Signers of the Declaration of Independence

Putting them here so I can compare to the Signers of the Constitution

Georgia
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton

North Carolina
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn

South Carolina
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton

Massachusetts
John Hancock
Maryland
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton

Pennsylvania
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Delaware
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean

New York
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris

New Jersey
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark

New Hampshire
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple

Massachusetts
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery

Connecticut
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott

New Hampshire
Matthew Thornton

I'm Published!

Ok, so it's via Amazon, but I figured why try to find an agent or publisher (who won't be doing the marketing anyway), to publish my cookbook. I didn't have any aspirations for this book in terms of income rather than to try to recoup the money spent on the cover art.

I've learned a lot about self-publishing - or author published - in the past few months. First, it's far easier to publish an all text fictional piece of work than anything that requires tables or tabs. Second, that buying a batch of ISBNs is a really good idea if you have more than one book in you. And third, be prepared to argue with the counter person at your local printers about your copyrights and whether or not you have legal authority to print what YOU wrote. 

Luckily, I called first and avoided that print shop and found one that wouldn't give me any grief for the special edition copy I had made up for a local fund raiser. I will be back to have some more done if I decide to join in on a local book signing event.

And the final lesson - don't obsess too much over your sales numbers. Resist the urge to login and check every day to see how many copies have been ordered...it could depress you.

I'll post more later on how to handle tabs and tables for an eBook. I just wanted to get the word out that Meryr Mary's Marvelous Munchies is now available on Kindle.

The Losses Keep Piling Up

Ok, I'm done with Death. Sick of Death, Tired of Death and so over Death. Too many losses lately.

My sister left this mortal coil on 11/12/13.  In December, almost on the same day, my mother-in-law passed away. An amazing woman full of grace and intelligence she will be missed, and not just by her children and grandchildren. She was an excellent hunter and fisherwoman, at ease with a rifle, fishing poles and camping gear.

Then my father-in-law passed in January. Making the end of the year and the start of the new year bookends. In a way he had planned his passing, by not taking his meds and eating as he should. Stubborn like his son, he went on his own terms. He will be missed too.

But I would seriously like a break for the rest of the year.

Love, Loss, and Comfort Food

My sister Cathy lost her battle with Pancreatic Cancer on November 12, 2013. Pretty cool date to go in my book. I was not there at her bedside, but her family was, along with my mom, brother and her chosen sister was there. I consider Sandy, our sister-in-law, a gift that I gave my brother and sister. After all, it was my constant nudging to date my younger brother that helped get them together, eventually married and parents to two young, smart, and challenging girls.

Cathy and I were both okay with me not coming back to see her again before she passed. I'd known when I'd seen her in May that I would not see her alive again. But you cannot tell a cancer patient that you do not think they will make it. The pathetic excuse for doctors at Kaiser had missed her cancer for 18 months and when it was finally found it was inoperable. (Long story there that I won't delve into now). And I could just tell, no matter how good she may have looked or felt that it was too far gone at that point.

A big reason for me to not be at her side is that I know how to override morphine pumps. We did not know at the time that she wouldn't be on a pump but would be on oral meds at the end. Another reason is that I am a fierce patient advocate and would have caused her family undue stress if I perceived any lack in her care...it's just my nature. I have a friend who refers to me as a "force of nature", this is not a bad thing, but it is a very accurate assessment.

My brother-in-law did an AMAZING job taking care of her until the very end. It is not fair that he should lose the mother of his children, the woman who taught him to love again (he lost his first wife unexpectedly), and his partner in life so young. He held it together well at her Celebration of Life, but wondered why I didn't shed a tear.

Truth be told, I've been walking with death for too long now and have become numb to it. I've almost lost my husband several times, and the fact that he is still alive and functioning baffles his doctor. I know she's in a better place, pain free and enjoying herself with all of the other people and critters I love that have passed on.

I stayed to spend Thanksgiving with my family. One of my stress relievers is baking, and with the cookbook due to be formatted any day now, I did a lot of baking while there. I made Satan Muffins (a.k.a. Snickerdoodle Muffins) for breakfast, not realizing my sister-in-law had NEVER had them before. I don't know how that happened as these were one of my favorite things to eat after a night of unbridled drinking during our college days.

I asked everyone if they wanted anything special. My brother asked for just two things: banana cream pie and Charlie Brown's Brownies.  I'm not a banana cream pie fan, but I did find a recipe (which of course I had to tweak a bit) and made him banana cream pie from scratch. I hear it tasted wonderful.

The Charlie Brown's Brownies took a bit to find. The recipe was in a Peanuts Cookbook put out by Charles Schultz in 1969. Cathy and I had both been given the book by Maga and Grandad (our mom's parents) that Christmas.  Luckily for me, there are other fans of that cookbook who've posted the recipe on the internet. The first batch came out as blondies, which my middle nephew loved, the second batch was perfect.

Brownies are one of my comfort foods, Banana Cream Pie is one of my brother's. My sister was a social butterfly and had started several traditions for her cul-de-sac family. The neighbors get together often for Drinks-on-the-Court and one tradition is to have a second "dessert" for Thanksgiving at someone's house. So I took requests and started baking. In the end, I had made 2 banana cream pies, a batch of Devil Truffles, Peanut Butter Chocolate cookies, Pumpkin Cake, real whipped cream, Charlie Brown's Brownies, accidental Blondies, Snickerdoodles, and I'm sure I'm forgetting something else.

It is no surprise that my sister's cul-de-sac is named Corazon...Spanish for heart. She was well loved by many and will be missed...even if I never shed a tear at her passing.

Check Yourself, Know Your Normal

Most people know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and even though we are now rapidly approaching Thanksgiving, it doesn't mean we can forget. Please check yourself, every month, and every year if you're off "that age" to get mammograms - this includes you men as well! Get to know your "normal". And always trust your instincts.

Last year around this time I learned a dear friend had an agressive form of breast cancer and due to a lab mistake it had been overlooked. When she was diagnosed it was late Stage 3 HER breast cancer. At one point her odds were down to 30% survival, after completing part of her planned double mastectomy her odds went up to 90% survival. Everyone who loves her was ecstatic and extremely grateful.

I'm a dense girl, so more difficult to test, much like my mom. However, my mom and I have an advantage: her mother. My grandmother had a double mastectomy and was a guinea pig for much of our protocols in use today. She handled it all with style, grace, and fight. My mom also handled hers well, and was fought for what was right for her. As a result, I've done a lot of research and had made all my decisions on treatments plans years ago. I never want to have to make these decisions while in the throes of the diagnosis.

My dear friend didn't have that advantage, but she has had tons of love and support, many fund raisers, an amazing employer, and a very strong family. She didn't feel that things were right, so she kept going back to her GP, who also didn't feel that things were right and got her in front of a specialist who immediately spotted the cancer. So trust your gut, you know your normal, if something is off be ready to fight your doctor, insurance or whomever to get a second opinion and have someone listen to you.

My only request is this: Check yourself.  Now, and each month. If you don't know how, there are tons of resources online. Start with the Susan G. Komen site at a minimum.

How do you know when it's done?

That's a question I hear a lot when teaching people to bake for the first time. Lately I've been asking myself that question.  Every time I think I have the absolute last recipe for my cookbook, I get stressed out by yet one more thing and end up coming up with some new recipe that I just "have" to included.

My alpha tester all along has been my husband. He's honest when something isn't working and doesn't oversell a recipe that is tasty but not truly outstanding. My beta testers are the crew at a local diner (Red Geranium) and they've been awesome as well.

I've got beta testers to proof out the recipes all lined up and I'm planning on getting them the recipes before the end of the month. I've refined my oldest  recipes, making sure I have the steps and methods outlined correctly. Section titles have been determine, a book title has been selected, and formatting has begun.


So, how do you know when your book is really done? I'm not sure. I'm still new to this self-publishing business. My best guess is to set an absolute, drop dead date for getting the book formatted and ready to be proofed by an editor. Or perhaps it's the fact that I just had another cover shoot for the book - which involves a flurry of baking for models. Either way, I need to wrap up this book soon. Which means I need to quite baking for awhile and find another form of stress relief.

Diving into the Self Publishing Pool

I've been working on a cookbook for the past several months. What started out as something for my friends and family is rapidly growing into a much bigger production. I decided to self publish it for many reasons: 1) my friends and family are scattered across the globe, 2) most of them are big eBook fans, and 3) I want to keep the cost as close to “free” as possible. Because a few of them want a print copy, I need to price it at Amazon's minimum to be eligible for their CreateSpace print-on-demand option.

Several of the GRRWG members have had great success lately going this route. As a new author, I am not holding out hopes for large number of sales, but hope to at least get my setup costs covered. ISBN's must be purchased, a publishing company name needs to be selected, I need to develop the book cover, have it edited, get testers to test the recipes and pick a name for it. Lots of work yet to do for what I thought would be a “quick” side project.

The biggest obstacle is simply me being me. An IT geek by trade, I'm always thinking of ways to improve thing, and my recipe list is growing as I keep thinking up recipes to add. My “beta tasters” are growing to hate me as their waistlines have grown since I started down this path. I've selected my most “kid friendly” recipes for this book as I'm a big believer in teaching kids bake and cook simple things for themselves. The one thing I can't really do for this book is the artwork, as I am not an artist or photographer.

I'm still debating about the photos after seeing how much work it may be to get the layout I see in my head to work for an eBook. So for the first edition it may end up with no photos, but I gave myself to the end of the year to get this book out, so I may have to give up a few things to get the first edition out. Plus it's a lot of work to get all the samples ready for a photo shoot, and I'm a horrible procrastinator.

Another thing to consider when self-publishing is which platforms you want to publish on. There'sjust so many: Amazon vs. Nook vs. Smashwords, just to name a few. The decision may end up being a tad easier for me though as Amazon seems to be the one platform that all of my potential readers can get to.

Who know that self-publishing could get so complicated?