Shabbat Shalom to all the creatives breathing art into the lives of others.

You’ve heard it said that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Fortunately, good food eaten in the company of great friends also reaches a woman’s heart, and Shirley Tedesco’s heart definitely needs reaching one particular Mother’s Day.

Shirley and Joe Tedesco have recently experienced some heartbreak, but it’s Shirley who is having a hard time getting back into the swing of things. On the outside, she appears to be the same wonderful wife and mother she’s always been. Fortunately, Joe can see through the warm and fuzzy façade to the broken heart within, and he won’t let his wife’s heart turn to stone.

Together with their best friends, Smiley and Charlene Roberts, Joe plans a Mother’s Day surprise for Shirley that includes delicious food sure to melt anyone’s defenses. Shirley understands that she’s been loved from the inside out, and the once unhappy mother finds the…

After you’ve worked with beta readers, self-edited, and done the best you can with your manuscript, it’s time to get a professional to help you. Editing is a tough, undesirable process, but one we must all go through if we want our books to be the best they can be. Choosing a good editor can mean the difference between your book get five star reviews or one star reviews. Let’s jump right in!

Where Do I Start?

A good place to start is asking around. If you have author friends or belong to any type of writer’s group, why not ask them about editors they’ve worked with? If you don’t know any other authors, or nobody has had any good recommendations, your next step is to ask Google. Search for editors, and check a bunch out.

What to Look For

The first thing I looked at is whether the…

Shabbat Shalom to all the creatives working hard at his or her chosen art form. Time to rest your soul.

Pie baking is serious business, and you don’t want to get in the way of a young wife determined to climb up the church-pie-bake-off hierarchy to a first place win. Such was the case for newly-wed Shirley Tedesco when she found the outlet to express her skill with cooking. But Shirley’s baked wonders get up Claudia Romero’s nose. Claudia, who frequently holds the position of president of the Ladies Auxiliary, has held the coveted first place position for years. In Shirley, the woman has met her match.

The following recipe is just one of Shirley’s pies featured in my novel, The Tedescos. I’ve fallen in love with Georgia peaches, so if you can get them in your area, I strongly recommended using them. I’ve been most fortunate to purchase these luscious, little jewels from The Peach Truck once or twice a year. The addition of blueberries to this pie…