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.
See all her books at her author page
on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Marilyn-Meredith/e/B001HPJ440/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1
Thank you, thank you, thank you! This truly was a huge undertaking! I thought about doing some self-publishing but didn't feel up to it. I am so blessed to have you for a friend!
ReplyDeleteYou know I love you! And I adore your writing. Your books need to be available--all of them.
DeleteSo very interesting to read about this and so happy for you and Marilyn!
ReplyDeleteNow she owns all of these in perpetuity. Really glad to see these two available again. And the historicals, too.
DeleteWonderful to know that Marilyn's older books are making a comeback!
ReplyDeleteToo bad they were gone for a while, but they're back now!
DeleteNice post thhanks for sharing
ReplyDelete