Set Your Own Price on Works by Ria Stone

I started publishing with Smashwords, a great site for new authors, in 2013. Founder, Mark Coker offers great advice on writing, formatting and marketing your eBook.

The Smashwords author dashboard is chock-full of choices. One important choice you will make is setting the price for your works. Smashwords' graphs give you an idea of the fees, and royalties you would receive to help you make a choice.

One pricing choice is letting the reader set their own price.

So, I altered the prices on my two books: Recipes from the Kitchen of a Frugal Non-Cook (RKFNC) and Gina's Dream, the first edition, (English only/eBook) to the Readers Choice.

As you can see by my posts, researching and writing RKFNC was fun. So much so, I am working on another cookbook for non-cooks.

I can't boil water but Amy Dacyczyn's Tightwad Gazette challenged and encouraged me to learn to cook and to shop economically.

Learning to cook is like learning a foreign language. I still feel like an alien in the kitchen. I mean what does "braise" or "roux" mean? I still don't know.

One appliance that saved my budget and gave me confidence was the crockpot. After several successes, I began to collect recipes I had adapted. 

After publishing Gina's Dream, I polished up those recipes, researched, cooked and tested many more to create RKFNC.

I am developing a passion for recipe research and adaptation. Remember, all I have is a finicky, electric two-burner stovetop, a crockpot, and a microwave with one setting: high. So, not only do I have to modify recipes in terms of portions, I also have to adapt the recipe for the stovetop, crockpot, or microwave.

Gina's Dream is an attempt to tell a "normal" love story with one exception, Gina is an alien. Gina's Dream is also a manifesto, a call to action. People need to start making changes in order to save our planet and ourselves. I can't believe people do not want to survive.

Researching, writing, and marketing Gina's Dream was fun and a major education in publishing.

There are tons of stats out there regarding publishing. One statement runs like this "50% of eBook authors make less than $500 a year." -- (Ted Summerfield) 

It is important as an author to do research and stay grounded in reality, at least for the bookkeeping.

Visit Smashwords and take a look at RKFNC and Gina's Dream. I hope you enjoy them.

Basic Stovies

Basic Stovies

I could not find the source of my original recipe. I found plenty of other recipes like this one from All Recipes:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Stovies/

While the basic Stovies recipe is boiled potatoes mixed with cooked onions and corned beef, when I found this recipe, it seemed simple and I could make variations of it later. As usual, I had to my  "Use What I Have" method.

Here's the original recipe:

8 red potatoes, peeled and cut in half vertically

salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup butter
Place potatoes halves in a pot with 1/2 inch water or milk
Season potatoes
Cook on medium heat for 15-40 minutes

Here's my revised recipe:

Electric Two-Burner Stovetop Version:

Ingredients:

2 medium, white Mexican potatoes, peeled and cut in half vertically

about a cup of milk and water mix

1/2 cube of chicken bullion

black pepper

garlic salt

a dab of olive oil

Instructions:

add milk and water to pan to fill with 1/2 inch of liquid.

add chicken bullion and stir.

set potatoes in broth.
season with black pepper, garlic salt, and a dab of olive oil.
cover.

cook on low for 15-40 minutes until done.
check to make sure they don’t stick.

Microwave Version:

I had 1 potato and the leftover broth from making the stovies. I poured the broth into a glass casserole dish; cleaned and peeled the potato and placed the two halves in the broth and seasoned. I cooked the potatoes in the microwave for 15 minutes and it came out --- drum roll -- Perfect!!!

Mac & Cheese Stuffed Apples with Bonuses -- Updated

Mac & Cheese Stuffed Apples
(Adapted from: http://domestikatedlife.com/2014/10/04/mac-and-cheese-baked-apples/)

This was an interesting recipe to adapt for my kitchen.

I usually cook for one. Plus, I do not have an oven, so I have to convert portion size/ingredients and baking times to microwave times.

I had two apples, I had been meaning to use for something. Where I got the idea to look for stuffed apple recipes I don't recall but I found this Mac & Cheese Baked Apple recipe and it looked like something I could do.

Ingredients:

Pasta, 1 small bag of ribbon pasta
2   dollops olive oil
3   Tblspn flour
1   Cup milk
2  Tblspn parmesian cheese
1  cup grated cheese (I used gouda)*
s/p to taste
2 red apples

Directions:

Pasta

Cook pasta according to package.
Add a dollop of oil to water to help keep the pasta from sticking together later.
When done, drain pasta in a colander.

Cheese Sauce

In a large saucepan, add 1 dollop of oil.
Cook at medium heat.
Add in flour and stir until smooth.
Gradually add milk, stir, and cook until the sauce thickens.
Add parmesan and grated cheese.
Stir until sauce is smooth.
Add pasta to sauce.
Stir until pasta is fully coated.
Season with s/p to taste.

*The original recipe called for a sharp cheese. I used Gouda cheese and it seemed bland in this mac & cheese. 

Apples

Slice off about a 1/2 inch of top of apple. Save it to use later as a lid.
Using a melon ball scoop, scoop out the inside of the apple to create a deep, wide hole for the mac & cheese.
Fill apple with mac & cheese. Pat it down with a spoon. Fill to the top.
Place apple "lid" on top.

Microwave 6 minutes on high.
Remove from microwave.
Remove apple "lid" and spoon or pour juices over apples.

I cut my apples in half vertically and then into fourths.


Bonuses

With this recipe, there was plenty of mac & cheese leftover for other meals. Also, I could not throw out those apple ball cores, so I decided to make a dessert based on the Apple Crisp recipe in Recipes from the Kitchen of a Frugal Non-Cook.

Apple Ball Core Dessert

apple ball cores from two apples
6  tspn oatmeal
1 1/2 tspn sugar
3 tspn flour
2  tspn butter
cinnamon

With the apple ball cores in a bowl, add additional ingredients. Make adjustments to the ingredients to suit your situation.
Stir mixture until apple core balls are coated.
Sprinkle with cinnamon to taste preference.
Microwave on high for one minute or until apples are soft and warm.

Guess what, no disasters!

Easy Quesadillas

Easy Quesadillas
(adapted from: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/quesadilla/)

This recipe was another "Use What You Got" recipe. About all I had were tortillas, cheese, radishes, two apples, onions, carrots, a squash, and a yogurt (not counting some canned goods).

Also, I was in a hurry, so, it was time to learn how to make Quesadillas.

While it easy to make these Quesadillas, you need to be fast because the Tortilla will cook quickly. I use an electric stove top, so once it gets hot, it's really hot and turning it down seems almost impossible.


Ingredients:

1-2 dollops olive oil
4  flour tortillas
4  Tablespoons grated cheese (I used Gouda.)
4  Tspns olives (no pits), sliced
4  Tspns mushrooms, canned
black pepper per taste.

Note: Tspn = Teaspoon


Instructions:

Gather ingredients before you start.
Grate cheese and slice the olives.
Place ingredients on a plate for easy access.

Picture shows ingredients for one Quesadilla

1. Add a dollop of oil in a small skillet.
2. As oil begins to get hot, add one tortilla.
3. Flip the tortilla so both sides are lightly-coated with oil.
4. Flip the tortilla so both sides get a slightly brown.
5. As the tortilla begins to puff up, add 1 Tablespoon cheese to one-half of tortilla.
6. Top the cheese with 1 Tspn of olives.
7. Add 1 Tspn of mushrooms.
8. Sprinkle with black pepper.
9. Then fold the tortilla.
10. It should be done in seconds.
11. Check to see if the underside is brown.

Remove Quesadilla, place on plate and start with the next tortilla. If needed, add a little more oil to the skillet.

Tortilla is puffing up.

Add ingredients on one side of Tortilla

Fold Tortilla

Fini!, It's Done.

There are many different recipes for Quesadillas. Some with lots of fillings. Some with side condiments. Buen Provecho! (Enjoy your meal!).

WorldCons - World Science Fiction Conventions and more

Every year since about 1939, science fiction fans, writers, artists and more gather to honor some of science fiction's favorite authors and artists.

If you are an author of science fiction, going to a WorldCon is a great experience and a marvelous opportunity to promote your works.

In 2015, the World Science Fiction Convention will be held in Spokane, Washington, USA from August 19-23, 2015. The Sasquan SF WorldCon is the 73rd SF world convention (http://sasquan.org/)

It is at the world convention that the city for the world SF convention to be held two years out is selected. So, at Sasquan, the city for the 2017 WorldCon will be selected. Helsinki, Nippon, Montreal and Washington, DC are the candidate cities.

Kansas City, MO is the site for the 2016 WorldCon to be held from August 17-21, 2016. For more information, go to: http://kcin2016.org/

For more information on WorldCons, go to: http://worldcon.org/.

There are many other science fiction conventions around the world. They are usually smaller and more focused on local authors or particular genres like Star Trek or fantasies. See this site for listings: http://upcomingcons.com/science-fiction-conventions.

As an author, you have many promotional opportunities. These are just some of the opportunities: participate in a panel discussion, rent a table in the Dealers Room to sell your books and such, leave flyers on the various information tables, and more. But, you need to plan in advance and you need to be invited to participate in the panels.

eBook Orchard -- A New Online Bookstore

Recent controversies, such as the battle between Amazon and Hachette Books, have illuminated that royalties for the sale of an author's works are in a great deal of flux, often to the determent of the author's income.

Ted Summerfield, an author and founder of Smashwords Forum has developed a new online bookstore, eBook Orchard, for authors, to give authors more control over the sale of their works.

Blog Post
http://punzhupuzzles.wordpress.com/2014/12/20/an-ebook-store-by-authors-for-authors/

Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/ebookorchard

Twitter
@EbookOrchard

As Ted notes on his blog, eBook Orchard is in its testing phase.

Spinach and Egg Sandwich

While the picture below is of a "simple" egg and spinach sandwich, it was days in the making.

I had had difficulty making hard-boiled eggs using my own RKFNC recipe. But, I realized that the original recipe was developed when I had access to a propane gas stove top, now I have an electric stove top.

This particular stove top heat levels seem to vary from the propane gas stove top, so I reverted to my standby hard-boiled egg cooking instructions. They are easy.

Hard-Boiled Eggs Method 2

• Place eggs in a bowl.
• Place bowl on counter to let eggs reach room temperature.
• Fill a pot with water, about 2-3 inches from the top of the pot. Need enough water to cover eggs.
• Add a dollop of vinegar.
• Bring water to a vigorous boil.
• Use a slotted serving spoon and gradually lower one egg at a time into the water. Go slowly, it will help keep the egg from cracking due to the change in temperature.
• Once all the eggs are in the pot.
• Set timer for 10 minutes.
• Remove pot from burner at the end of 10 minutes.
• Remove eggs, one at a time. Place into bowl.
• Run water over eggs to cool them off.

Note: I had to run water for awhile to get the eggs to cool.

I did not attempt to shell an egg at that time.

Now, I had a bag of spinach I had bought several days before. It seemed urgent to cook the spinach before it went bad. I was nervous. I hadn't cooked fresh spinach in years. I wasn't quite sure how to approach cooking it.

After looking at various recipes. I found one on Simply Recipes.com (http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/spinach/) that pointed me in the right direction. As usual, I had to adapt the recipe to the appliances and quantities I had. Here's my recipe.

Easy Cooked Spinach

1 clove of garlic, diced
1 package of fresh spinach
1 dollop olive oil

• Add olive oil to large microwave glass casserole dish.
• Add garlic.
• Cook on high, one minute in microwave.
• Rinse spinach in a colander to remove grit.
• No need to shake off all the moisture. It will be useful in the microwave.
• Add spinach to casserole dish and cover.
• Cook 2 minutes on high in microwave.
• Stir spinach.

Note: Spinach should be very wilted and moist.

So, now I had cooked spinach and hard-boiled eggs. The experiment continued.

Hard-Boiled Egg and Spinach Sandwich

1 dollop olive oil
2 slices of multi-grain bread
1 hard-boiled egg
1 serving of cooked spinach
1 teaspoon mayonaise
Black pepper
5-8 capers
1/2 teaspoon Basil

• Add olive oil to small skillet.
• Lay one slice of bread in the oil to coat one side.
• Lift bread out with a spatula.
• Add the second slice of bread.
• Place first slice on top with the oiled side up.
• Cook until underside of slice is brown.
• Flip slices, so the top slice can get brown.
• Remove slices.
• Place slices on plate, side by side, toasted sides down.
• Spread mayonaise onto one slice of toast.
• Shell, peel and slice a hard-boiled egg.
• Place slices of egg onto one slice of toast.
• Top egg slices with black pepper, capers and basil.
• Add serving of spinach to other slice of toast.
• Fold two slices of toast together.
• Slice sandwich in half.

Enjoy!