September 28, 1999

Dear Rebecca:

     Your quotes are wonderful! I love the one about garlic. Cookbook collectors read cookbooks like novels! They curl up with them in the evening like I would with a biography. This is one of the most pleasurable things for them – to find a book that is peppered (so to speak) with little-known facts, reminiscences from your childhood, comments about long-time friends, information about the sources of some of the ingredients, the history of certain dishes, etc. I know I covered this in my class, but it is a very important aspect of why you have presented your book in the way that you have. This has been such a pleasure. Please keep me posted. You have my number.

Jay

October 9, 1999

Dear Jay:

     No new recipes at the moment. I am going to take a break and a well-deserved one at that. I suppose there will still be a lot to do, but at least the bulk of the job is complete. I have come to believe that books are more alive that I originally thought. There are volumes of books out there with so much life energy poured into them. They seem to possess you until you have finished writing them, as if they were destined to be and you are their willing writing slave.

Rebecca

I sent Jay a little box of English tea and a teapot as a 

gift for all the editing help she gave me.  

Somehow the card must have ended up in the 

base of the box, leaving her humorously confused.

October 9, 1999

Dear Rebecca:

     You sweet, sweet thing, you! You would have laughed your head off if you could have seen me when your package arrived. Finally, I opened the smallest box first, thinking perhaps I could figure it out from that and rewrap it. Why would I order Brittany Welsh Cookies? The minute I saw the teapot, all of the lights came on and I started to laugh. It was like Christmas. One delight after the other. So now I can have my very own authentic tea party and we will toast you as we sip.

     By the way, everything was impeccably packed; nothing was chipped, nicked or damaged in the slightest. It was the best shipping package I have seen in a long time. The Vermont Country Store really knows its stuff. It has reached a point where I am becoming very anxious for your book to become available. I want to try some of those recipes or show them to some friends. Again, it has been a true pleasure doing business with you. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.

Jay

October 14, 1999

Dear Jay:

     Should I send the entire manuscript to a publisher who requested it? I am terrified to send it. One of the reasons is I haven’t the slightest notion how I should send such a huge document. Should it be bound in two folders? HELP! No rush, I was just wondering what you thought. Did I tell you I ordered a laptop this last week? I am in a state of euphoria. Goodbye ten-year-old computer. Hello to sitting in bed and e-mailing friends or surfing the infinite web. Goodbye to being a prisoner of the desk. I feel that wonderful things will happen in the future and look forward to seeing my book published in my lifetime.  

Can anything stop determination?  

R. 

October 17, 1999

Dear Rebecca:

     Seasoned with Love, what a great new title. It is much, much better! And it is the perfect set-up for the new introduction, which is also much improved. You must be a fully-fledged author. 

     I can distinctly hear the birth pangs of a writer as her book demands to be born. There is nothing quite like it. I have helped so many of you folks go through this process and it’s a miracle every time. I have so much respect for the commitment it takes, the creative desire that demands to be satisfied and the just plain old “stick-to-it-ivness" until that last page is completed! I tip my hat to you.

Keep up the good work,

Jay

Lots of editing, reviewing and site building going on this year...

Almost a year passes, and I'm still working!!!

September 9, 2000 

Dear Jay:

     I  hope things are going well in your life. I just read a book called: Caring in Remembered Ways by Maggie Steincrohn Davis. It was a beautiful book about caring. I am reviewing it today. Like Maggie, I know you have learned so much in your life. She is a great writer and very poetic.

     Well, by the time you have opened up this box you will see that I did in fact make it to Kinko's (not without four trips to make sure they did it right...OH BOY! Now we have a complete original, which should print through the same each time...as long as it survives.) I am sending you a copy for a final check of the Index and anything else you want to check. I literally changed at least 4 things on every page, including some headers. I feel that I am finished writing this cookbook. Yes, I could tinker here and there...but you know...I think I am finally feeling a sense of accomplishment and completion.

     I like Morris Press because they could do a smaller book and it would be such a cute book set. 

     We made a Jambalaya recipe a friend from the Internet sent me. It was so incredibly good. Now we have another recipe and no place to put it!  So, to combat my need to include every last recipe in the one cookbook, I decided to start putting new recipes in the Internet Kitchen. 

     Other authors have also been very supportive. Some even placed my review of their book on their sites and then placed a link back to www.SeasonedwithLove.com.

Life is good!

Best Regards,

Rebecca

October 29, 2002 

Dear Jay:  

Hope you are doing well and spending lots of time with family and friends as the holidays fast approach. I thought you might find it amusing that I'm still not "officially" a cookbook author, yet I made it into the Wall Street Journal. 

Then, my mother finally opened up all her boxes of old recipes and we found my old handwritten recipes from 20 years ago. How amusing. 

Anyway, my focus changed to reviews for a bit and it looks like that was the right path to take. 

If any of your authors need reviews, I'd be happy to review their books. 

Warmest Regards,

Rebecca

P.S. Thank you for believing in me! It works. 

Christmas, 2002

Dear Rebecca: 

I hope this finds you well, happy and prosperous. 

Another Client was reviewed in the NY Times Book Review, and another client has a birthday on 9-11. Keep
up the good work! 

Happy Holidays,

Jay

Dear Jay: 

It is impossible to work on my cookbook and not think of your kindness. I came across a CD which I think you might enjoy. This CD is especially healing. 

Hope your move went well. I just downsized my life so I could focus more on what really matters. 

Thanx for being proud of me in regards to the WSJ article. It counts. Your influence in my life is more than what you probably could imagine. I think I am also reviewing now because of how you took an interest in my writing. It only takes one person to help you figure out what you really want to do and sometimes you just can't figure it out on your own. (Oh, and one of my relatives said the chocolate fudge I made this last Christmas was the BEST she had EVER tasted.) Of course it was YOUR recipe. 

As far as my dear cookbook goes. I have copied all the info into a program put out by Morris Press and it is just an excellent program and so easy to use. While doing that I realized a few of my cookie recipes didn't have quantities in them. So, what a good excuse to do some more baking. All you have to do is send in an order form and the disc with the information. It was quite easy to finish in a matter of weeks. 

The economy is sure putting my dreams on hold for a bit. Anyway, I am still hopeful. Just wanted to send you a note to let you know I was thinking about you. Hope all is well. 

Happy thoughts and Good Wishes,

Rebecca 

Christmas 2003

January 5, 2005 

Dear Jay: 

So, the top of Amazon has been an entertaining tower to live in. As I drove by the "real" Amazon castle over in Seattle, I thought how appropriate to have offices up there on the hill. 

I have started to think that you touch people's lives in a magical way. It has become more apparent, especially after appearing in the L.A. Times too. There are very few people who have affected my life in a profound way. 

Recently I reviewed a book of poems and found out how easy it is to publish them. Apparently even Random House produces print-on-demand books now. 

The cookbook is still in the works. After upgrading to the new computer program I found out that my old input was not compatible. So, guess what? YES, the horror of retyping all the recipes. 

Love and New Year's Wishes,

Rebecca