as though I’ve plumbed the depths of my life as a wife and mother of males with ADHD, and I’ve released my feelings of failure about not having a long-term marriage and not doing all I could to support my son (who is now a successful adult with a longer marriage than I managed with his father).

 

A great deal of that “release” came from creating a fictional family who did work together to live well with ADHD. The rest came from having a flourishing second marriage.

 

I hope readers see the amount and value of the work it takes in a family with neurodivergent members to communicate well, to face the emotional wounds each has, and to establish a support system to rely on as they face a world that is built to serve neurotypical people. Good results are possible!

 

But the world often does not yield to the needs of a child (or adult) with ADHD—even with an Individualized Education Program, even with parents who are involved with the school and do seemingly endless research to find the best programs. We must continue to work to understand and be understood.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am now writing a memoir that is a series of stories about the times and happenings in my life that I feel have made me the person I am. It is mostly for me and my family; it has elements of humor and laughter at my younger self; and I am thoroughly enjoying the process of sitting down in front of my computer and remembering.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Sure. I’ll be 80 years old this summer, am retired from paid full-time work, and truly enjoy the freedom I have to look back at the conundrums of my life and write books to resolve them.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Vicky Fang

  

 

Vicky Fang is the author of the new children's picture book Lots and Lots of Ocelots: A Skip Counting Book. Her other books include the Ava Lin chapter book series. She lives in North Vancouver, British Columbia.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Lots and Lots of Ocelots, and how did you choose the animals to include in the book?

 

A: It started with my kid in the car, saying something about “lots of ocelots.” “Lots and lots of ocelots,” I replied. And we both decided then and there that it had to be a book!

 

It was a years later that the idea of skip counting came to my head. I’ve always loved math (I was a math + theatre major in college.) I think it was around the time that my younger son was learning skip counting that I came up with the idea. Since kids love animals, I thought skip counting animals would be a fun way to introduce this math concept to kids.

 

The animals I picked for the book really started from what I could make rhyme. Next, I thought about what animals made sense in small or large quantities, what animals kids would recognize, and what animals created a diverse range for interest in the book.

 

Q: What do you think Angel Chang’s illustrations add to the book?

 

A: Angel’s illustrations are so beautiful! I think they really add to the appeal of the book because kids (and parents) will be drawn into the images and enjoy looking at them over and over.

 

I love the colors that she’s chosen and the wonderful attention to detail she’s put into all of the individual animals—which is not an easy feat when there are sometimes dozens of animals on a page!

 

Q: You’ve written for different age groups--do you have a preference?

 

A: I really love writing for all the different age groups, but I think they have different highlights for me. My early readers and chapter books are fun because they encourage new readers—who sometimes send me fan mail!

 

The picture books are fun because in person story times are so rewarding. I started writing books because of picture books. It’s always such a joy to sit  with a little kid and read a book together.

 

Q: How did you research the book, and did you learn anything that especially surprised you?

 

A: For the animal facts, I focused on how animals group together, whether socially, for mating, for protection, etc. I did my research online. I had a lot of help from my editorial team at Workman, who did a ton of fact checking.

 

I learned lots of fun little facts along the way—that groups of kangaroos are called “mobs,” that cockatoos mate for life, or that cane toads are an invasive species in many parts of the world.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m working on my upcoming early reader chapter book series, One Mad Cat, about a cute, mad, mystery-solving cat who steps outside of her comfort zone to help her friends. I’m also working on a couple of not-yet-announced picture books.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I hope kids find some of the fun, creative aspects of math in this book, because that’s something that I always loved about math.

 

In Lots and Lots of Ocelots, the early pages that suggest how to skip count, and then the later pages that ask how YOU might count. It’s a nice way to show that there’s more than one way to solve the problem, and I hope kids will enjoy that, too!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Vicky Fang.