Self publishing or blowing your own trumpet!

What is it that makes time accelerate at this time of year? I nearly fainted when I saw a sign saying 'two weeks till Christmas.'I think that should have been until or 'til, but these signs are meant to annoy us.

The arrival of the tempeh book has sent me into an extra mad flurry of activity. Self publishing is a wonderful way to explore your creativity. For a reasonable sum, anyone can publish whatever they want providing they are prepared to learn some publishing basics. Free from the restrictions of publishers, editors and designers, Your creativity can be given free reign without the restrictions of publishers, editors, designers and deadlines.There is no one telling you what to do. What you don't get is a dedicated team of professionals who will keep you in line, check your spelling, keep the book within budget and most importantly promote it for you. There is a price for all that creative freedom.

Here I am, packing little bundles to present to retailers, posting emails to all my friends, negotiating web servers, links and other technical stuff I usually avoid.

Christmas panic lurks over my left shoulder and boxes of books over my right. The printers tell us that if you can break even on your first print run (get your money back), that is the sign of a successful self published book. I have let myself be a little proud of my first solo effort - here it is...

'Tempeh' gives you an overview of the history, nutritional value and the use of tempeh as well as recipes for every meal. Here is an Indonesian style recipe from the book that is quick and easy to prepare.

Sticky Tempeh

Halve this recipe if you intend to serve it as a side dish.

600g tempeh, cut into thin strips
2 Tbsp + 2 Tbsp oil
2 brown shallots or 1 brown onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 red chillies, sliced
2 tsp fresh ginger, chopped finely
Pinch of shrimp paste (optional)
80gms palm sugar, chopped
3 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp tamarind pulp
Salt

Fry the tempeh using the first 2 Tbsp of oil, until brown and set aside.
Add the rest of the oil to the fry pan and sauté the garlic, chillies, ginger and shallots with the shrimp paste if used for 2 minutes.
Add the sugar, water and tamarind and continue to stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Return the tempeh to the pan and continue to cook, stirring gently until the sauce has reduced and caramelised.
Season with salt to taste.
Garnish with fresh chillies and serve with rice or as a side dish with ‘wet’ curries.

Eat well,


nirala

Easy for You....

In a box in the loft I have an old blue exercise book of English essays I wrote when I was twelve. I keep it to remind me of the passion I felt when I wrote them and the excitement I felt at being praised for them by Anthony Horsefall, the most inspirational, good looking soccer playing English teacher a girl could wish for!

I have always known that writing was something I wanted and needed to do as part of my life’s journey but I wrote very little except journal entries whilst on holidays and essays for assignments. I felt that I never had anything to write about.

Last year, I was asked to contribute recipes and articles to a food website. Days later, Nerys suggested we collaborate on ‘Easy’. I spent the winter in a frenzy of cooking and writing, rediscovering the passion and excitement of that twelve year old. What I also discovered was a validation of my life experience so far. The writing flows easily, I suspect because its content is a reflection of a huge part of who I am.

Nerys’ amazing drive and enthusiasm that she brings to everything she does has again pushed me into new learning curves and given me more confidence in being able to achieve the impossible. She has provided much of the inspiration for my life long learning. With out her I would still be wondering what to write about instead of getting on with it and this book would never have been born.

This slim little tome is surprisingly heavy for its size. I am glad of that. There is something so satisfying in holding a hard copy and a pride in seeing your name on the cover. No time to be smug though, we now have the challenge of selling this one and getting on with the next!

Click on the pictures of the book in the sidebar or our potions to pesto website link for details on how to purchase the paper back or the E book. Anthony, if you are still around somewhere in Hertfordshire, your copy is gratis.

Remind me, why are we doing this?

Two grown women sit transfixed in a caravan in a paddock, four hours drive from the remotest capital city in the world, watching a red line move angonisingly slowly from left to right on a computer screen.

The adventure had begun nine months ago in the same caravan hundreds of kilometres to the north. Nerys asked me if I would help her write a book of recipes and hints for travelers. On a sunny winter’s morning, it seemed like a nice little hobby activity.

The difficulties of living hundreds of kilometers apart became obvious in the size of our telephone bills and the number of emails that flew back and forth. I bought and learnt to use a new camera, updated my computer programs and ate many wonderful stone cold meals beautifully arranged for photographs. There was so much food being cooked, I had large dinner parties and sent out doggy bags to grateful friends.

Early in 2009, Easy! was launched as an E book. It wasn’t long after that Nerys decided that as not everyone traveling had access to a computer, we should look into self publishing a hard copy. Let the fun begin!

Gremlins in the system ate full stops from the ends of sentences, photographs that had been square now all needed to be redone in another format, spaces appeared where none had been before. The questions came faster than we could figure out the answers and there were more problems than there seemed to be solutions for every day. Many times we were heard to comment that we would rather burn the damn book rather than do another final final final proof read.

It's nine months since we had that original discussion and the red line was our baby winging her way through cyberspace to be printed. Our sanity was sorely tried but in our best professional manner, buoyed by endless cups of tea, liquorice allsorts, extreme silliness and Prakash's great lunches we persevered. Sanity and serenity had to take a back seat with everything and everyone else.

The message on the screen read “Your message has been sent.” One day soon the cartons will arrive and like all mother’s we’ll soon forget the labour pains.