From the AlzAuthors Blog: Meet Terri Anderson, Blogger at "The Caregivers Depot"

Sometimes the Caregiving Journey Chooses You

By Terri Anderson

There are several ways where people find themselves as a caregiver. Some by choice, some not. I didn’t choose the caregiving life. It chose me, but God doesn’t give you anything you can’t handle. I thought to myself that I wasn’t up to the challenge, but I was. You see, my estranged father had a combination of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's and at the time, like many people, I wasn’t familiar with the disease.

My dad’s caregiver told me I “needed to see” my father. I remember him not knowing who I was and telling me that he had to “mow the grass.” As a child, my dad had the best-maintained yard in the neighborhood. His caregiver also said that he would “fight her,” and she could no longer care for him. He was placed in a nursing home and passed shortly thereafter. Knowing more about dementia now, I realize he was probably very combative. With nursing homes often short-staffed and nursing assistants overworked, I imagine they did not like caring for him.

From the AlzAuthors Blog: Blogger Heidi Hess Saxton

When the Unthinkable Becomes Inevitable: The Awful Dawn of Dementia

By Heidi Hess Saxton

Up to this point in my life, most of my blogging has been for parents of adopted, foster, or special needs children. Back in 2002, when my husband and I first became foster parents (and later adoptive parents), we really had no idea what we were in for. Which was probably a good thing, because I’m not sure we would have had the courage to move forward with it, had we known.

Now, as I’m entering the sixth month of caring for my mother, a dementia patient, I’m realizing that this is a lot like that. Lots of dirty laundry and temper tantrums, interspersed with moments of sweetness and delight. The tumultuous relationship we had during my teen years is gone. These past six months have been the sweetest, yet in many ways also the hardest – for both of us. But even the hard times are not without their rewards. For instance, when my daughter is being her snarky teenage self, she will do for her “Mammy” what she would never do in a million years for “Mean Old Mom.”

From the AlzAuthors Blog: Meet Minna Packer, Blogger, Artist, and Filmmaker Living with Early-Onset Alzheimer's

By Minna Packer

I was a teacher, professor, artist, filmmaker, mother of two adult children, a wife, a former American Fulbright, and an active member of my community. I am now 63. I was diagnosed twice, first in September 2016 with a Spect scan, then again in January 2017, when another neurologist ordered an FDG Pet scan. Twice I was told the pattern of the images was that of Alzheimer's. The changes and symptoms of what appears to me to be a rapid form of the disease have been radical.

The neurologist recommended I retire. I pushed myself to continue through the term, and then resigned from my twenty year teaching career last summer. There was no recognition for my many years of service. People I had known for decades, friends and colleagues, disappeared.

From the AlzAuthors Blog: Meet Ann Balcom, Blogger and Author of "The Blue Velvet Drape - Dealing with Dementia"

By Anne F. Balcom

Mom was diagnosed with dementia in 2006. From the moment my parents told my sister and me the news I began losing sleep, a lot of sleep. The worry of “How were we going to get through this?” was eating me up. I would lie in bed at night for hours thinking and crying while my husband and kids were sleeping.

After many sleepless nights, I began getting out of bed in the middle of the night, going to the living room and jotting down my thoughts in a journal. I had so many thoughts and concerns that I could not write as fast as my thoughts were coming, so I began to type them. I would print out what I typed and tape it into my journal.

From the AlzAuthors Blog: Alzheimer's Blogger and Advocate Amie McGraham

LIFE, REPURPOSED

By Amie McGraham

The year I turned fifty, I transitioned from a successful thirty-year sales and marketing career to the role of primary caregiver for my mother, returning to the island home of my childhood three thousand miles away. Mom has had Alzheimer’s for the past few years and, while she’s aware that she’s slowly slipping away, refuses to recognize this because of her religious beliefs. Disease of any type is a topic we never talk about. For her, to acknowledge dementia would be to admit that disease is real: that God’s plan has been altered.

I was raised in this religion. Based on faith healing, it rejects medicine, doctors and hospitals; prohibits alcohol, tobacco, caffeine and drugs. My parents divorced when I was eleven and I divorced myself from religion, beginning a twenty-five year spiral into a life of alcoholism, half measures and wanderlust; unfulfilled careers and relationships. Eventually, I clawed my way out and began rebuilding my life.

Repairing the relationship with my mother is part of my recovery. Immersion into the world of Alzheimer’s caregiving initially felt like a labyrinth in which all roads seemed to lead to frustration, anger and impatience. Sometimes it seemed more like a duty. But caregiving, I’ve discovered, is truly the best form of service. It's taken a while to embrace this; longer to actually live it. In caring for my mother -- actually living with her for the first time since my reckless departure from her life at age thirteen -- I have developed real compassion. For my mother. For others. And for myself.

It's the Book Blogger Hop! Week of June 16-22

This is something new for me and it looks like fun.

Each week, the Book Blogger Hop starts on Friday and ends on Thursday, with a weekly prompt featuring a book related question. The Hop’s purpose is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to their own blogs. 

Here's this week’s question:

How do you organize your blog in terms of what is in your side bar? 

Do you have categories and defined sections in your side bar?

  (submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Reviews)

I'll go first. 

If you look at the right side of my blog you'll see I've organized my sidebar into different sections. At the top is my book trailer for Swim Season, which I'm so excited about. It's my first one and the bright young man who made it with me did a super job. Then you'll see my AlzAuthors badge, which identifies me as an author writing in the Alzheimer's  and dementia genre. I am a founding member of AlzAuthors, dedicated to helping those on the dementia journey find great sources for understanding and support. I also display my Books Go Social Ambassador's badge. BGS is a great group for authors and I keep active with it each week. Below that there's a link to translate my blog into different languages, and  a link to follow the blog. Then you'll see my most popular posts, followed by other pages on the blog. I try to keep my blog  as clean and simple as possible. How'd I do? How do you organize your blog? If you don't have a blog, how do you like to see a blog organized? Please reply in the comments.

About the Book Blogger Hop

The Book Blogger Hop was originally created by Jennifer from Crazy-For-Books in March 2010 and ended on December 31, 2012. With Jennifer’s permission, Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer relaunched the hop on February 15, 2013.

It's the Book Blogger Hop! Week of June 9-15

This is something new for me and it looks like fun.

Each week, the Book Blogger Hop starts on Friday and ends on Thursday, with a weekly prompt featuring a book related question. The Hop’s purpose is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to their own blogs. 

Here's this week’s question:

If you could have lunch with any living authors and/or 

book bloggers, who would you choose and why?

 (submitted by Kitty @ Vicarious Bookworm)

I'll go first.

 This is a tough one because I have so many beloved authors, but I'd have to ask the New York Times bestselling writer who motivated me to stop talking about writing and start writing: Elizabeth Berg. Her novel True to Form captured my interest in such a way that I had to begin my own novel. I'd also invite Anne Tyler, the subject of my Honors thesis back at UMass Boston. Incidentally, she's a favorite author of Elizabeth Berg. Lastly, I'd save a seat for Jan Karon, because I adore her Mitford series; each novel in the series makes me feel like I live in the town. 

What about you? Who would you invite to your writer's table? 

About the Book Blogger Hop

The Book Blogger Hop was originally created by Jennifer from Crazy-For-Books in March 2010 and ended on December 31, 2012. With Jennifer’s permission, Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer relaunched the hop on February 15, 2013.

Book Blogger Hop: June 2 - 8

This is something new and it looks like fun.

About the Book Blogger Hop

The Book Blogger Hop was originally created 

by Jennifer from Crazy-For-Books

in March 2010 and ended on December 31, 2012.

With Jennifer’s permission,  

Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer

relaunched the hop on February 15, 2013.

Each week the hop starts on Friday and ends on Thursday. There will be a weekly prompt featuring a book related question. The hop’s purpose is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to their own blogs. 

Here's this week’s question:

Do your bookshelves have books ONLY

or do you also have bookish items on the shelves?

(submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Reviews)

I'll go first:

My bookshelves are overflowing, spilling books out on to the floor and any other available space. I cull them frequently, and donate those I'm not serving well to my library's used bookstore, where I hope they'll find better owners. My bookshelves also display other assorted items, such as my daughter's artwork, photos of my daughter, a cute doll I won one Christmas in a Yankee Swap at work, a lint brush, and a few other pieces of paraphernalia I haven't found a better home for. What about you? What's on your bookshelves? Comments welcome.

Book Blogger Hop Week of May 26 - June 1

 

This is something new and it looks like fun.  

About the Book Blogger Hop
The Book Blogger Hop was originally created by Jennifer from Crazy-For-Books in March 2010 and ended on December 31, 2012.

With Jennifer’s permission, Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer relaunched the hop on February 15, 2013.

Each week the hop starts on Friday and ends on Thursday. There will be a weekly prompt featuring a book related question. The hop’s purpose is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to their own blogs.

Here's this week’s question:
(submitted by Kristin @ Lukten av Trykksverte)

 

What is the most fun part/aspect of being a book blogger?

 

I'll go first:

 

I love to read and I love books. Sharing my love of good books and great authors with others who appreciate the same enhances my reading experience. Through blogging, I get to share my favorite reads with others, and by following other book bloggers I learn of new books and authors I might enjoy.  It's a great way to keep on top of what's out there, in the vastness of the literary world, where millions of books and millions of authors fight for my attention. I blog primarily for my fellow authors in Clean Indie Reads, sharing their new releases, and for AlzAuthors, spotlighting books and other blogs in the dementia genre so those in need  of knowledge and support can easily find meaningful resources.

 

What do you find is the most fun about book blogging? I look forward to your comments.  

AlzAuthors: Blogger Jack Fussell, Fighting Alzheimer's One Step at a Time

by Jack Fussell

On January 12th, 2013 I left Skidaway Island State Park near Savannah Georgia.  I traveled westward to Monterey, California. 2,594 miles were on foot pushing a jogging stroller.  458 miles were in a car. The reason I did this was to raise awareness concerning Alzheimer's disease and raise money for the Alzheimer’s Association.

My dad passed away on June 30th of 2000. I was holding his hand. He died with Alzheimer's disease. Prior to that, prostate cancer had taken a huge toll on both his physical and his mental health. He was a veteran of World War II and witnessed a lot of injury and death. He was a great father. He taught my brother and I how to fish and how to play baseball. He loved making us laugh. 

My relationship with Dad had been strained prior to his sickness (my fault). Immediately following his passing, I realized the pettiness that kept me away from time to time. Shortly after his death, I almost lost my life to a bleeding ulcer. While in ICU, I said a prayer, asking God to let me get out of the hospital alive, and promising in return that I would help as many folks as I could until I could no longer breathe. I was in bad shape, both physically and emotionally.

AlzAuthors: Blogger Lisa B. Capp, Caregiver "Survivor"

by Lisa B. Capp

Everyone knows someone touched by dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.

We write, because today these diseases cannot be prevented, slowed or cured. We seek answers because their manifestation is often irrational, frightening and perplexing. And, as human beings, we continually reach from darkness to find light, whether you’re someone living with dementia or you’re caring for a loved one with the disease.

Millennials grew up watching their parents shoulder the responsibility of a grandparent’s care or worse, witness to early onset of a parent. In the absence of a cure, millennials will likely become the primary caregivers to their own aging baby boomer parents; those who possess a cruel knowing of how this disease will change their lives.

Our world has faced many health crises and with enough time, talent and resource has moved the needle on many. My hope: We can do the same one day for dementia. I write, striving to make a contribution to caregivers struggling everyday in their role. My blog shares a caregiver “survivor” story of the 18-year dementia journey I shared with my mother, Vera.

“The day the wheels fell off” refers to the day my family was left with only one option – to involuntarily commit our otherwise healthy mother to a locked psychiatric ward so professionals might stabilize her psychotic delusions and hallucinations. My mother’s case presented little evidence of the more traditional memory loss and confusion that the media conditioned me to expect.

The role of primary caregiver fell to me; it was just geography. With a family steeped in the Italian-American tradition of cross-generational care there were ongoing expectations, compounded by feelings of falling short, wrapped around a perpetual sense of guilt and conflict. My family, like others, was beset by long-term strains. But as her illness deepened, we unified in the dedication to our mother’s care.

Sharing a home with my mother after my dad’s death, decline began and nighttime always bred apprehension. Women walked across the roof in high heels piercing the ceiling where she laid in bed, and winged monkeys pried at her bedroom windows. Late night screams and emergency room visits were commonplace.

From my blog:

Sentinel

As a caregiver to someone with dementia
  It’s difficult to remember what they were
   Before the tangles and the plaques

If I close my eyes
  And push the dementia away
   I see her from the seat of my bike 

 

 







She’s strong and vibrant
  Standing behind me
   Ready to catch, if I fall

I will stay with her
  Standing sentinel
   Witness to this long and slow descent

About the Author

A transformation champion working with senior leaders of business, government and non-profit organizations across five continents focused on change. I helped organizations that wanted to change their vision, their strategy, their results or their very place in the world. It proved more difficult to help myself on the transformational journey of dementia that my mother and I shared.

Connect with Lisa B. Capp

Website & blog
LinkedIn
Twitter
Facebook
Pinterest
Follow AlzAuthors at alzauthors.wordpress.com

Swim Season Launches November 1! Announcing my blog tour!

AlzAuthors: Mum Has Dementia

by N.

I originally set out to write my blog Mum Has Dementia after recounting a story about Mum getting stuck in the bath - it was a lighthearted chat with my sister, overheard by an acquaintance with a background in social media, who suggested blogging.

I'm a doctor (GP / family medicine depending on where you are in the world) with a busy medical practice, and have always wanted to write, indeed, have always been writing, usually stories about the people I meet through work and their increasingly complicated lives. At the time of the blogging suggestion, I'd entered a writing competition with the British Medical Journal, and was fortunate to be shortlisted and published on their website.

Suddenly it seemed I had an opportunity to write about something that was very close to home and to share my writing in a way that may be genuinely constructive - I felt that if only one person out there read my blog and felt less alone then it would be worth it.

My blog is about my mum and her struggle with dementia (or, more accurately, my struggle with her dementia). If you have at some point searched the internet for 'parents with dementia', 'grandparent with dementia' or 'close acquaintance / family friend / some bloke I know with dementia' and found little that felt relevant, then my blog might be the place for you. If you’ve typed 'My mum is demented' into a search engine and meant it in the literal sense (as opposed to your mum having just had a massive go at you because you hadn’t tidied your room / told her she looked nice / taken her shopping) then there may be something useful for you here. 

The dearth of relevant, accessible internet chat about dementia seems totally out of keeping with the increased public recognition of the disease. Unless I’m just not looking hard enough – but who wants to look hard for this stuff when you’ve got so much else to worry about on a daily basis. I - vainly - just want to hear about somebody who is like me and how they are coping. I don’t want a spiritual experience; a cosy reflection on Pastor John’s sermon and how it was loosely relevant to Alzheimer’s (believe me – I just found one of those). I don’t want to be preached to or have the virtues of caring for someone with Alzheimer’s extolled to me by an evangelist. I just want a clear, perspective on how it feels to watch your parent lose their grip on reality without losing yours. And an acknowledgement that there are tiny moments of comedy to be found lurking in the mire of Alzheimer’s disease.

My sense of humour is already pretty dark. Being a doctor helps me understand some of the mechanics of the diseased brain but leaves me pretty helpless in the face of application forms for Personal Independence Payments. The hard outer shell that one develops as a practicing doctor, toughened by years of breaking bad news and watching bleak life stories unfold, has enabled me to find comedy in really quite inappropriate scenarios and believe me, that is the most useful skill I have in facing this disease.

I am an anonymous blogger so no headshot I'm afraid. The reasons for this are two-fold. Firstly my parents live nearby and my father, despite being a very sociable, gregarious man, likes to keep his private life private. I think he would struggle with me documenting details about mum's illness and broadcasting them to the world.

The second reason is that some of the comments I make in my blog do not sit particularly comfortably with my role as a compassionate family doctor - I do not want my patients to feel that my professional capabilities are compromised or for them to know details about my life.

I have found the anonymity to be very liberating but it does provide barriers to publicising one's work. What I do know is that those who have responded positively to my blog have done so without any sense of moral obligation because they are 'my friend' - very few of my friends know about it. 

As a result, I can be completely honest, sometimes brutally so. This is one of the key issues in dealing with a diagnosis of Alzheimer's in the family - how honest can we be with ourselves and each other? How do we acknowledge our darker thoughts and stop them overwhelming us. The answer, trite as it may seem, is through laughter and sharing. If we laugh at a problem we neutralise it and if we share our stories we reduce the sense of isolation. This is where initiatives such as the AlzAuthors blog are so important.

Please visit Mum Has Dementia here.

#AlzAuthors: Pippa Kelly, Dementia Writer & Advocate

by Pippa Kelly

The first article I ever wrote about my mum’s dementia appeared in 2006 in a national newspaper here in the UK. It recounts the terrible decision my siblings and I took to sell our parents’ house and put mum in a nursing home when her condition – and subsequent refusal to move – threatened not only her health but that of our dad, who had become very frail.

What strikes me now, when I read my own words, is how raw it all was. I can hear the confusion in my writer’s voice, and the seemingly endless grief that comes when you love someone with dementia. But most of all I hear, and re-live, my guilt. As I wrote, I kept looking back and seeing mum’s increasingly erratic behaviour for what it was (a symptom of her illness) not what I’d thought it was (her strong and not always easy character becoming more extreme with old age). 

It was a one-off piece and I returned to writing on other topics for national papers until, two years after mum died in 2012, I launched my website. I wasn’t sure what it should focus on and, to give myself scope, I set up three tabs – three hats for myself – of Writer, Campaigner, Mum.

I used Twitter to spread the word about my blogs and within months it became clear that the ones that attracted the most comments and attention from my growing readership were those on dementia and its social, emotional and psychological impact. Much to my surprise I was fast becoming known as a specialist dementia blogger (I even won a major award). I discovered that the more I researched and wrote about the condition, the more I began to appreciate the complexity of its effects, not just on those who have it and their immediate family and friends, but on wider society. 

My newfound knowledge came too late for it to be of use to my mum, but freed from the emotions I’d experienced as she succumbed to dementia, I was able to combine it with my understanding of what others were going through to connect with them, gain their trust and tell their stories. 

Since then I’ve met many people who have dementia and even more who love and care for someone who does. I always walk away from these encounters with a renewed sense of hope in humankind. The individuals share a common desire: to spread the word about what dementia is and to show that, though a diagnosis is a shock, it can also be a relief because you know what you are dealing with – an illness, which though incurable, can be managed for a while with practical coping mechanisms and support from friends, loved ones and the wider community.

As I write, a primetime TV programme featuring a couple I have met is being aired on the BBC. Over the course of almost two years, Chris Roberts and his wife Jayne allowed CCTV cameras into their house in North Wales and used video diaries to record their daily lives coping with Chris’s Alzheimer’s. He was diagnosed five years ago, aged just 50.

The Panorama documentary is searingly honest and, at times, painful to watch as Chris’s condition worsens and Jayne struggles to come to terms with the fact that she is losing him. She knows they both need some respite but says she can’t risk Chris going into a care home for a week “and me not wanting him back”. Her candour is breath-taking. I know, from experience, how much it will help others in the same situation – as they hear what she has to say, witness her sadness, see Chris’s frustration – to know that they are not alone.

Connecting people, sharing stories, gathering information is what I’m about. I’m a journalist, after all. But to do so on a topic this close to my heart, has changed my life. That sounds melodramatic, especially coming from a buttoned-up Brit, but it’s true. Though unpaid, my dementia blogging is by far the most rewarding job of my 33 years as a professional writer, and I’m delighted to contribute to the #AlzAuthors blogI spend hours talking to people who have set up enterprises, charities and clubs (such as the wonderful Healthy Living Club in south London) to enhance the lives of those with dementia. “Doesn’t it depress you,” friends sometimes ask, “writing constantly about such an awful thing?”

The answer is no, quite the reverse. Don’t get me wrong. Dementia is cruel, its effects are ugly, and sometimes my interviews reduce me to tears. A few days after her husband died from Lewy Body dementia in 2015, 65-year-old Jan Inman rang to tell me her story. Her love for Ron was humbling. She told me that when she nursed him in the last three months of his life, she “fell in love with him all over again”. Though we’ve never met, Jan and I exchange news on Facebook and, strange as it sounds, we count each other as friends. 

I have made countless friendships (real-life and online) through my dementia writing, nearly all with people affected in some way by this remorseless condition, several are Americans. I value them highly; we know the dark places in the depths of our souls that exposure to a loved one with dementia unearths. We understand the joy of living for the moment and hearing someone we thought we’d lost utter a word, or giggle or sing. 

I often tell others in what I call my dementia community that they “do” – they roll up their sleeves, put together business plans, raise funds and make a difference. I merely observe and then write. It’s my lot in life, I suppose. If, by tapping out a few words I can join some dots, make one or two connections, reach out to lonely carers and frightened individuals living with dementia and help them feel less alone, I’ll have achieved more than I ever dreamed I would. 

About the Author

Pippa Kelly is an award-winning blogger and writer on elderly care and dementia based in London http://pippakelly.co.uk/. Her short stories and articles have appeared in numerous UK national newspapers and magazines including The Times, The Sunday Express, The Sunday Telegraph, The London Evening Standard, The Spectator, The Guardian, Mslexia. She also blogs for the Huffington Postand mariashriver.com and you can follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

AlzAuthors: Blogger Jane Gayer's Dementia City

by Jane Gayer

It doesn’t matter where we live, what religion we are, how much or how little we have, what language we speak or the color of our skin. Throughout the world, Alzheimer’s is the same monster and we are all just trying to figure out how to deal with it.

You couldn’t write a script with a more compelling storyline of love, laughter, sorrow and loss than what’s being lived right now by Alzheimer’s families around the globe.

This is our family's story, simple and real.

My name is Jane, and Joe, my husband of 35 years, was diagnosed with Dementia/Alzheimer’s about two and a half years ago.

I wouldn’t call myself a writer. In fact, I’m dyslexic, which makes writing an interesting challenge. My career was in business management. That fed my purse, but to feed my soul, I was an abstract artist, designer, and an actor and director in Community Theater.

I can find humor in most things. To me, life is a comedy and is better set to music than tears. But, I also know that sometimes life can be a dark comedy filled with pain and loss. Someone said to me once, “Don’t you ever take anything seriously?” The answer, “Not if I can help it.”

I decided to personify my husband’s disease and call at “Al” and think of him as our “uninvited guest”, the hanger-on, the guy who doesn’t know when to go home. So Al is a metaphor, an image, a symbol of what we must live with and struggle through every day.

I wasn’t sure writing a blog was the right thing to do, that it might somehow become an

embarrassment or humiliation for Joe and for our family. I didn’t know how people would react to so much openness about our struggles; would they think I was trying to garner sympathy or just indulging in our troubles? Would writing about my life provide psychological relief, or would it make things worse?

I have always been able to see the humor in life’s experiences (good or bad) and laugh about them. But Alzheimer’s is serious business. Would I offend readers by making light of all the craziness that comes with it?

I decided I would have to focus on my own experiences with this disease, to speak solely from the point of view of a caregiver. I would never be able to feel what Joe was feeling much less capture it in print. 

I’ve often questioned what I write, fearing I might be in denial or becoming paranoid. Are things really the way I think they are? (This disease can often play tricks on the caregiver.)

With that said, here I am, with 44 posts hanging out there in the vastness of cyberspace. So I asked myself, “Would I do it again?”

The answer is simply, “Yes.”

This little blog is now read in over 25 countries. It truly is “Al” over the world. The responses from readers have been heart-warming and serve as a lifeline for me.

So welcome to our world.

Visit Jane's blog Dementia City.

Today's Guest: Samantha Seeley - Blogger, Photographer, Foodie, Teacher

Today's guest is blogger and food fanatic Samantha Seeley, a self-described food-obsessed, camera clutching nerd who has given us Sweet Remedy,  a food and lifestyle blog that focuses on home cooking made with real food and fresh, local, and seasonal ingredients. Its pages are graced with almost edible photos of original kitchen creations shot by the author. In June of 2013, she spoke at the BlogHer Food conference on a panel titled Pro Food Photography on the Fly. She covers Restaurant Week in the Hudson Valley and has been published in a variety of publications, most notably The Valley Table magazine. She's currently pursing her BA in Multimedia Production. I have the pleasure of working with Samantha at SUNY Orange, where she will present a master class, "Blogging and Online Presentation for Creative Endeavors: How to Market Yourself as a Working Artist," on Monday, March 30, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. During this class, she will teach you how to “present yourself digitally in a professional way and how to be seen in the crowd.” A question and answer session will follow. The class is free and open to the public, and will be of interest to anyone using or planning to use social media to further an artistic endeavor, whether writing, art, music, theater, etc. Welcome to Adventures in Publishing Samantha! Please tell us about Sweet Remedy. What got you started?

Thanks for inviting me to meet your readers, Marianne. I started Sweet Remedy as a vendor at the Pine Bush Farmers' Market in 2008/2009. I made cupcakes mainly, but also brownies and cookies. I began the website as a way to let customers know when I'd be at the market and as a way for them to see what flavors I had baked that week. Eventually it turned into a recipe blog, and I started to post everything I made in my kitchen.

Why food?

It inspires me: The aromas, vibrant colors of fresh produce and of course the many tastes. Once I started selling baked goods at the farmers market, the food community drew me in. 

How do you create the recipes?

I start out with an idea or a flavor and take it from there. I have a small notebook that I carry with me everywhere and I write down almost every idea that pops into my head throughout the day. The other day, someone mentioned a person named "Rosemary" and all I could think about was the herb rosemary in fresh baked bread! It also comes down to a lot of trial and error and multiple test runs in the kitchen! Rarely is a recipe good enough on the first try. 

Were you always a foodie?

Not always, in high school you wouldn't find me in the kitchen at all. A lot of food bloggers have cute stories about baking cookies with their grandma. Not me!

Who's your target audience?

My target audience for Sweet Remedy is anyone who wants to learn how to cook. I'm currently working on a video series on kitchen basics. I want to make cooking seem approachable and less intimidating to the novice. For my photography blog, my audience is two-fold: Other photographers looking to learn and magazines, publishing houses, restaurateurs, cookbook authors, etc. It is still in the beginning stages and all will unfold as I create more content.

How do you build your audience?

You have to know your audience before you build it up. If you aren't creating content that they want to read, they won't come back to your blog, subscribe or follow you on social media. The first step is to understand them and their needs and then to promote those posts where they "hang out" online. I also firmly believe in sharing knowledge and teaching someone something new. It doesn't hurt to post on a regular schedule! Also, a lot of time and patience.

Which tools do you depend on to create your blog? i.e software, cameras, cookbooks, websites, etc.

I use quite a few tools for my site:

•    Self-Hosted WordPress
•    Adobe Creative Cloud (Premiere Pro for videos, Lightroom and Photoshop for digital images)
•    Lots of camera equipment: Canon 6D, Tripod, Cables, SD Cards, Flash Drives, etc.                  
•    Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube
•   The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of     America's Most Imaginative Chefs by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg
•   Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking by Michael Ruhlman

This list could go on forever so I'll stop there! 

What is your ultimate goal?

To help people navigate their kitchens and become better home cooks! I also started my photography blog to help teach photography fundamentals. I have multiple personal goals:

•     Write a cookbook
•     Photograph food for other cookbook authors, restaurants and magazines
•     Teach workshops (photography related)
•     Design online courses
•     Finish my degrees

Are you doing a book?

Not yet. I hope to have more time for this when I finish up my bachelor's degree. I currently have too many ideas for a cookbook. 

How did you train for this line of work?

I don't think I "trained" for it, I sort of just fell into it. I threw myself into Sweet Remedy head first and learned a lot along the way. I am currently pursuing my bachelor’s degree in Multimedia Production and in turn have taken many design, photography and new media courses. As for the cooking side of it, I've mostly learned by trial and error and now consider myself a pretty good cook! I learned from my mistakes in the kitchen, and try to help others learn by sharing those mistakes! 

Do you consider this a hobby or a profession?

I have two other gigs which are my main sources of income. I suppose I am walking the line between hobby and profession as I do a lot of freelance work through recipe development and photography. 

I see you're an affiliate. With what company(ies) and how does this benefit you?

I am an affiliate with a lot of companies, most notably Amazon. I receive a small monetary percentage of each sale made due to a link to Amazon from my blog.

What advice do you have for new bloggers?

If you're going to start a blog, have a clear focus and a narrow niche. It's also a good idea to absolutely love what you are going to write about, otherwise you will get bored and that will show through your work. 

Lastly, who gets to eat the delicious food after the photo shoot?

Mostly my boyfriend. Sometimes my neighbors! 

Thanks for stopping by Samantha! I'm looking forward to your class. If you'd like to attend her class, please visit SUNY Orange Cultural Affairs. 

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Samantha Seeley, Food & Lifestyle Photographer

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