Short videos we've written

Through our work with nonprofits, we've had a chance to create some short slideshow videos.

This one was created by Elizabeth and Jacob Smith, her assistant.

Freelance Business Articles

Elizabeth has been published in the Boston Globe, NH Business Review and an assortment of weekly papers and local magazines. Below are selected articles:

A Village with a View - Boston Globe

Wireless Passes the Test - NH Business Review

Garnet Hill Article - NH Business Review

Blue's Day - Saga of an Office Dog

Small Blessings Warm Economic Winter

This past year has been one of the strangest periods I've ever lived through. Last October the world seemed to freeze when the recession hit. Everyone hunkered down, afraid to move, make decisions or spend money.

How bizarre is it when selling a house or finding even a part-time job becomes the stuff of miracles? All the normal course of life we took for granted vanished.

For too many people, it's like starting over. They've lost homes and jobs and feel like they are at a dead end. It's not simply a matter of going out and finding another job at this point. Let's pray the economy thaws soon.

I'm reminded of when I was young and poor and working my way through college. Many hopes for a bright future but the present reality was a slim budget and a non-material lifestyle. I lived by faith and found pleasure in people, nature, my own creativity and growth. The simple little things, like walking through the woods and cooking a meal with a friend. And I had the pleasure of seeing my modest needs met through what seemed to be miraculous circumstances--often through the spontaneous kindness of friends and strangers.

Now, while I wait for spring, I'm experiencing again the joy and peace of living by faith and celebrating the small blessings that come our way.

My daughter Nikki is expecting a baby in two weeks. A couple of months ago I asked my friend Candace if there was a good consignment shop locally to buy baby clothes. She said that she had just sorted through her daughters' clothes and pulled out six months to 18 months and did I want them? And I could have her high-tech gorgeous baby swing, too. Candace is a real Georgia peach.

This isn't the only generosity that has come Nikki's way. Her friends and co-workers both threw showers and her in-laws bought almost all the baby furniture she needs. How wonderful is that? Nikki and Chris are a typical young couple just getting started on their career tracks. Nikki will be attending graduate school starting January. Her financial aid came through and it will pay full tuition and extra to live on, another blessing.

My brother in Maine is starting over, too, with rueful good humor about the turn his life has taken. He was laid off from a very good job with the railroad and ended up separating from his wife and moving in with my mother, a widow. Not exactly where he wanted to be at age 40 plus. He has a part-time chroming business that will likely be very lucrative once he can get his shop up and running again, but it wouldn't work in my mother's house. So she suggested he build a shop/apartment on her land. He put the word out and the appliances and fixtures for the apartment were free or practically given to him! All the building materials have been bargains, too--he is building a 24 x 24 shop for less than $3,000.

I still own a house in New Hampshire (waiting for my miracle!) and the friends living there burn a lot of wood. I just had to get the chimneys cleaned this year. The price for that has almost doubled, to $250 for two chimneys. When I mentioned it, they told me that one of their fathers had the tools and did it for free. Another small blessing.

When we're prosperous and busy, we often don't even see or need the small blessings. We can buy whatever we want. But right now we are in economic winter and every ray of sunshine, every promise of spring, is welcome. And when we're back in full summer, I hope never to forget the miracle of small blessings.

Waiting Room

Right now we are waiting for responses from six agents reviewing our work. One for screenplays, the other five for partials or full manuscripts of my books. I wrote the first installment in a historical mystery series and a young adult historical novel a while ago and decided recently to re-enter the "getting published" marathon.

Not too long ago, you could directly approach most publishers. But now, many require an agent as a pre-screening mechanism. Agents are firmly in the power seat as gatekeepers.

Fortunately many allow email queries and many have been surprisingly prompt about replying, either with a no or a request for more. Right now, about half are responding positively to the mystery series. The YA is a bit of a harder sell, as it is very different from what is out there.

Finding the right agent can seem like a quest for the Holy Grail. First, they have to be open to new clients. Then they have to "love" your work and "be enthusiastic" about it. Some have websites so intimidating with their talk of representing "only the best" writers that you want to fold the cover of your laptop and slink away. Others--like the ones I hope to work with--seem genuinely nice, approachable and helpful to writers.

It takes weeks to get a decision. And that waiting time is fraught with the usual pitfalls of self-doubt, impatience and perhaps, most dangerously, a tendency to put your writing on hold. Probably because getting an agent seems like the next logical, necessary step. Why should I work on book two of my series if it ain't going to fly? I'm at the point in my writing career where I have many many ideas. I don't want to slave for years anymore on spec. And yet, I know that unless I heed the stories and characters that live in my head, demanding to be released, writing will be no more than just another job. And, with due respect to industry professionals, it isn't wise to assign them too much power over what I write, or how, or to put myself on hold for their decisions.

Unusual Uses for Peaches

We're living in the peach belt. Yay, ten miles up the road is a huge orchard with a dozens of types of peaches ripening in waves all summer long.

So besides biting into a ripe one and letting the juice run down your face, what can you do with peaches? Not content to make pies and cobbler, although they are luscious, I did a little research and experimentation.

First up: Peach Salsa. A lovely condiment to use as garnish, in Mexican food, with chips or with scrambled eggs.

My adaption of a recipe on line (a small batch):

2 peaches, peeled and diced

1 Georgia tomato, diced

1/2 Vidalia onion, diced

1/2 green pepper, diced

1 clove garlic, pressed

red pepper

black pepper

salt

juice from 1/2 lime

no cilantro, don't like it

Dan added (much better):

1/2 tbl. molasses

1/2 tbl. balsamic vinegar

Tabasco

Kosher salt

dash of basil

Stir and let ripen in the fridge. Yummy.

Next, the Italian way to eat peaches, from italianfood.about.com:

Slice peaches into glass

Fill with wine

Eat peaches with tip of a knife

If you want, you can let the peaches soak in the wine for a while, with a couple of teaspoons of sugar and dash of nutmeg or cloves.

Leave it to the Italians to figure out how to add wine into a peach recipe. (I am one, you know)

My great-grandparents came from Barga, Italy, a gorgeous Tuscan town on top of a mountain.

Next, I'll be trying another Italian recipe, Marmellata di Pesche, also made with wine. Natch.

A Good Recipe for Zucchini

Or, what to do with those giant green things in your garden.

At the farmer's market the other day, I was buttonholed by Bob Bradbury, an older gentleman who sells honey. "Do you want a taste?" he asked, brandishing a paper cup and a squeeze bottle. No, I replied. We already bought some. And we had, in an attempt to cure Dan's allergies with local honey. We're testing the theory that the local pollen in the honey will make him more resistant.

He switched gears and asked if I wanted a zucchini. He had a few giant ones that resembled a caveman's club. I prefer the very small tender ones. Sensing my imminent refusal, he waved a recipe sheet under my nose. Zucchini Seafood Casserole. "It's good," he said. "It's just me and my wife and we ate it for several days. It improved with age."

How could I resist? I had hoped to buy greens for a crustless quiche but there weren't any. Maybe we could do zucchini instead. Complimenting him on his salesmanship, I bought a 3-pounder and lugged it home.

I made up the recipe and it is much better than it sounds by the ingredients. I did make a couple of changes, to suit my tastes and I've noted those.

Bob Bradbury's Zucchini Seafood Casserole

4 cups peeled, sliced zucchini (remove seeds)

1 1/2 cups Bisquick

1 1/2 cups shredded American cheese (I used Velvetta)

1 cup chopped onion (I used about 1/2 onion)

3 eggs

1 6.5 oz. can tuna, crab meat, or salmon (I used a 4 oz. can of small shrimp)

1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used 1/4 cup olive oil and 1/4 cup milk)

1 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Spread into a greased baking dish. Bake at 375 degrees about 25-30 minutes or until golden brown on top.