Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column 03-31-06

Join my email book club. Over 330,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

My husband and I have been married 28 years. You'd think we'd know how to do it by now, wouldn't you? Stop and go, stop and go. We can't get the right rhythm going. Is it time yet? We're totally indecisive when we're trying to cross a street together.

My husband is a follow-the-rules kind of guy when it comes to crossing a street. We must wait for the little white pedestrian to appear in the signal box before crossing the road--that's his way of doing things.

My way is to look both ways, just like mother taught me, and then skedaddle across the road before that car, zooming straight for me, runs me down. No seriously, I'm careful, but for heaven's sake, if there isn't a car in sight, why aren't we crossing the street? What are we waiting for? That's what I ask him every time we go for a walk.

I'm an aggressive pedestrian, but I'm a give-it-up driver. I gladly give up the right-of-way to anyone walking. Anybody out for a walk should be rewarded for exercising and besides, most of the people walking the streets of Sarasota, where I live, are tourists trying to cross the street, so they can spend more money at the businesses on the other side of the street too.

We love tourists here in Florida. We even provide frequent crosswalks and there's always a sign posted by them reminding the people driving the cars, that if they don't stop for a pedestrian, they'll ante-up a $112.50 fine. And that's as it should be. But my dear husband still insists on waving the cars on by, and he waits patiently until the light turns red and the traffic comes to a complete halt.

Q. Why is the chicken still standing on the side of the road?

A. Because he's standing next to my husband.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
http://www.DearReader.com

P.S. Enter this week's give away. I have 5 bound journals to give away to readers. All you have to do to enter the drawing is send an email to: enter-to-win5@emailbookclub.com. Make sure to include your mailing address just in case you're a WINNER!

READ THE CLASSICS: David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens, and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing: http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/users/master3/mweb/path16-1.html

Dear Reader Column 03-30-06

Join my email book club. Over 330,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

If you ever need to be reminded of how important the "little things" in life are, just email Suzy, a reader at the book club. Her email was such an inspiration to me that I've printed it and framed it.

"Dear Suzanne, you addressed some remarks [in your column] about passion and wanting to do bigger better things....

That stuck in my head this week, and I found myself thinking that idea over off and on. How do we know that we are not already doing something that ends up as the BBD (bigger better deal)? Do we know what our actions really cause?

Like the old saw about for the want of a nail....

Perhaps you reach more people through the bookclubs than you think you do; maybe a young mother with little time to read often, one of the offerings catch her eye and she buys/borrows the book and changes her life--maybe a little right now, but more later?

Or a younger reader, struggling with English, who finds it encouraging to read with you, making that extra effort to improve themselves and learn what a joy a book can be.

In giving a part of yourself, your world, you touch others all over the country, maybe the world. Each day there are some of us laughing, crying, saying "I feel that way, too!"--and a human connection is there. One that may be brief, but that may change someone's life, rippling out to other changes.

I think you are terribly brave--you face a blank white space and pull things up and out to share with others everyday of the working week. You gamble with a piece of yourself, and do so with a generous heart.

That, to me, is brave. Brave on a human scale, but with the possibilities to change others. To reach out and truly touch base with others is not always easy nor comfortable, but you are brave enough to get up and do just that 5 days a week, every week.

And, I thank you for that."--Suzy

Thanks for reading with me, Suzy. It's so good to read with friends.

Gratefully,
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com 
http://www.DearReader.com

AUTHORBUZZ: Win a signed free book from these terrific authors, plus opportunities for authors to visit your book club! Lisa Jackson, Shiver; Tim Lebbon, Dusk; Virginia Smith, Just As I Am; and Jennifer Solow, The Booster. Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

READ THE CLASSICS: David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens, and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing: http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/users/master3/mweb/path16-1.html

Dear Reader Column 03-29-06

Join my email book club. Over 330,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

Every now and then I go to the shrink for a tune up. Usually I end up on the "couch" because there's something I don't like about myself and I can't seem to change it on my own. (By the way, if you've never been to see a therapist, people don't really lie on the couch. That only happens in the movies.)

I do my homework before I go to my appointment. I like it when I can walk in, sit down and say, "Here's what I think the problem is." I'm all enthused about my appointment the day I make it, but then the closer it gets to the actual sitting down and spilling my guts stuff, I start feeling a little awkward about the idea. I do my darndest to coax myself into believing that I really don't have anything to talk about, I'm going to waste $150 (that's the 50 minute fee) and so I should cancel. But I never do and I can't say that I've ever been disappointed.

So I tell the shrink what's driving me nuts, then she asks me, "And how does that make you feel?" a couple of times. Then I ask for an assignment, and by the time I leave her office I'm anxiously anticipating my new adventure.

I've learned through the years, if I can turn a problem into a project, then I'm so busy concentrating on my "assignment" that my problem doesn't seem like such a big deal anymore.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
http://www.DearReader.com

P.S. ENTER this week's give away. I have 5 bound journals to give away to readers. All you have to do to enter the drawing is send an email to:
enter-to-win5@emailbookclub.com.
Make sure to include your mailing address just in case you're a WINNER!

READ THE CLASSICS: David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens, and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing: http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/users/master3/mweb/path16-1.html

Dear Reader Column 03-28-06

Join my email book club. Over 330,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

Congratulations to Patricia Rosellini, the winner of the March Chocolate Chip Cookie Giveaway.

Here's why Patricia said she needed my cookies:

"Suzanne, the reason I would like to win the cookies is because for one week I would not have to make and bake your cookie recipe for my husband, who dearly love your cookies.

I copied the recipe and made them for him and that was the start of cookie making for me, he loves them. He is addicted to them, and I am too. They are wonderful with or without milk or coffee. So I am thinking if I win, they will be even better and he will thank us both, and my arms will get a rest."--Patricia

If you didn't get a chance to enter the March Chocolate Chip Cookie Giveaway, be sure to enter in April, May, June, July....because every month this year, I'm baking homemade cookies and sending them to a book club reader. Watch for the April Cookie Giveaway Entry announcement in my column.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Warmest regards,
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
http://www.DearReader.com

READ THE CLASSICS: David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens, and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing: http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/users/master3/mweb/path16-1.html

Dear Reader Column 03-27-06

Join my email book club. Over 330,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

The job titles writer and columnist kind of snuck up on me. For a number of years I spent a lot of time journaling, writing down whatever was on my mind, kind of like I do every day in my column, only I never wrapped it all up in a neat little package for publication.

My journaling was all about feelings, and they were almost always to the extreme. One day I'd ramble on, so excited that it was difficult for my pen to keep up with my mind--the words were tripping over themselves. But the next afternoon, I'd find myself furious at someone and instead of administering 20 lashes, I'd let loose on paper. Hell hath no fury like Suzanne's pen.

How does it make me feel? Writing down my thoughts, helps me figure out what's really going on. I may be writing in an angry flurry, but by the time I've filled a couple of pages, I'm all tuckered out. The fight in me is gone--a magical soothing osmosis from me to the journal, and what seemed so important and righteous, reads back pretty shallow.

But the message I needed to hear is right in front of me. Kind of like the old making-a-decision trick--draw a line down the middle of a piece of paper, list the pros on one side, the cons on the other, and the answer is staring back at you.

If you've never journaled and you'd like to give it a try, I'll supply the journal and you find the inspiration to fill the pages. I have five bound journals to give away to readers. They are really cool. All you have to do to enter the drawing is send me an email at:

enter-to-win5@emailbookclub.com.

Make sure to include your mailing address in the email just in case you're a WINNER!

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Warm regards,
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com 
http://www.DearReader.com

AUTHORBUZZ: Win a signed free book from these terrific authors, plus opportunities for authors to visit your book club! Lisa Jackson, Shiver; Tim Lebbon, Dusk; Virginia Smith, Just As I Am; and Jennifer Solow, The Booster. Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

Read the Classics: DAVID COPPERFIELD, by Charles Dickens, and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing: http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/users/master3/mweb/path16-1.html

Dear Reader Column 03-24-06

Join my email book club. Over 330,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

Usually it's me traveling on the road for business, but it's my husband that's gone this week. I was thrilled to kiss him good-bye at 4 a.m. the other morning. Thrilled that it wasn't me heading to the airport. It's nice to know how the "other guy" feels for a change and I went back to bed.

I told him I was going to miss him, which is true, but I admit that secretly I've been relishing the idea of spending some time alone. I pictured it like taking a vacation by myself. I've never done that, but when I hear people talk about it, it sounds so introspectional.

Since I'm home alone, my schedule is completely my own. I can write all day long--no interruptions. If I'm up at 4 a.m. I can crank the music and dance around the living room. There's no need to clean as I go every day, I'll simply do a clean sweep before he comes home. I can eat whatever I want--but the truth is I can do all of those things when my husband is home.

Actually it's pretty quiet around here--too quiet. My two cats and I are doing our thing, but our thing is pretty much the same thing that we do every day, and we all seem to be missing something. The pretty remarkable guy we live with.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Gratefully,
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com 
http://www.DearReader.com

*Read the Classics: DAVID COPPERFIELD, by Charles Dickens, and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing: http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/users/master3/mweb/path16-1.html

Dear Reader Column 03-23-06

Join my email book club. Over 330,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

This past Tuesday's column was about my 'not' getting a quilt done. The pieces have been sitting in my closet for over a year now. Leave it to a reader to come to my rescue. Gwenette challenged me and I accepted!

From my Email Bag:

"Hi Suzanne, I know exactly what you mean about not finishing a sewing project. I have MANY of them. Like you, I keep thinking that I need to set aside an entire day or several hours to finish these, but if I just worked for an hour in the evening while watching TV, I could be finished in just a few weeks with all my projects.

I'm making a baby blanket for my friend whose child is now 3 years old. She's even had another baby since then, and I bought more fabric to make a second blanket. They'll be in college before I get them finished.

My biggest sewing sin, though, is the afghan I've been crocheting since I was 15. I'm 45. I have one more skein of yarn to add to it, but I've finally given up the ghost. My goal now is simply to get a finished border put on and wash the nasty thing.

I've decided that I need a challenge to finish these projects. If someone (other than me) gives me a deadline, I can be finished with anything. So I challenge you to be finished with your quilt by the end of May, and I'll be finished with the afghan and both baby blankets by then. What do you say?" -- Gwenette

(Suzanne responds:) Gwenette, I was just thinking that same thing the other day. If someone else gives me a deadline I always make it happen--on time. So why don't I respect my own deadlines?

I'm trying to find the time to work on a book, in addition to all of my day-to-day business duties, writing my daily column, and now the quilt.

But...having said that...I accept your challenge! I will find the time to have my quilt done by 12 midnight on May 31st, 2006. (I better add the year. We don't want any convenient loop holes, do we?)

You're on! (And I'm not even going to ask what horrible thing you'll do to me if I fail. I'm thinking positive.)

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Warmest regards,
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com 
http://www.DearReader.com

AUTHORBUZZ: Watch an author interview. Enter a daring contest! WIN T-shirts and of course signed free books from these terrific authors: Steve Berry, The Last Templar; Terese Svoboda, Tin God; and Natasha Kogan, The Daring Female's Guide to Ecstatic Living. Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

*    *    *

*Read the Classics: DAVID COPPERFIELD, by Charles Dickens, and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing: http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/users/master3/mweb/path16-1.html

Dear Reader Column 03-22-06

Join my email book club. Over 330,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

I'm just not my old self lately and I don't think I ever will be again, because things have changed in my life. Whenever I hear the word change, even if I'm suggesting it to myself, my first thought is: it's gonna be a bad thing. But then I remind "me" that I'm easily bored and wouldn't it be dull to wake up to the same thing, day after day, year after year?

I shouldn't fret so about getting to know the "new" me. Who knows, maybe my old self wasn't as good as it gets. Maybe this new me--a person I'm not familiar with yet--will have more fun and accomplish things that the old me never dreamed.

I'm usually a "fix-it" kind of person. Whenever something changes, I try to get things back to normal. I've been spending a lot of time looking for the old Suzanne, trying to connect with the person I knew so well. But I don't think I'll ever find her again, so I'm going to quit looking and spend my time getting to know the new me.

The old Suzanne knew what the boundaries were, but I think the new person I see in the mirror, just might step over the line and that sounds exciting to me.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com 
http://www.DearReader.com

*Read the Classics: DAVID COPPERFIELD, by Charles Dickens, and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing: http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/users/master3/mweb/path16-1.html

Dear Reader Column 03-21-06

Join my email book club. Over 330,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

A quilt--well, pieces of a quilt--have been sitting in my hall closet for over a year. I love the material, I can even see the finished quilt in my mind, but that's as far as things have progressed.

It was a splendid start. I measured and cut material, and stitched some pieces together, but then I packed everything up and put it all away because company was coming, and I wanted the room to look neat and tidy.

Neat and tidy is usually a good thing, but not when it comes to making a quilt. Out of sight, out of mind and no sewing gets done.

The first step to getting back into quilting is admitting I'd fallen by the seamstress wayside. So two weeks ago, I fessed up and then I hauled everything out of the closet and set up a makeshift "sewing room" again, in my living room. And there it sat for another two weeks. I walked by it, around it, shuffled a few things on the table, told myself I was going to get to that project when I had time. But of course the time never showed up in my schedule.

Even though I want to do things, and I know I'd enjoy doing them, sometimes I put up the biggest fight. It's a mental battle to get started and for the life of me I don't understand why.

I was just about ready to pack everything up again this weekend when I decided that maybe I needed to go back to a method that's worked for me in the past. Instead of telling myself that I had to find a big block of sewing time, I'd ease into it. For starters I sat in the chair. I know, it sounds ridiculous, but I'd walked by that chair for two weeks. Then I plugged in the machine, decided to oil it, and when you oil the machine you have to let it run a little bit, so I took some spare material and ran a few lines of stitches. Hmm, this felt pretty good and before I knew it I'd been sewing for an hour.

I can still see the finished quilt in my mind, and you know, I think I just might get there.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com 
http://www.DearReader.com

*Read the Classics: DAVID COPPERFIELD, by Charles Dickens, and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing: http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/users/master3/mweb/path16-1.html

Dear Reader Column 03-20-06

Join my email book club. Over 330,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

Sniff, sniff. "I don't feel good, Suzanne."

I could hear my husband's moans coming from the living room and I knew his sniffles meant that our weekend trip was going to be canceled. I was disappointed, but I smiled and told him it was no big deal. We'd simply go another time.

But an hour later I noticed that my dear husband was sitting at his desk and come to think of it, I hadn't heard one single sniffle in thirty minutes. He was looking pretty perky and I must have given him one-of-those looks because he hid the Doritos bag behind his back and started rambling:

"I know what you're probably thinking," he said. "But remember, when you were a kid, you didn't feel good and your mother let you stay home from school, but after you took a little nap, you were feeling much better. Not good enough to leave the house and go to school, but you did feel good enough to goof around, eat some Doritos and wash them down with a soda. Didn't that happen to you?"

His confession was cute and yes, I could relate, because when I was a kid I had to "prove" that I was sick in order to stay home from school. If I had a virus and feeling miserable was my only symptom, forget it. My mother had no sympathy. "Get dressed, you're going to school," she'd yell up the stairs to me. A fever wasn't any big deal in our house, we didn't even own a thermometer. There wasn't any need for one.

I'd better be able to produce some huge "mom can see it" symptoms, because she never backed down. Not even the time we went to the emergency room.

It was the first day of school. I was excited about wearing my new navy blue dress, but I didn't feel good. Not at all. I kept telling Mom I was sick, really sick to my stomach, but her diagnosis was, "It's just a bad case of the first-day-of-school nerves."

Tired of my complaining, she finally threatened me. "Okay, if you're that sick I'm going to take you to the hospital."

"I wish you would," I told her. And from the look on the doctor's face, we got there just in time. My appendix was ready to burst.

You'd think that appendix thing would have bought me a few free "I believe your sick" passes from my mother, but it didn't.

"Get dressed you're going to school!"

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com 
http://www.DearReader.com

AUTHORBUZZ: Watch an author interview. Enter a daring contest! WIN T-shirts and of course signed free books from these terrific authors: Steve Berry, The Last Templar; Terese Svoboda, Tin God; and Natasha Kogan, The Daring Female's Guide to Ecstatic Living.
Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

*    *    *

*Read the Classics: DAVID COPPERFIELD, by Charles Dickens, and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing: http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/users/master3/mweb/path16-1.html