The Cookbooks in My Life

With the holidays approaching, you may be looking for gifts. Since The Cooking Channel and cooking shows have become so popular, cookbooks have become prized gifts. I have been involved with three of these.

My first venture into the world of cookbooks occurred in 1996 when Community Presbyterian Church of San Juan Capistrano decided to collect members’ favorite recipes as a fundraiser for the Friends of Music. The result was The Gift of Christmas.

A friend and I edited the recipes, and then Larry did the layout. The completed book was copied at a local copy shop and spiral bound. A church member designed the cover. This book contains not only some of my recipes, but also those of my mother, grandmother, and mother-in-love. Many of them were favorites at church dinners and potlucks.

In 2015, a friend asked if we had an extra copy. We decided to re-publish it in both Kindle and print form as a fundraiser for the church preschool and kindergarten. So, it is available once again.

The second cookbook in my life came about when my friend and fellow author, Ilene Schneider, suggested creating a cookbook of the recipes featured in our books, to be published by Oak Tree Press. The book was to include author photos and information about our books. I did the layout for publication, but the book was put on the back burner because of health issues of the publisher.

It languished for a couple of years until we decided it was time to get it out. Another Oak Tree author, Mary Montague Sikes, allowed us to use her beautiful artwork for the cover, and Recipes by the Book: Oak Tree Authors Cook became a reality.

This one is also available for Kindle and as a print book.

The most recent one I have been involved with is the resurrection of Marilyn Meredith’s Cooking for a Big Family and Large Groups.

This one was published so long ago, even Marilyn had forgotten about it. I ran across an old copy on Amazon, or I wouldn’t have known about it. The only copy she had was a three-hole punched copy typed on a typewriter.

I scanned the old one and converted to an electronic file, then edited and formatted it for publication. The cover is a photo of our dining room table.

Larry produced the covers for all of these.

So if you are considering a cookbook as a holiday gift, take a look at these. All of them contain great recipes and much more.

Republishing - Part IV

When I started trying to locate all of Marilyn Meredith’s books, I discovered several I didn’t know about. The first was a cookbook. It had been published in 2000 and was long out-of-print. When I asked Marilyn about it, she said she only had one printed copy, and it wasn’t the published version.

She sent me two separate 8-1/2” x 11” paper copies. They were typed on a typewriter, and were three-hole punched. Apparently, the book had started life as two books. I scanned them and ran the OCR (Optical Character Reader) to extract the individual characters. Unfortunately, the characters on the typewritten pages didn’t always read correctly, and the resultant pages had no formatting. Fortunately, I had the originals, so I could compare each character to make sure it was correct.

Since I had two files, when they were both converted to one Word document, I re-indexed the recipes so the order made sense. Then I sent the document to Marilyn, She knew them well and made a few additional corrections.

The covers on the originals I was given had simple sketches, but we wanted the new one to have a professional-looking cover. So, I set my large oak table with blue placemats, white plates, and flatware. Larry took a couple of photos.

“This is too plain. It doesn’t look as though it’s actually set for a meal.” He went downstairs and soon returned with new photos of the table. He’d added my big, white soup tureen, a basket with a napkin in it, stuffed with paper to resemble bread, white cups, a sugar bowl and creamer. We both liked the look, and he still had room for the title, Cooking for a Big Family and Large Groups.

We both liked it—and so did Marilyn.

The other books I discovered were horror titles. These had only been published as ebooks. Marilyn requested—and received—her rights back for these. We began with Cup of Demons. (The title comes from a Bible verse.)

This appeared to be an MS Word file, but I suspect it might have been a WordPerfect file converted to Word since it seemed to have some hidden formatting. It didn’t cooperate well, and I had to upload it several times to get it to look right.

Since Marilyn didn’t have the rights to the original cover, and she said she’d never liked it, I had an idea for an image. I located free photos of old, faded and stained wallpaper, an ornate mirror, and a woman who fit the description of the ghost in the story.

Larry created one of my favorite covers. It conveys a sense of the story, and it is beautiful at the same time.

So, two more of her books are now available again. We still have a couple more of the horror titles to complete, and all of her books (except her Rocky Bluff P.D. ones, which another publisher is re-publishing) will be available.

Next week and the week after, I will interview Marilyn about her two historical novels, based on her real family members. I adored these books, and I think you will, too.

Marilyn Meredith’s published book count is nearing forty. She taught writing for Writers Digest Schools for ten years. She served as an instructor at the prestigious Maui Writers Retreat, and has taught at many writers’ conferences.

Webpage: http://fictionforyou.com

Blog: http://marilymeredith.blogspot.com/ and you can follow her on Facebook.

See all her books at her author page on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Marilyn-Meredith/e/B001HPJ440/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1

Oak Tree Authors Cook!

Thanks to Jackie Taylor Zortman for blogging on this subject. https://jtzortman.wordpress.com/ 

I used much of her blog to create this one. I appreciate her efforts as well as her contribution to the book itself.

A few years ago, fellow Oak Tree Press author, Ilene Schneider,  suggested an authors' cookbook to feature recipes from our books. She compiled the recipes, and I edited and formatted the manuscript, but other projects got in the way. Recently, Ilene I decided to resurrect the cookbook. It is now available in two editions. One features a full color interior and sells as a paperback SPECIAL EDITION for $24.99. The second has a black and white interior. It sells for $14.99.  Both are available at http://www.amazon.com. Both are 6×9 trade paperbacks.

The gorgeous artwork for the cover is an original pastel painting called "Wine and Cheese" by author Mary Montague Sikes.  The following authors contributed recipes Amy Bennett, Holli Castillo, Lorna Collins, Lesley A. Diehl, Michael Eldridge, Nicola Furlong, J. L. (Janet) Greger, Shirley Skufca Hickman, Ann K. Howley, Marilyn Levinson, J. R. (John) Lindermuth, Nancy LiPetri, F. M. (Marilyn) Meredith, Sharon Arthur Moore, Radine Trees Nehring, Carolyn Niethammer, Eileen Obser, Beryl Reichenberg, Tanis Rush, Ilene Schneider, Anne Schroeder, Mary Montague Sikes,  Denise Weeks, Robert Weibenzahl, John R. Wills and Jackie Taylor Zortman.

The Amazon description  of the book is: ” Not only are the

Back Cover of OTP Authors Cookbook

Oak Tree Press authors wonderful writers, they are also great cooks.  Meals often appear in their books.  This cookbook assembles the best of their recipes along with author profiles and a bit about their books.  Special thanks for the owner of Oak Tree Press, Billie Johnson, for her support and encouragement.”

Books make wonderful holiday gifts. Consider them for hostess gifts and for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Hanukkah presents.  Please keep all our books, including this one, in mind as you prepare your holiday gift list.  Buy a copy for yourself, and wrap copies to give to someone who likes to cook or who just loves books.