The Dangerous Epidemic of Loneliness

The headlines are so full of stories fretting over the epidemic of mass shootings, hate speech and hate crimes that you may have missed a disturbing story about another epidemic: loneliness. Chronic loneliness is another term for social isolation, for a lack of physical and emotional connection to others, something human beings are biologically programmed to need for physical and mental well-being. Today, according to a new poll by YouGov, 30% of millennials, those aged 23 to 38, say they are lonely, higher than any other generation surveyed. More disturbing, 22% of millennials in the poll said they had zero friends, 27% percent said they had "no close friends," and 30% said they have "no best friends." While not measured by YouGov, the up-and-coming Gen Z also reports high levels of loneliness on other surveys. Chronic loneliness, which has tended to peak naturally with the elderly in the past, seems to be seeping downward. These findings are scary. Research has linked the stress of chronic social isolation to mental and physical health issues such as anxiety, depression, digestive problems, high blood pressure, heart disease, sleep problems, weight gain, and even premature death via increased risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease. And do we really think that there is no link between social isolation and the proliferation of tribalism and hate? Lonely people trying to make connections are fueling the growth of isolated social media groups, which create no true intimacy but do deliver a warped and ephemeral sense of belonging by defining themselves against the enemy "other," whether by race, gender, politics or sexual orientation. On campuses and at political events, the isolated and angry are susceptible to the toxic embrace of polarized tribes. And what happens when polarized souls, alone and threatened on the social battlefield, have easy access to battlefield weapons and hear an approving signal in the political noise? We should not discount this dark rot in our society. To help yourself, or someone you know, to cope with loneliness, check out this Psychology Today article https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-couch/201901/is-loneliness-making-you-sick

How Racial Divides Deepen Mystery Puzzles

In an era when media stories note that our racial schisms are widening, mystery fans can find a revealing echo in mystery/thriller tales. Certainly, the inclusion of racial divisions will let an author increase the difficulties of crime-solving by drawing violent motives from bias, undermining witness reliability, and warping the agents of law and justice. But for the best writers, racial conflicts are an opportunity for more than plotting clever clues and allow them to go beyond genre fiction to address the mysteries of human tribalism. Here are some notable recent novels, starting with 2018 Edgar Award winner Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke. Locke's protagonist Darren Mathews, a black Texas Ranger, is called to a small East Texas town to solve two murders--a black lawyer from Chicago and a local white woman--that dangerously roil racial resentments and threaten Darren himself. In Celeste Ng's 2015 bestseller Everything I Never Told You, the stock elements of a missing girl in a lake, a local bad boy who was one of the last to see her, and a quiet all-American Ohio town are transformed into the complex portrait of a Chinese-American family destroyed and unable to bring themselves to tell one another, or the police, what they believe is behind the disappearance of a favored child, the focus of all the dreams they were unable to pursue. Prejudice against Native Americans is the backdrop for Red Knife by William Kent Krueger. In this entry in the award-winning Corcoran O'Connor series, private investigator Cork is caught up in a racial gang war in picturesque Tamarack County, MN, when the daughter of a powerful businessman dies from meth addiction and her father vows revenge on the Red Boyz, a gang of Ojibwe youths accused of supplying the fatal drug. When the head of the Red Boyz and his wife are murdered execution-style, Cork, a man of mixed heritage, must uncover the truth to prevent the outbreak of a "red vs. white" war. For more top fiction dealing with racism, racial conflict and discrimination, see the Goodreads recommendations at https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/21184.Best_Novels_on_Racism_and_Discrimination

What's in a Name? The Chance for Success

Several young couples in my circle recently welcomed babies, and their struggles with name choices reminded me of my own deliberations over naming of fictional characters--because the answer to Juliet's famous question "What's in a name?" can affect social (or publishing) success. For example, a 2003 study of resumés identical except for fake names divided between those that sounded "white," like Emily and Greg, and those that sounded African-American, like Lakisha and Jamal, found the resumés with "white" names received a 50% higher call-back rate from employers. It would be interesting to see if those results have changed in 2015. Certainly, given names today reflect more social and ethnic diversity than ever before. In the U.S. of 1950, only 5% of parents chose a name for their child that wasn't in the top 1,000 names; by 2012, that figure was up to 27%. The expansion of naming trends in multicultural America opens up the choices for creating fictional names that are ironic, symbolic/connotative, phonetically suggestive, alliterative or just poetically right to the inner ear. But there is also more potential for faddish anachronisms, social bias and offense, regional dissonance and ethnic missteps. In a writersdigest.com guest post, veteran mystery author Elizabeth Sims (Rita Farmer mysteries) offers some rules for creating fictional names without tripping over today's naming trends: 1) Check root meanings of names, so Caleb, which means "faithful," can fit a loyal character without hitting readers over the head with Loyal (or it could be an ironic choice for a villain); 2) Get your era right and realize that Taylor doesn't fit a twenty-year-old girl in the 1930s or a ninety-year-old woman in 2015, but Myrtle works; 3) Say the names out loud because some names look good on paper but don't work when spoken (don't undermine the future audiobook/movie); 4) Manage your cast appropriately by varying names in terms of initials and syllables to prevent reader confusion when you have a big cast of characters; 5) Think it through to the real world, which is why, Sims points out, most fictional villains don't have middle names or initials since that increases the chances of offending a real person, who can come after you with a suit (or a gun); 6) Check those names again to make sure you have researched thoroughly, especially for ethnic or foreign names. For example, Sims admits that she once named a supposedly Japanese-American character Gary Kwan, only to discover that Kwan is a Chinese surname. To read Sims' full post, go to http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/the-7-rules-of-picking-names-for-fictional-characters

Fairy Tale Weddings Can Have Unhappy Endings

Weddings have been on my mind because my daughter is getting married this year. As a result, everywhere I look, everyone seems similarly obsessed. On reality TV, courtship and marriage fuel dramas with "love" as the prize: "The Bachelorette," "90-Day Fiance," "Married at First Sight," "Bridezillas," "Say Yes to The Dress," etc. And I've noticed a couple of common trends. First of all, extravagant wedding trappings are being promoted at every turn, via magazines, Internet and TV--the huge engagement ring, the island destination venue, the designer gown and the lavish "fairy tale" event. Based on my experience, many young people are buying the wedding-industry hype, especially brides and grooms who are marrying later and who, as working couples, can afford to celebrate their unions in style. Another ubiquitous trend is to "write your own vows" rather than use traditional rites, putting the personal relationship at the heart of the ceremony. Yet the outward prosperity and romance of a wedding don't correlate with marital success. Just the opposite. A recent study found that the more a couple spends on their wedding, the higher their rate of divorce compared with the average! Theories include the stress of financial debts incurred and misguided reasons for marrying (wealth and outward appearance). But maybe fairy-tale wedding failures reflect a more basic marriage misconception. No matter how earnestly lovers pen their own vows or finish the night with fireworks, they are already on the wrong path if they think they are celebrating the start of a long-time love affair. As Joseph Campbell said about marriage across cultures in The Power of Myth: "Marriage is not a love affair....A marriage is a commitment to that which you are. That person is literally your other half. And you and the other are one. A love affair isn't that. That is a relationship of pleasure, and when it gets to be unpleasurable, it's off. But marriage is a life commitment, and a life commitment means the prime concern of your life. If marriage is not the prime concern, you are not married." It's obviously easier to go into debt for a big party than honor a life commitment for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. For sobering data about the link between wedding expense and divorce, see http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-larger-the-rock-the-rockier-the-marriage-2014-10-15

Time to Debunk Those Myths About Millennials

I started out with a beef about the "millennial" generation. I have three children who are "millennials," and only one has finished reading my mystery novel! It's because millennials just don't read anything longer than 140-character text messages, I grumbled. They Tweet, Instagram, and check Facebook multiple times a day, but they don't have time to consume books because they are so busy communicating and connecting and letting everyone know where they are and what salad they are eating. Since they can quickly get all their entertainment online, it's not surprising that they've lost the habit of sitting for long hours with a Kindle e-book or turning printed pages without lots of graphics, I reasoned. Besides, old-fashioned mysteries about human failings and betrayals can't compete with a generation raised on movie wizardry, sexy vampires and zombie apocalypse. Unfortunately, the statistical data says otherwise: The "2012 U.S. Book Consumer Demographics and Buying Behaviors Annual Review" actually found that those born between 1979 and 1989 spent more money on books in 2011 than older Americans, buying 30% of books, while the well-off boomer generation of their parents only bought 24% of books. In jumping to conclusions about millennials based on a sample of two, I'm guilty of joining a lot of other misguided social pundits. I've had numerous conversations with boomer friends who bemoan millennial selfishness, short attention spans, unreasonable workplace expectations, and so on. If you have slipped into the millennial-bashing rut, or if you are a maligned millennial, you should read the amusing Washington Post blog piece "Please stop having dumb opinions about Millennials" by Alexandra Petri. It's time to debunk that "Me Me Me Entitled Trophy-Wielder Constantly Instagramming My Hookups While Having No-Strings Attached Salads" caricature. See the article at http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2013/10/07/please-stop-having-dumb-opinions-about-millennials/