Spring Blossoms & Growing Ideas

The first blossoms of spring surprise me every year. As I walked through the botanical gardens a few days ago, I was wowed by the quilts of soft color that blanketed the tree branches that have yet to be repopulated with the reliability of green leaves. The wispy, wide blossoms are showier than the fruit that is yet to come because they have the stage to themselves. It’s like the blossoms are singing, in unison with the robins and cardinals, “we’re back.”

Maybe the newness of spring struck me even more pleasantly this week because our winter was extra-long and I have been working extra hard.  I have long thought the official New Year should begin right here with the blossoms and the breezes and the opportunities to till and explore what we find. I am glad to be back on the blog turning up ideas and observations for your blossoming food skills.

I have been writing, but not on this blog, for the past several months. I completed a book proposal which I then pitched to literary agents at The Writers’ Institute, the largest writers’ conference in the Midwest. I am fortunate to have attended it for the past three years since it is here in Madison, WI and sponsored by the University Of Wisconsin Department Of Continuing Education, which is where I have become reacquainted with my love for writing.

When my writing instructor urged me, in mid-January, to get a book proposal together, based on the topics of this blog, by the deadline of the Writers’ Conference, I nervously said it was only 90 days away. But I researched each necessary segment and wrote and re-wrote for ten weeks. A book proposal, for a non-fiction book, not only includes sample writing and a book outline but research about the potential audience and what books are out there in the same subject area and why your proposal fills a gap.

I am still waiting to hear back from some of the agents. I got one response that was essentially “I like your idea, keep working on it,”   which I see as words of encouragement and not the dreaded rejection letter.  She rightly pointed out that an author gets one chance with each publisher and each chance should be the best effort possible. Agents are the representatives of the authors in the publishing world. Their job is to know the intricacies of the publishers and seek out opportunities for authors.

I’m willing to keep writing and editing. It’s just like when I was learning how to cook. It’s a process with error and feedback along the way.  Here is the upside of the internet.  Your comments and feedback are why I am moving forward.

My goal when I began to write The Deliberate Pickle remains the same: to create an approachable framework for the craft and finesse of eating solo.

The way America eats is changing rapidly led by the stunning fact that half of all meals are eaten solo, not just by people who live solo. Many lives are segmented and scheduled and split form those they may share a house with. Also, noteworthy, is the vast amount of food choices we now have from wider choices in groceries to a vast variety of prepared food from restaurants and delis in food stores.

I am encouraged and confident that The Deliberate Pickle, in its future book form, can be a useful resource for future readers.  Thanks for your current and future help in the process of tilling to see what we uncover.   I will periodically keep you updated on this process.

I’m still trying to sort out the loss of my favorite coffee shop bakery, only half a block away, that was lost to fire. It’s where I went to write. And they made amazing chocolates!