K.A. Mitchell's Top 5 Smells

I smell. 

I smell all the time. 

I’m hopeful I don’t stink, but I do a lot of smelling. It’s the sense I rely on most to tell me things because it’s so closely connected to emotions and memories. Did you know that smell is not only processed chemically, it sends input directly to the limbic part of our brain? Sight and sound go through higher thinking, but the stuff from our olfactory bulb heads right for the most primitive center. When I create characters who are going to fall in love, I know they have to smell right to each other or it just won’t work, even though I may not get too specific about how they smell. After all, one man’s sweetness may be another man’s stench or something like that. 

In no particular odor—I mean order—here are my top five favorite smells.

1. Rain: It’s not always a fresh smell, but it changes and charges the air in a way I love. 

2. Orange oil: This has an amazing ability to make me smile. I associate it with lots of good things, most specifically with an old ride at Disney’s Epcot: Horizons. I loved that ride. 

3. Gasoline: I hear this is a weird one because some people hate it.  I don’t like it on my hands though. That’s a stinky combination. 

4. Wood: I love the smell of all kinds of wood: sawdust, sandalwood, freshly varnished wood, the woods. If it had bark on it or still does, I love the way it smells. 

5. Dryer exhaust: I want to breathe this in all the time. It’s such a comforting smell. It’s not just clean, it’s warm and fuzzy too.

What’s the best smell in the world? I couldn’t pick one. What do you think? Let me know your favorite in the DSP FB group for a chance to name a walk-on character in Bad Habit, the sixth Bad in Baltimore book.