Author Susan Thacker is back with us again today to tell us more about her passion for restoring the “dinnertime hour.” If you missed yesterday’s discussion full of inspiring kitchen ideas for spring, you’ll want to read here first.

Welcome back, Susan. Well, I’m holding a copy of your book right now, and I must say I love the hardy design with a glossy cover that looks easy to wipe off. In the first few chapters, you introduce us to the concept of supper swapping, and share how we can eat healthy and build friendships at the same time.

But the recipes are the true heart and soul of your book, an eclectic variety of mouth-watering meals! You feature recipes from several top chefs around the country. Why did you seek out these well-known chefs?

Would you believe — because I wasn’t a very good cook. You know how some people have a mental block against math? Well, I had been like that with cooking. So I literally called up all these chefs and said, “I need your easiest recipe. I’m not a very good cook.” Then they were like, “Yeah, right.” One of them even said, “That’s very humble of you.” It kind of tickled me that this big-time chef didn’t believe me. Oh by the way, I didn’t use his recipe. It was too hard.

I’m looking at the Chicken Picatta recipe on p.120 from Edible Arts in Franklin, Tennessee. This one got a double thumbs-up rating from both of your kids (which I think is a great idea, by the way — the ratings!). You’ve only got nine simple ingredients, and you even tell us how to get more juice from a lemon on p. 66.

Although the recipe has a fancy name, it looks do-able the way you describe it. You write, “Everyone loves it … This dish is versatile. Try making it without the capers and parsley and garnishing with Black Bean Asparagus Salad on p. 88. It’s beautiful!” I’d feel like a real gourmet cook if I prepared a meal like this! Do you think it’s possible for today’s busy parents to serve fabulous meals like these professional chefs do?

Yes, that’s one of the great things that I learned. Chefs all have a few simple recipes that they just throw together. At our website you can click “Recipes” to try some.

Well, I’m going to have to give these a try — it will be fun to say, “Tonight we’re having ‘Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Apples and Walnuts’ from Chicago’s internationally renowned Chef John Coletta of Quartino.” Sounds fancy.

Now can you tell us what it was like to be featured on the Dr. Laura radio show?

It was awesome. It’s kind of a funny story, but I have to first say, on a serious note, that the Lord handed me that endorsement. I had been second-guessing all the work I’d put into collecting these recipes, and I said, “Lord, please bless me with some kind of recognition on a national level.” I needed the encouragement. Right after that, Dr. Laura said she wanted to feature it.

The funny part of the story was that one day I just spontaneously decided to send Dr. Laura a silly fax mimicking one of her books called 10 Stupid Things Men Do to Mess Up Their Lives. My fax said, “10 Stupendous Reasons Dr. Laura wants to give away 50 Supper Swapping cookbooks,” and it looked like her book.

Then I listed 10 stupendous reasons, of course. It cracked her up! Her assistant called me immediately and said, “Dr. Laura wants to review Supper Swapping.” She loved it!

And now your book is featured on Dr. Laura’s website, and we can hear an audio of the broadcast on your Supper Swapping website.

Susan, this has been fun getting to know you and sharing your ideas about making family dinners practical and special.

Thanks so much, Heather, for interviewing me. If anyone has any additional questions or wants to obtain Supper Swapping through our website, I’ll send them my personal list of the meals that I think are the fastest and easiest in the cookbook. I think it’s a good cheat sheet for getting started, particularly if you don’t like to cook.

Now, do you have one recipe you wouldn’t mind sharing with us as we head into the spring season?

Yes! For spring, I love the Spinach Salad with Blueberry Vinaigrette — a recipe in Supper Swapping from Post Oak Grill in Houston. It’s what we all want: nutritious, few ingredients and kid-friendly. I wait to make this when blueberries are on special; otherwise it can be expensive.

[This recipe also appears on p. 78-79 in Supper Swapping, along with a tip from Chef Polo Becerra on how to cook fish properly so you don’t lose the juice and protein.]

I can’t help but crack up (haha) every time I look at that book cover. Kathryn, sitting at her computer, holding the burned meatloaf. Ooh … I can relate. I once put cookies in the oven, then thought I’d run up to the attic REAL quick to find something. And of course when I got up there, I totally forgot I had cookies in the oven. Oops.

So, I gotta ask Kathryn. What’s with the burnt meatloaf?

The burnt meatloaf reference was just a phrase that made me laugh, but it also refers to those moments in our life when we make silly mistakes, like burning the meatloaf, and instead of crying about it, we should just laugh at ourselves. It makes life a lot more fun!

Tell us about your new book. Why is it called Cracked at Birth?

Well, when I first started writing my column, the editor asked me to come up with a column name. My husband actually came up with “Sunny Side Up” because the columns really just try to get people to laugh at all the strange and unexplained phenomena in life and not take life too seriously. Then, when I was developing my Web site, I recognized that sunny side up is also a way to cook eggs and I just started brainstorming along the whole egg theme. When I came up with “Cracked at Birth,” it just sounded funny to me and also kind of explained my slightly cracked view of life — so I went with it.

Fun! Hey, I saw that your website was one of the top 10 in the Writer’s Digest Best Website competition in 2003. Congratulations! So, what’s it like running a business from home?

Well, like anything, it’s got its plusses and minuses. It’s nice to be able to work from home and contribute to our family’s bottom line, but it’s also challenging because you have to work around your child’s schedule. I learned early on that I could only juggle so much and that has helped save my sanity.

I think it’s important for each mother to determine her comfort zone. How much can you handle? Do you like to be busy all of the time? Do you mind working at night after the kids go to bed? How much money do you want your business to make? These are all important questions you need to consider before you just dive in and start a business.

Can you tell us a little more about your marketing communications business?

Originally, I started out doing both the writing and designing of marketing communications materials, like brochures, fliers, direct mail pieces, etc. I quickly learned that I got flustered trying to handle the whole project, so I decided to focus my efforts on the writing and now outsource the design. This has worked out really well for me.

The percentage of moms working from home continues to grow every year. Do you have any suggestions for women who need to help out with their family income and want to try to work from home?

Just to try and determine what YOU need to make it work. Everyone has different needs, goals, time constraints, and stress tolerance levels. I think a job should be fun and fulfilling. If you find yourself working into the wee hours of the night, not enjoying the work, and most importantly neglecting your kids on a regular basis to get the job done, then I think you need to reassess the situation and come up with
a better balance.

I’m constantly reminding myself that my decision to stay home was to be with my kids and that is the most important thing, so when they get off the bus, I get off the computer and totally engage in being a mom. Raising those little human beings to be successful and happy is our main job and we need to keep sight of that.

Someone once said to me, “You’re only as happy as your unhappiest child,” and I totally believe that to be true. So I try to have fun with my kids, make them laugh, and if they’re happy…I’m happy!

That’s so true! Thanks, Kathryn! This has been such a refreshing experience to talk to someone with such a great outlook. I really enjoyed your book, and I wish you all the best as you continue seeing the Sunny Side Up of life.

P.S. Don’t forget to stop in Kathryn’s website and drop her a note! 🙂

Today, we have a guest visiting us here at Mom 2 Mom Connection. I’d like you to meet Kathryn Mahoney, a mom of two boys who started her own humor newspaper column. I feel like I know Kathryn because I’ve read her hilarious stories in her new book, Cracked at Birth: One Madcap Mom’s Thoughts on Motherhood, Marriage & Burnt Meatloaf.

If there are any of you out there who have ever thought of turning your family stories or blog into a column, here’s what Kathryn says about it:

Welcome, Kathryn! Can you tell us how you got started writing a column in the newspaper?

Well, it all started when I met a fellow writer named Gina. We met through a printer who we both used when we were working for different financial institutions. He hooked us up because he knew we had a lot in common. We had both left our jobs to take care of our children and we both started our own marketing communications business. One day when we got together with our kids, we were talking about how much we identified with Erma Bombeck.

Oh, yes! I grew up reading Erma Bombeck! She wrote If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits? So, did she give you the idea to start your humor column?

Well, Gina mentioned that she would like to try writing a humor column for a newspaper some day and even though that thought had never crossed my mind before, I decided to give it a try. I submitted a couple of columns to my local newspaper, and the editor asked if I wanted to write a biweekly column. That was in 2001, and I am still writing for them today.

Wow! So you’ve been writing a column for five years! Is it hard thinking of ideas every week?

I must admit, I haven’t been writing as regularly as I was when I first started my column. When I made the decision to write my book, the column kind of got put on the back burner because of time constraints and fortunately the editor of the newspaper has been very understanding. Now that my book is out, I really need to get back to writing my column on a regular basis.

What do you like to write about?

I like to write about my family and just the funny things that happen in everyday life that I know many of us can relate to. It’s the best feeling when I receive e-mails from readers who say, “I can totally relate to that” or “my husband does the same thing.” I think most people want to feel that they’re not the “only one” feeling a certain way about things. There is comfort in knowing “you’re not alone.”

Yes, that’s true. So, what would you say to a mom who’s considering starting a newspaper column?

I’d say … GO FOR IT! Like I said, I had no humor writing experience and in fact I was never the class clown or anything. I made my immediate friends laugh, but I always knew that I was funnier on paper than in person so I thought I would give it a whirl. If you think about it, you have nothing to lose by trying, so why not give it a shot?

Is there a certain way to approach an editor?

I think my case was unique because the newspaper I approached is relatively small. There are about 8,000 readers. I think it’s important to know how the editor likes to be approached and you can find that out by either sending an e-mail query or calling them on the phone and asking them a few questions. Is the paper looking to fill a certain need? Could you submit some samples for consideration? What word count do they prefer? Do they prefer e-mail or postal mail? Will they accept e-mail attachments? And then once you send this information, it’s important to follow-up in a couple weeks to discuss the situation. The key is, if you really want it, don’t give up.

That’s great advice for us, Kathryn. Now, I love your sense of humor — you seem to find the most hilarious ways of describing things that can almost drive moms crazy! Do you think it’s important for moms to keep a sense of humor in raising children?

Absolutely! If you don’t, you’ll go out of your ever lovin’ mind. Raising children in the world today is stressful and if we don’t try to approach it with humor and a good attitude I think our children are the ones who ultimately suffer.

OK, so how do we do we keep a sense of humor?

I think you have to learn to let the little things go. I went to a seminar once and the speaker referred to “the little things” as the “C” basket. Baskets A & B are things that might affect your child or other children’s well being and these are things that we should focus on. The “C” basket contains things like what clothes they wear, whether or not they brush their hair in the morning, whether they put their clothes in the hamper, etc. If you stress about the little things every day, you and your children are both going to be stressed out on a regular basis and it won’t be much fun at home.

My husband and I often remind each other about the “C” basket. If I hear him harping on the kids about something I consider a minor infraction, I’ll yell to him, “C basket.” He realizes I’m right and then everybody relaxes and we get on with life.

Wow — that’s a great idea. I’ll have to give the “C” basket a try around my house. What do you think are the really important things we should focus on instead?

I’d say always keep your eye on the big picture. Do your kids have good values? Do they use good judgment? Are they doing well at school? If all of these are true than you’re probably doing a pretty good job as a parent. So what if their hair is pink and their pants drag on the floor. It’s a passing phase and it doesn’t affect who they truly are inside. As they say in all of the parenting books…you’ve got to pick your battles.

A lot of us here are moms who like to write about our families in our blog or other places. Why do you think it’s important for moms to write down stories like you’ve done with your columns and now book?

I just think it’s a great history to have of your child’s life. I don’t know about other moms, but I have a lousy memory, so I knew that if I wrote these stories down as they happened my kids and I would have this history to share together forever. The key is to log these memories so you don’t forget them. Then when you’re older and your children have left the nest you’ll have all of these precious moments to relive in your mind and in your heart when they are out starting their careers and families. Even now I go back and read what I wrote a few years ago, and it puts a smile on my face.

Any more advice on helping us get started?

Just start writing, and don’t edit your words. Let it flow. You’ll be amazed at how just writing the words down on the paper is very cathartic.

Thanks so much Kathryn. You’ve been so helpful! I’m sure there are some aspiring newspaper columnists and essayists out there, and you’ve given us some great tips!

You’re welcome.

Tomorrow, Kathryn will be back visiting with us here to tell us more about her new book, Cracked at Birth: One Madcap Mom’s Thoughts on Motherhood, Marriage & Burnt Meatloaf. She’ll also be here to give us some tips on how to juggle a home business with keeping up with family responsibilities. You can read some of Kathryn’s writing here on Sanity Central and on her website.

I was listening to “Good Morning America” while I fed my younger children breakfast, and I heard the familiar voice of former President Jimmy Carter. Since the interview was being broadcast from Plains, Georgia, in my home state, I couldn’t help but become intrigued with what he was talking about.

I kept hearing the name Mattie, and the two people being interviewed were Mattie’s mother and Jimmy Carter. Who’s Mattie? They were talking about a new book called Just Peace, written by young author Mattie Stepanek.

Actually, I found out that Mattie Stepanek passed away two years ago, in 2004, and some of his last words were, “Did I do enough on the book?” He had a rare form of muscular dystrophy that finally took his life at the age of 13.

Maybe all of you already know this but me. Mattie Stepanek was a poet and New York Times bestselling author for his Heartsongs series of poetry books. You can read more about him and his book on his website. Here’s what I found out about his book, Just Peace, that is being released today:

“Just Peace offers a collection of essays and e-mail correspondence between Mattie and Former President Jimmy Carter, as these two peacemakers work together to realize their vision of a peaceful world. The book also contains many photographs, along with selections of Mattie’s artwork and peace poetry … A portion of the proceeds of this book go to the MDA Mattie Fund.”

Here is a brief excerpt from one of his poems. You can read the rest of the poem on his website here:

I just found out that Mattie’s mother, Jeni, will be starting an official book tour today telling the world about her son’s last book, Just Peace. Jeni also has the adult-onset form of this disease, and the website says that Mattie had a sister, Katie, and two brothers, Stevie and Jamie, who each died during early childhood from this same infant-onset disease that affected Mattie. How can one woman go through so much?

Yet today, she was on “Good Morning America” with Jimmy Carter. And here’s an example of a very busy man who took the time to correspond with a boy who had a big heart and big dreams to further a message of hope.

Now I know some of you are probably getting caught up in the Democrat/Liberal thing when I mention Carter. But I say let’s put that aside and think of the big picture of what Mattie dreamed for the world: peace. It’s the message Jesus shared when He stood on top of the Mount of Olives and proclaimed, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9 KJV).

I think the best place we can begin to start living in a world of peace is to start in our own hearts and in our own homes. Hug your kids today. Don’t yell at them when they mess up. Don’t get so down on yourself when you mess up. Just keep going. Keep making the world a better place by spreading the message of peace.

Yesterday, I wrote somewhat of a rant, which I don’t normally do. But today, I’ll tell you about the flip side of forwarding humorous stories around that don’t have a writer’s name on them. Every day, I get a short article delivered to my email address from Daily Wisdom. This is a service of Gospel Communications International, which I chose to subscribe to, and I enjoy these messages very much.

At the end of each story, the writer’s name is included with a brief bio. Recently, I’ve enjoyed reading several things written by Rhonda Rhea. Her bio is always included, which says:

Rhonda Rhea is the author of Who Put the Cat in the Fridge and other insanely fun books, including Amusing Grace and Turkey Soup for the Soul: Tastes Just Like Chicken. She is a radio personality and humor columnist and speaks at conferences and events nationwide. Rhonda lives in the St. Louis area with her pastor/husband and their five children. Find out more at www.RhondaRhea.net.

So, now I’ve heard of this author and her books. And I love the way she writes! Well, what if I just cut-and-pasted her story and sent it around to some people, who forwarded it to a few more people? Somewhere along the way, her byline would probably get lost, and nobody would know that she was the author. It would just become another one of those “cute email things” that people read and forward, read and forward.

Instead, I read Rhonda’s story yesterday, which was called “Envy Wrecking,” and it really connected with me. I wish I could say I’m just super-spiritual and I never get jealous of people, but the truth is that it’s a sin I have to confess every day. I pray, “Lord, please forgive me for being jealous of ____. You’ve given me so many things to be thankful for. I praise you, Lord, for the gifts of my life.” Rhonda shared in her humorous way how she overcomes jealousy and gave us some scriptures to encourage us. So I went to her website and wrote her how much I appreciated her story. I was able to give her feedback — and who knows? That might have encouraged her to keep on with her writing.

So now since I’m a blogger, I get to share here one of Rhonda’s funny books, Who Put the Cat in the Fridge? I’m sure it’s full of inspirational humor, just like the snippets I’ve read in Daily Wisdom. I discovered Rhonda is also a member of the Christian Humor Writers’ group, along with Dena Dyer and Tim Bete, whose books I reviewed here last fall.

(I must say, I’m curious about that cat in the fridge!) 😉

P.S. I also discovered that Rhonda Rhea is a blogger as well. I know I’ll be back to visit!

Here’s another interesting blogger quiz. Answer the questions to find out “which literary classic are you?” I enjoyed this one. Hat tip to Sally at All About Children’s Books. I didn’t realize until I was about to post my results that she and I are the same book. Guess that’s why I enjoy reading her blog so much!

Umberto Eco: The Name of the Rose. You are a

mystery novel dealing with theology,

especially with catholic vs liberal issues.

You search wisdom and knowledge endlessly,

feeling that learning is essential in life.

Which literature classic are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Here’s the new Christian Bookseller Association (CBA) list of bestsellers for March 2006. I find this list pretty interesting. You can go to their site and see who the publishers are. Thomas Nelson and Zondervan seem to have the most top-selling books this month.

There are definitely more nonfiction books than novels on this list — why is that? I know personally I read very little fiction (unless it’s for children), though it’s about all I read growing up. Now, as a mom with five kids, I love reading nonfiction books that give me new insight or inspiration — because I GIVE a lot; I also need to RECEIVE a lot from reading (with the Bible being #1 of course).

I guess a lot of people thought The Five Love Languages (#2) made a nice Valentine gift. That’s a long-running bestseller! I know one of my blog readers in Japan says she loves this book.

I have NOT read Captivating yet. I’d like to — has anybody else read anything on this list (or not on this list) you liked recently?

1. Cure for the Common Life — Max Lucado
2. The Five Love Languages — Gary Chapman
3. Captivating — John & Stasi Eldredge
4. The Purpose Driven Life: Keepsake Edition — Rick Warren
5. Dinner With a Perfect Stranger — David Gregory
6. Even Now — Karen Kingsbury
7. The Bible Promise Book (NIV) — Toni Sortor, ed.
8. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe — C.S. Lewis
9. The Purpose Driven Life — Rick Warren
10. End of the Spear — Steve Saint, SaltRiver
11. The Total Money Makeover — Dave Ramsey
12. The Witness — Dee Henderson
13. Wild at Heart — John Eldredge
14. Love and Respect — Emerson Eggerichs
15. Blue Like Jazz — Donald Miller
16. Battlefield of the Mind — Joyce Meyer
17. For Women Only — Shaunti Feldhahn
18. Come Thirsty — Max Lucado
19. Showdown — Ted Dekker
20. Boundaries — Henry Cloud & John Townsendp
21. The Great Physician’s Rx for Health and Wellness — Jordan Rubin
22. Knowing Aslan — Thomas Williams
23. Every Young Woman’s Battle — Shannon Ethridge & Stephen Arterburn
24. Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World — Joanna Weaver
25. The Power of a Praying Wife — Stormie Omartian
26. Unlikely Angel — Ashley Smith & Stacy Mattingly
27. Jerusalem Countdown — John Hagee, Charisma
28. Your Best Life Now — Joel Osteen
29. Mere Christianity — C.S. Lewis
30. What on Earth Am I Here For? — Rick Warren
31. Voices of the Faithful — Beth Moore
32. The Threshing Floor — Juanita Bynum
33. The Maker’s Diet — Jordan Rubin
34. Living the Extraordinary Life — Charles Stanley
35. Heaven — Randy Alcorn
36. The Ezekiel Option — Joel Rosenberg
37. Forgiven — Karen Kingsbury
38. Your Best Life Now Devotional — Joel Osteen
39. Rediscovering the Kingdom — Myles Munroe
40. Wild at Heart — John Eldredge
41. The Quilter’s Daughter — Wanda Brunstetter
42. The Pilgrim’s Progress — John Bunyan
43. 90 Minutes in Heaven — Don Piper with Cecil Murphey
44. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe — C.S. Lewis
45. Lies Women Believe — Nancy Leigh DeMoss
46. The Power of a Praying Parent — Stormie Omartian
47. Twelve Extraordinary Women — John MacArthur
48. Captivating: A Guided Journal — John Eldredge
49. The Dream Giver — Bruce Wilkinson & David & Heather Kopp,
50. Sharing Your Life Mission Every Day — Brett Eastman

P.S. Don’t forget to be thinking about next week’s Carnival of Beauty topic, hosted by Marla of Just Marla. Send her your post link by 3 pm next Tuesday, Feb. 28. Marla says, “The theme is the Bible, so feel free to share your thoughts on the whole book, a favorite passage, or whatever else is Biblically relevant.”

We’re back today to finish up chatting with e-book expert Alyice Edrich of The Dabbling Mum, who is telling us how we can write about our passions in an e-book form and build a home-based business — while our kids do their schoolwork or nap.

If you missed yesterday’s interview, you’ll want to read it so you can learn the basics of writing e-books and exploring niche markets. Today, I’d like to learn more details about the selling part (oooh…that word scares me.)

Hi Alyice. Thanks for coming back to tell us more about e-books.

You’re welcome! Glad to be back.

So, if I’ve decided on a topic I’d like to write about, how much do I have to write to be able to sell my ideas as an e-book? How long should an e-book be?

An e-book should be as long as it needs to be to get the point across. Often, people come up with a great title, a great theme, but then leave the readers hanging because they don’t put in the time necessary to write a thorough book.

If you’re writing a book on how to build a tree house, for instance, your book will need to be comprised of things such as: do you need a building permit, how to get a building permit, how to draw up a blue print, how many people will be needed for the project, how to tell if a specific tree is sturdy enough, what types of woods are there and which are best, should you use nails or screws, shingles or cement, etc.

Then of course, you’ll need to decide if pictures should be included and if you use pictures, will they be sketches or actual photos — in which case you’ll need to build a tree house from scratch. Such a book could run 200 pages.

If you’re going to write a book about building a tree house, it does no good to just give a list of rules in 20 pages. People could end up buying too soft of a wood, untreated wood that warps once put together causing a safety issue in the structure, and nails that rust or loosen over time.

So, it looks like writing an e-book is a pretty in-depth process. Is it worth all the time it will take to research?

By taking the time to go into detail, providing more than surface answers, your readers will tell others about your book and you’ll gain more sales through word-of-mouth advertising.

That’s true. If customers are happy, they’ll be the ones telling other people about the product. But the whole idea of selling things scares me!

Marketing e-books is just like marketing any other product. You have to develop a business plan. You have to discover your target audience and then you have to pitch your e-book to that target audience.

You can market your e-book through word of mouth, speaking engagements, published articles, advertisements, press releases, radio interviews, etc.

What about online marketing? Do you have any tips on how we can do some marketing from home?

Sure. Here are some tips I shared with an e-book writer looking to increase sales by promoting from her website:

— Find websites that accept articles about your e-book’s topic and submit articles related to your e-book’s theme.

— Find forums where your target audience hangs out. When someone has a question related to your e-book’s theme, reply with a 250-word answer, then include a brief announcement about finding more answers in your e-book in your tagline.

— Volunteer to discuss your e-book, in an organized manner, in chat rooms that relate to the theme of your e-book. Most authors only think of chat rooms that discuss the secrets of writing and selling their books. While that can be a great place to start, your best bet for converting your time into sales is by targeting your target audience.

What about a blog tour? Is there a way we could do this with e-books?

Yes, blogs are wonderful mediums, and people love hearing from authors. You can visit blogs with subject matter that relates to the theme of your e-book. There are a several ways you can do a blog tour. I’ve written an article about it with more detail.

You can also visit appropriate blogs and leave a comment that truly responds to the post, and then link to your sales page. Or you can ask bloggers to invite you to write short content for their blogs.

And here you are! You’re offering all of us Mom 2 Mom readers useful information in case we decide to try writing e-books as a way to earn extra income for our families. And you’re also helping to market your own e-book.

Well, I feel like we’ve just nicked the tip of the iceberg — and I still have a thousand questions. Is there a place we can visit to learn more?

You can visit me at The Dabbling Mum Press and order a copy of my e-book, Tid-Bits For Making Money With E-books.

Great! We’ll also be sure to check The Dabbling Mum website to learn more. Thanks again for all of your help!

You’re welcome.

I want to add a couple of things here: I’ve gotten my own copy of Alyice’s e-book, and it’s fantastic — full of practical research and links that would take you forever to find on your own. She also includes a journaling section with questions to help trigger your thoughts about choosing a topic — which would be helpful for couples to work through together. I also learned that Alyice earns a VERY nice income from her home-based business — in fact, she was able to support her family completely for a few years to give her husband the freedom to finish school.

For those of you who have blogs and would like to invite Alyice Edrich to come tour your blog, you can contact her here. She has a wonderful interview with Carmen at Full Contact Christ-Centric Living about how she organizes her office to make sure she stays productive. You can check out the other stops on her blog tour here as well.

Imagine this. It’s 4 am, and you’re sound asleep. Or you’re sitting in the quiet darkness of your home feeding your baby. Meanwhile, halfway around the world, ten people have just bought a product from you, for $20 each. Now, that extra $200 will go into your bank account to help you pay bills this month. And you didn’t have to do a thing.

That’s the beauty of e-books, which is a topic that’s fascinated me lately. I know so little about them, yet I’m curious. So, I decided to track down an e-book expert who also happens to be a fellow blogger and a mom of teenagers.

Alyice Edrich is the author of several work-from-home e-books, including Tid-Bits for Making Money With E-Books. She’s the founder of The Dabbling Mum, an online resource for parents and small business owners. Alyice enjoys teaching parents how to earn hundreds of dollars by selling information they already possess.

Hi, Alyice. Thanks for stopping in today. Can you tell us a little about e-books?

E-books are electronic, downloadable books. Many are written on very narrow topics, topics traditional publishers wouldn’t print because they tend to prefer marketing to larger audiences.

So far, e-books aren’t as popular as print books because people are still learning about them and getting used to the idea of paying for something they have to first download and print out using their own resources. Some buyers consider this double payment: payment to read material and payment to print out.

What kind of people buy e-books? Is there really a market for them?

Most e-book buyers are people who spend a lot of time online. They are used to the whole “instant access” mentality and look forward to reading e-books that are up-to-date and can be read within minutes of ordering.

Moms who stay at home or work from home also tend to buy e-books over print books because they can research, order, and read while their children are sleeping, which means one less outing.

Oh yes. I know all about the difficulty of getting out shopping with kids. Especially in a quiet bookstore! Can you tell us more about e-book topics? How do you know if you’re really an expert on a topic?

I always tell people to think first about things that their friends and family members constantly come to them asking advice for. That’s always a great place to start because that means you’re passionate about that topic and have often researched for the simple pleasure of knowing more or to help improve your current circumstances.

Most moms think, “I’m a parent and I read lots of stuff to improve my parenting skills, so I’ll start a website or write a book on parenting” or they think, “I really want to stay home and start a home business. I’ve researched a lot of information and am pretty knowledgeable so I’ll start a website geared towards helping other parents stay home or work from home.” While those are great topics, they have actually been done to death and will make it very difficult for new businesses and books to stand out from the crowd. This means that in order to become successful with these topics, these moms would have to work double (and sometimes triple) time just to break even.

Wow. I hadn’t thought about that. What are some ideas you’d recommend for moms interested in writing an e-book?

I encourage moms to stay away from overdone themes and instead find something that is narrower, that they can really call their own. It’s important, when trying to make a living from home, to find an area that is lacking and then fill that area.

Let’s say that you did read a lot about working from home and you consider yourself pretty knowledgeable so you decide to start a work-from-home website to teach others what you know. What you’re doing is actually reiterating what you learned. You have no hands-on experience because you haven’t yet started a business and seen it to success.

Can you give us an example of something that would be better?

Instead of starting yet another, work-at-home (WAHM) website, I would encourage you to think outside the box.

For starters, what do you do for fun? What is the one hobby that you simply cannot get enough of? What is the one thing that your husband says to you, “Why do you have to constantly spend my hard-earned money on that? I sure wish you could make some money off that instead of always spending our money!”

Once you’ve figured that out, sit down and jot down what you know about the subject. Then get online and see what others have written about it. Are there a lot of copycats out there? If so, there is plenty of room for you to be unique and offer something far more valuable. Look around and see what’s missing. What can you offer that others are not providing?

That’s the business you want to start. And that’s the e-book you want to write. Don’t just write an e-book on a specific subject; build a business around that e-book and you’ll open up a floodgate of opportunities.

These are some great ideas, Alyice. I feel like we’re just getting started! But we’ve run out of time today, so I hope you’ll be able to come back tomorrow and tell us more about making money while we sleep!

OK, Mom 2 Mom readers, are your e-book gears spinning? Alyice has given us a start, but tomorrow she’ll be back to tell us more about researching, writing, and marketing our e-books. I for one have a few ideas simmering, but I’d like more details — wouldn’t you?

Meanwhile, Alyice invites you to look at an article she wrote on this topic, as well as visit her at The Dabbling Mum Press.

We’re chatting with author Mary Demuth again in southern France, though today she’s invited us in for coffee in her lovely French home. If you missed the first part of our interview, you can read it here.

Thanks for joining us at the blogging Carnival yesterday. I’m still full from all that Comfort Food. Now we’re ready for something to read. You’ve recently published two new books for parents. Can you tell us a little about your first one, Ordinary Mom, Extraordinary God?

I wrote that book because I was tired of books written for Christian moms and women that were dumbed down and foofy. I wanted an intelligent devotional for moms, one that challenged them at their deepest levels both spiritually and intellectually. It’s written in conjunction with Hearts at Home ministries.

Foofy! Yes, we’re tired of foofy! But why should a mom want to read your book? Are you going to tell us what it’s like to have it all together and make those of us who are scrambling to get through a day feel guilty?

Yes, of course. Parenting should be all about guilt and how terrible we are at measuring up. (laughing) No, seriously. That book is about grace. About running to Jesus when we fail. About the beauty of the journey of parenthood. I pray it is a cup of cold water to moms who are worried and stressed and harried and guilt-ridden.

Sounds refreshing. And I love the title. I’m truly one of those ordinary moms realizing what an extraordinary God we serve. So, what about your latest book that just came out last month — Building the Christian Family You Never Had. It says it’s a “Practical Guide for Pioneer Parents.” Can you tell us what you mean by pioneer parent?

A pioneer parent is a person who grew up in a home she doesn’t want to duplicate. It’s for any parent who fears she’ll make the same mistakes her parents made. It’s for those of us who don’t exactly know what a Christian home looks like because we didn’t see it modeled.

I like the quote you used in the preface of the book from George Bernard Shaw: “If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.” Later, you say, “God is our Pioneer Parent, who dances the path before, behind, and beside us.” It seems like your attitude is that you can’t change the past, but you can start fresh with your own family. Is that true?

Yes, it’s true. But starting fresh does involve some pain. We must first look at our past, tell the truth about it, forgive our parents, and allow Jesus to heal us. Then we can start fresh. But healing precedes that new path.

What advice do you have for pioneer moms and dads who feel unsure about raising kids since they grew up in a dysfunctional family? Can you offer them any words of encouragement?

I hope so. This is what God has taught me — something spectacular actually: Our weakness in parenting — all those fears that we’ll duplicate the homes we were raised in — is actually a benefit. Because pioneer parents are keenly aware of our own inabilities, it puts us at an advantage. Because we’re well acquainted with our own lack, we are more apt to run to Jesus for help. So, the hope is, God can be strong in our weakness. Because we know we’re weak, we’re at an advantage, because God loves to work through that weakness.

Wow. That’s something I’m going to have to remember. You talk a lot about healing in this book, as you’ve had some emotional scars from your past. But you also give us ideas of fun things to move forward as a family. Can you tell us about some of your family celebrations that are unique?

We play ‘high low’ around the dinner table every night. We share one high and one low from the day. It’s an expected ritual. It helps us all focus on what happened during the day and also gives us a glimpse into our children’s lives. We also have a prayer blackboard where we list our prayer requests. It’s fun to watch God answer those prayers.

Those are great ideas! We’ll have to try the high/low thing around our table. In your book, you have a chapter called “A Funny Thing Happened While Raising My Kids.” Can you tell us how the role of laughter plays in building up a strong Christian family? What if we’re not comedians?

Laughter is key. Most pioneer parents grew up far too fast and have lost that child-like wonder at the world. I’m far too serious, but I’m learning to let my hair down. I’m certainly not a comedian. But my kids are. One of the things I do is write down all the funny things my kids say so we can remember them. Having fun with our kids is a natural offshoot of learning to take life less seriously.

I love the idea of a notebook — thanks for the reminder. What’s the funniest thing that’s happened to you since living in France?

It’s a long story, but you can read all about it in my blog.

Do you write every day? How do you balance your career with your family?

Yes, I write every day. I have a schedule. I usually write about 20-30 hours a week depending on my deadline. I try not to let my writing interfere with my children, as I write while they’re in school. It’s still hard for me, though, to pull myself away from the computer when I’m in the middle of a thought or idea. I’m learning.

You seem to have an interest in helping out new writers. Can you tell us a little about the newsletter you write every month? How can we sign up for it?

It’s called the RelevantProse Newsletter and comes in the inbox the first of every month. It’s usually about 8 pages long, full of practical writing advice and spiritual insights. I write about the business and craft of writing. You can sign up for it on my website.

And now, to wrap things up, can you tell us your best piece of advice on making our home Christ-centered?

Pray. Be authentic. Apologize to your children when you yell. Pray some more.

Wow. How inspiring! Thanks for sharing so many great ideas with us, Mary. Your books look like wonderful resources for parents. Au revoir.

Au revoir!