This episode is an excerpt from a longer interview with the novelist Patricia Falvey, a former accountant who now writes historical fiction. Here, we talk specifically about her latest book, "The Famine Orphans," which sounds like downer of a story but isn't because the focus is on the characters' resilience and their resistance to being victims of circumstance. We also comment in general how we all have the power to spread more kindness and joy in the world.

To hear more, go to the full interview titled "Author Patricia Falvey on Being Brave, Resilient, and Focused on Your Dream" (Episode 116).

The other excerpts are titled "Five Books and Counting: the Novels of Patricia Falvey," "The Courage to Embrace Your Second Act" and "Always a Writer at Heart."

To learn more about Falvey's books, visit patriciafalveybooks.com. And if you read one or all, please write a review.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Audible, iHeart and Spotify.

Patricia Falvey had a successful 30-year career in accounting, yet what she really wanted was to become a full-time writer. After taking a leap of faith to pursue her dream, she's happier and already has had five books published: "The Yellow House," "The Linen Queen," "The Girls of Ennismore," "The Titanic Sisters," and her latest, "The Famine Orphans." All five novels have a connection to Ireland, where she lived with her grandmother until she was about 8.

This episode is an excerpt from a longer interview. To hear more, go to the full interview titled "Author Patricia Falvey on Being Brave, Resilient, and Focused on Your Dream." To listen to Falvey's descriptions of her historical novels, you can go to Episode 117 titled "Five Books and Counting: the Novels of Patricia Falvey."

Two other excerpts will be published later this week: "Goodness, Resilience and Paying it Forward" and "The Courage to Pursue Your Second Act."

To learn more about Falvey's books, visit patriciafalveybooks.com. And if you read one or all, please write a review.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Audible, iHeart and Spotify.

Hello, I'm the host of Everyday Creation. Not too long ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing author Patricia Falvey. She and I covered a lot of territory in the full episode, including her successful 30-year career in accounting before she took a leap of faith to become a full-time writer.

In this excerpt, Patricia talks about each one of her five books. All are historical fiction with a connection to Ireland, where she lived until she was about 8 years old. To listen to "Orphan Girl," which is referenced in the interview, go to @watch?v=-zlUEhxDDhg&list=RD-zlUEhxDDhg&start_radio=1. The song is performed by the Choral Scholars of University College Dublin.

If this episode piques your interest enough to learn more about Falvey and how she's had success in two very different careers, please check out the full interview. It's Episode 116 titled "Author Patricia Falvey on Being Brave, Resilient, and Focused on Your Dream."

Three more excerpts will publish this week: "Always a Writer at Heart," "Goodness, Resilience and Paying it Forward," and "The Courage to Embrace Your Second Act."

To learn more about Falvey's books, visit patriciafalveybooks.com. And if you read any or all, please write a review.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Audible, iHeart and Spotify.

Patricia Falvey is the author of five historical novels that focus on Irish history and ordinary characters living through major historical events, blending fact with fiction. Her latest, "The Famine Orphans," follows six characters — "orphan girls" — who take part in a real-life effort by the British government to decrease the number of orphans in Irish workhouses and boost the population of Australia.

In this episode, Falvey shares her own experience of immigrating to a foreign land. She talks about how she made her way in the United States, initially working in Omaha for the Job Corps before heading to Boston, where she received a scholarship to Suffolk University and went on to have a successful career as an accountant and CPA.

She spent 30-plus years in that field although she'd always dreamed of being a writer. She had even told bedtime stories to herself as a young child. When she finally took a leap of faith to become a full-time writer, it was the beginning of a fulfilling second act. She encourages others with a dream to consider finding a way to make it come true.

To listen to "Orphan Girl" sung by the Choral Scholars of University College Dublin, go to this video. To learn more about Falvey's books, visit her website.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Audible, iHeart and Spotify.

Sugar Pie DeSanto was just under 5 feet tall, yet she had a powerful voice and a daring stage presence. She'd do back flips, splits, and stunts that included jumping off pianos.

Signing with Chess Records led to DeSanto collaborating with major R&B and soul artists, including Etta James and James Brown. She toured with The James Brown Revue for two years.

Her original name was Peylia Marsema Balinton, but Johnny Otis gave her a new name that was easier to pronounce.

DeSanto also was a prolific songwriter, penning over 100 songs such as "Slip-in Mules," "Use What You Got," "Soulful Dress," and her first hit "I Want To Know," which reached #4 on Billboard's R&B chart in 1960.

You can go here to listen to DeSanto sing "I Want To Know." The image in this episode's thumbnail is the cover of her album "Go Go Power: The Complete Chess Singles 1961-1966." In the chapters, there are a couple of other images: the cover of another album, "A Little Bit of Soul 1957-1962," and a photo of DeSanto performing in August 2006. The latter is credited to Michael Albov and is available on Wikimedia Commons under the license CC BY 2.0.

This tribute is one of 41 stories that Sheldon Zoldan, a longtime journalist, has written and recorded in honor of the music notables who passed away in 2024. He's written tributes for other years as well. You can listen to the ones from 2023 on Everyday Creation. We'll have the 2022 tributes available later this year.

Sheldon also is the creator of Song of the Day, a story that he sends by email to a list of subscribers. To get on his subscriber list, email shzoldan@comcast.net with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Audible, iHeart and Spotify.

Mike Brewer began his music career writing songs and playing in coffee houses, eventually meeting Tom Shipley in Cleveland. They recorded their first album in 1968 and played mostly in Midwest college towns.

Their song "One Toke Over the Line" was inspired by a backstage experience involving hashish. They wrote it in an hour and never thought to include it in a concert until one time they did it as an encore. The audience loved it, so they put it on their "Tarkio" album. The song reached #10 on Billboard's Hot 100 despite the Federal Communications Commission's ban on drug-related songs.

It even made it on "The Lawrence Welk Show." You can watch here.

You can listen to Brewer & Shipley's version here.

Brewer & Shipley had two other Hot 100 hits: "Tarkio Road" (No. 55) and "Shake Off the Demon" (No. 98).

The image in this episode's thumbnail shows Brewer & Shipley in 1971. Brewer is on the right. Attributed to Nick DeWolf, the photo originally was posted to Flickr as 020313 by steve the archivist, CC BY-SA 2.0.

This tribute is one of 41 stories that Sheldon Zoldan, a longtime journalist, has written and recorded in honor of the music notables who passed away in 2024. He's written tributes for other years as well. You can listen to the ones from 2023 on Everyday Creation. We'll have the 2022 tributes available later this year.

Sheldon also is the creator of Song of the Day, a story that he sends by email to a list of subscribers. To get on his subscriber list, email shzoldan@comcast.net with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Audible, iHeart and Spotify.

Tyka Nelson, Prince's younger sister, began writing songs at age 10. She and her brother wrote together when they were young, but later on, Nelson chose to establish her own identity.

She released four solo albums with moderate success on the R&B charts but was primarily a songwriter. She enjoyed singing, she said, but did not consider herself a singer.

Her most successful single was "Marc Anthony's Tune" from her "Royal Blue" album, released in 1988. The song reached #33 on Billboard's R&B chart. To listen to it, you can go here. In the comments, one person wrote, "R.I.P. Tyka! Thank you for such a perfect song!"

"L.O.V.E.," also from "Royal Blue," charted at #52.

Her other albums were "Yellow Moon, Red Sky" (1993); "A Brand New Me" (a gospel album, 2008) and "Hustler" (2011).

After Prince's death, she and her half-siblings maintained his legacy, helping to manage his estate and transforming Paisley Park into a museum.

The image in this episode's thumbnail is the cover art for her song "End of the Road," available on Apple and Amazon Music. You can hear a preview by going to the Apple Music website.

To learn more about Nelson, go to her official site.

This tribute is one of 41 stories that Sheldon Zoldan, a longtime journalist, has written and recorded in honor of the music notables who passed away in 2024. He's written tributes for other years as well. You can listen to the ones from 2023 on Everyday Creation. We'll have the 2022 tributes available later this year.

Sheldon also is the creator of Song of the Day, a story that he sends by email to a list of subscribers. To get on his subscriber list, email shzoldan@comcast.net with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Audible, iHeart and Spotify.

At age 11, Quincy Jones found his purpose when he felt compelled to touch the piano at a local recreation center. It was a small gesture that set him on his way to a hugely successful music career.

The first instrument he learned was the trumpet, and it didn't take him long to be good enough to play in jazz bands. From there, he went on to:

- Collaborate with Frank Sinatra;

- Compose film scores for movies and TV shows;

- Produce hit songs for Lesley Gore;

- Work with Michael Jackson on three albums, including "Thriller," the best-selling album ever;

- Organize the recording of "We Are the World," which brought together more than 40 of the top rock and pop stars of the 1980s.

- And write popular songs.

"Soul Bossa Nova," the song referenced in this tribute, came out in 1962. More than three decades later, it was used in the opening dance scene in the 1997 film "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery."

You can go here to watch Jones conducting an amazing group of jazz musicians playing "Soul Bossa Nova" on "Late Night with David Letterman."

Or to hear the song as the soundtrack to 1960s videos, go here.

"The Many Lives of Q" is a BBC documentary about Jones' life and career. You can find it presented in short segments on YouTube. Here's a link to Episode 1, which is intriguing enough to make you want to want to keep watching all seven episodes.

The image in the thumbnail for this episode is a photo of Jones in 1980, attributed to the Los Angeles Times and available on Wikimedia under the license CC BY 4.0.

This tribute is one of 41 stories that Sheldon Zoldan, a longtime journalist, has written and recorded in honor of the music notables who passed away in 2024. He's written tributes for other years as well. You can listen to the ones from 2023 on Everyday Creation. We'll have the 2022 tributes available later this year.

Sheldon also is the creator of Song of the Day, a story that he sends by email to a list of subscribers. To get on his subscriber list, email shzoldan@comcast.net with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Audible, iHeart and Spotify.