oddly enough

oddly enough

Book gets confused with ‘50 Shades’

PARKLAND, Fla.

The author of a book called “Shades of Gray” says her work is being confused with that of a chart-topping erotic fiction writer.

Susanne Jacoby Hale, an author based in Florida, says she has received emails, Facebook messages and phone calls from people thinking she wrote “Fifty Shades of Grey.”

“Fifty Shades of Grey,” by British author E.L. James, has sold millions of copies and become a sensation among women drawn to the sadomasochistic romance between a college student and a wealthy entrepreneur.

Hale’s book is about a dropout-prevention teacher.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports even Hale’s family members are being approached. Her husband, a medical-sales representative, says doctors regularly approach him wanting to talk about the book.

Teen’s body spray sets off school fire alarm

MIDDLETOWN, Conn.

Officials say a fire alarm that went off at a Connecticut high school was activated by a student’s “overabundance” of body spray in a locker room.

Firefighters were called to Middletown High School shortly after 3 p.m. Thursday.

Officials told The Middletown Press that the student used an excessive amount of the scented spray and created a cloud of mist right below a heat sensor, which tripped the fire alarm.

Firefighters allowed students and teachers to return to the building shortly after arriving.

Officials deemed the call a “routine accidental.”

Fly swatters wash up on Alaska beaches

KODIAK, Alaska

Dozens of fly swatters bearing logos of collegiate and professional sports teams have been washing up on the beaches of an Alaska island.

The fly swatters found on Kodiak were believed to be debris from last year’s Japanese earthquake and tsunami. But the Kodiak Daily Mirror reports that they are from a shipping container that went overboard almost four months ago.

Team Sports America received word that the container ship carrying its products from China lost several shipping containers after a rogue wave hit the vessel in a storm. A cable on the ship broke, and a whole row of containers got loose in the Pacific Ocean.

It is likely the containers were on the Cosco Yokohama, a container-vessel traveling from Asia to Prince Rupert, British Columbia.

Associated Press