I'm Still Here

 Thoughts and Quotes:

She thought she could so she did. R.S. Grey 

She thought she could so she tried, but she didn't. Me

Well, I didn't but I did. I finished the Tea ebook in fixed format (also known as print replica) and put it on Amazon for presale to be released March 10. This would give me plenty of time to finish Theme Dining and Tablescapes to release all at once. You could order it, but without the "go to" feature, and spells out in capital letters, "PRINT REPLICA". 

I worked all one week on the Table of Contents, talking with KDP staff and trying new things. I just couldn't make it "clickable." Finally I got the right person, who told me that you can't have a clickable TOC in print replica. Well, no wonder it wouldn't work.

Then I thought, "So what does a print replica book look like?"  I bought one to see, and why didn't I do that in the first place? Duh! The pages are numbered and on a carousel, which I actually liked, but it's not what everyone expects, so probably wouldn't like it. Thankfully, the book I bought only cost $2.99, because it's on the history of posters. Not exactly my interest.

So after many days of trying and crying, I've finally finished the Tea book in reflowable format, and it is sitting on my bookshelf at Amazon in draft form, ready for me to push the Publish button.

Today I will give Theme Dining one last proof read, make the cover, and finish  the keywords, etc and it will be ready.

Tablescapes will be finished in a few days. After you say "Publish", Amazon takes 72 hours to review before release. I told one rep that they're not being very thorough, because I've had to delete some books before I finished reading, because of all the typos and grammatical errors. He laughed, and told me they're only checking for pornography and whether the book is for sale somewhere else. Then it takes up to ten days before the "go to" feature appears.

To finish the Theme Dining book, I had to do lots of cooking, just for photos.

Ranch Chicken

Rice Pilaf

Salad

Strawberry Salsa

Strawberry Muffins

And steamed asparagus, just to take these two photos.

And I had to make Grits Casserole

Ranch Beans

Tangerine Rice

Lemon Beets

And Pumpkin Biscuits and Pumpkin Biscuits, and Pumpkin Biscuits, and Pumpkin Biscuits.

When I made these for the Pumpkin Patch theme dinner, I just didn't think they were very good, so I figured I'd try again later. Well, I just don't think you can make Pumpkin Biscuits which are spectacular. The pumpkin is so wet, you can only use a small amount, which doesn't really add any pumpkin flavor. So now my freezer is full of pumpkin biscuit mistakes which might be good slathered with apple butter.

Big hold-up to finish Theme Dining, but at least I had leftovers for a few days. Talk about carbs!

I also had to redo two invitations due to copyright problems. One had a picture from a tear-off Thomas Kinkade calendar and the other had a picture from a tear-off Charles Wysocki calendar. I was able to contact the Kinkade licensing department and she was really nice, but said "no" due to the franchise galleries. I never could find Wysocki people, so just remade the invitation.

If anyone is thinking of doing an ebook, especially with photos, and you're a beginner, please talk to me first. I've learned a LOT. 

I obviously didn't accomplish much this week. I got up, fed the cats, did household chores which couldn't wait, came to the computer, worked all day, fed the cats, ate, back to the computer if I had the energy, went to bed. 

This Month's Keyword - Snow: We actually had snow on New Year's Day. Well, sort of, and the trees were icing.

More on January 2

And then fog on January 3

I received some really pretty snow Christmas cards.

And Pepper on his snow bankie.

I cooked black-eyed peas for luck on January 1.

I had rice for health from the freezer, along with corn muffins, also from the freezer; cut up the ham and froze most of it, and cheated on collards for money and ate salad instead. At least it's green, maybe I'll get a little money.

Not much to check off my goal list, but soon I'll be ready to get to it. And I'm ready to tackle my next three books. I have a good start on Celebrations and Theme Dining 2. I'm going to redo April in Paris, and look at the cute party favors I found.

That's all I have for now - back to the books, but I'll try to check in with you occasionally. If you hear a really loud "Yipee", you'll know I finally finished all three books. 

STAY WARM

AND HYDRATED

EAT YOUR GREENS

EAT YOUR APPLES

GET OUT OF THE HOUSE, EVEN IF YOU JUST GO FOR A DRIVE

THANK YOU FOR SHARING MY LIFE