I really love garlic. Enough to write about it in this post instead of talking up my new psychological thriller, THE ANCHORMAN’S WIFE (Level Best Books), which publishes 10/24/2023.

In fact, I just came from a garlic festival this weekend in Bethlehem, Connecticut. So you’ll have to excuse me if you can smell garlic on this blog post. Or pick up the scent of garlic emanating from the pores of my body.

Eating garlic and maintaining a healthy social life is not a compatible goal. Thus, I must limit my garlic intake to the weekends when I know I’m not going anywhere and interacting with people. It’s great for us writers, seeing as how we squirrel ourselves away for long periods of time. And garlic fosters a healthy body and mind, which allows us to write better books.

At this garlic fest we ate garlic cheeseburgers, garlic pizza, garlic ice cream and garlic lobster rolls. Garlic kebabs, crepes, garlic lemonade, garlic yucca fries. I could go on and on about all the delicious garlic specialities we sampled, but you get the idea.

Here are some fun garlic facts.

—Egyptians were the first to use garlic in their diets, 2000 to 3000 BC. It was used both medicinally and in rituals.

—In America, 90% of the garlic is grown in California. And Gilroy, CA hosts the largest garlic festival in the country.

—Polysulphide allicin Is the part of garlic thy contains the most medicinal benefits, and Chinese garlic has the most allícin.

—Historians have found that ancient Greeks would leave garlic at crossroads as an offering to Hecate to find favor with her.

—Garlic is super healthy. It thins the blood like aspirin and has many other health benefits. Garlic helps lower bad cholesterol, regulate blood pressure, and has cancer-fighting properties. If you feel like you might be getting sick, eat some garlic.

—Garlic is a bulb that just so happens to be the root of an interesting flower. It is a member of the lily family.

I’m stuffed from all the garlic I’ve eaten this weekend, so I’m going to end this odiferous blog here. Make sure and eat a lot of the stinking rose for all those health benefits. Who knows, maybe I’ll start writing books about vampires.

Oh, and make sure and go out and buy a copy of THE ANCHORMAN’S WIFE on October 24th. https://www.amazon.com/Anchormans-Wife-Novel-Joseph-Souza-ebook/dp/B0CFX6C1VP/ref=sr_1_1?crid=17XK5NGK1SFRS&keywords=the+anchorman’s+wife,+joseph&qid=1696526342&sprefix=the+anchormans+wife,+joseph,aps,87&sr=8-1