Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column 11-06-09

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

Today there's a bonus book you can sample, Moon River and Me by Andy Williams. It's a very enjoyable read, especially the behind the scenes look at his career. At first I didn't know if the writing style was going to be a good match for me, but I got hooked. Every morning, right after I poured my coffee, Rudy (my 19 year old cat) and I cuddled in the sunroom chair and started reading. I hope you enjoy the book, and I hope you find someone to snuggle with, too!

To sample Moon River and Me, go to:
http://www.supportlibrary.com/bc/v.cfm?L=%%list.name%%&V=N1A47AA2FF71&c=SUZ

I got a bit carried away when I chose Chocolate Chip Cookie winners this month. Maybe because December is the only month I don't bake for readers. I picked eight chocolate chip winners this time. Congratulations to: Elaine Steingrubey, Danielle Santos, Gina Jiron, Kathy Bretschneider, Taena Fowler, Becky Peterson, Jane Darlin and Lise Chlebanowski.

Your cookies will arrive next week. Before you polish off two dozen chocolate chip cookies, please snap a photo and send it this way. It will be my pleasure to bake for you. Enjoy!

Have a great weekend. Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

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

SEARCHING FOR YOUR NEXT BIG THRILL? Read the "Between the Lines" feature interview with Andrew Gross then read about great thrillers from: Kylie Brant, Michelle Gagnon, CJ Lyons, Wrath James White, Michael Beres, Karl Alexander, Anthony Flacco, Don Bruns, Jordan Dane, Libby Fischer Hellmann, and Donald J. Bingle. Go to: http://www.thrillerwriters.org

Dear Reader Column 11-05-09

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

Anxious, anxious, when I'm feeling anxious, I pinch my ears. I've been seeing an acupuncturist lately to help calm my anxiety level. I seem to be the perfect acupuncturist patient--ping, ping, immediately after the needles are inserted a warm and fuzzy current flows through my body. Thirty minutes later when the doctor returns to remove the pins, she has to wake me up because I'm sleeping.
Anxiety put to rest.

But I can't lie on the acupuncturist's table 24/7 until my body learns how to monitor my anxiety level on its own. That's why there's acupuncture "to go!" Stick it in your ear--literally. Five little silver balls, covered with flesh colored tape, placed in each of my ears so if I'm feeling anxious, I pinch my ears and instantly I get a dose of calm. With my long hair hanging down over my ears, only my acupuncturist knows for sure!

But maybe I should've explained to the people around me at the supermarket the other day. Shoppers were staring at me, and rightfully so, because I did look a little weird pushing my cart with one hand and pinching my ears with the other. Grocery shopping used to be a pleasurable, anxiety-free stroll. Walking up and down the aisles visualizing the wonderful dinner I'd cook when I got home, but not anymore.

Now shopping is work. Comparing prices and ounces. You'd think the big economy size of pork n' beans would be the best deal, but it's not. Two smaller cans give you more and cost less. Then there's the hassle of forgetting what I came to the store to buy. The list of ingredients for my Hot n' Sour soup is still at home on the counter, right where I left it. (The cell phone salesperson was right, I should have bought the phone that connects to the Internet, then I could just log on and look up the recipe. But then again, I'd be paying three times more a month for my phone service and wouldn't that cancel out any savings from comparison price shopping?)

Anxious, anxious, I'll talk to you tomorrow, I need to start pinching my ears!

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

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

AUTHORBUZZ: With so many new books out every week, we promise these are four that deserve your attention: Debbie Macomber, One Simple Act--Discovering the Power of Generosity; Nicole Seitz, Saving Cicadas; Richard Zwolinski, LMHC, CASAC, Therapy Revolution; and Helen Benedict, The Edge of Eden. Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader
And check out KidsBuzz too! http://authorbuzz.com/kidsbuzz/

Dear Reader Column 10-30-09

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

Today's the last chance to enter this month's Chocolate Chip Cookie giveaway! I'm ready to bake, are you ready to eat two dozen of my homemade chocolate chip cookies? I ship them overnight right to your front door, or your office. To enter the cookie giveaway and to see happy, satisfied, past winners (the photos this time include kids and they're adorable) go to: http://tinyurl.com/ylkyo9o

If you've never entered one of my giveaways, please do. Somebody always wins and it might as well be you! Watch for next week's giveaway drawing in my column.

Congratulations to these 44 book club readers! They each won a vacation souvenir in this week's drawing.

Drum roll please, and the winners are...

Diane Croft-Doane, Maureen Frommelt, Cheryl Davis, Gayle Skeens, Teri Torian, Yvette Lozano, Jeanne Sheats, Margaret S. Friend, Katie Barrett, Teresa Liebl, Patrick Banks, Kristal Breeze, Wayne James, Katina Scarbrough, Vicky Kellen, Rosemary Houser, Andrea Hornsby, Elisa Yuter, Theresa Albert, Jinjin Chai, Kim Barany, Sandy Paris, Marion Lillie, Dawn Fleetwood, Caroline Michel, Marie Bradley, Cheryl Brooks, Elizabeth Covino, Betty Schwede, Brooke Dale, Nancy King, Claudia Mundell, Linda Call, Pearl Berger, Becky Peterson, Josie Roetemeyer, Lisa Loope, Hilda J. Ciaramitaro, Linda Randig, Marie Brywka, Whitney McHenry, Joyce Sightler, Jennifer Huddleston and Michelle Ogletree.

Have a wonderful weekend.

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

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

KIDSBUZZ: This week, picture books, middle-grade and teen novels about dinosaurs, expressing anger, gorilla suits, and true love from: Laura Rennert, Buying, Training & Caring for Your Dinosaur; Gail Silver, Anh's Anger; Amy Gordon, The Gorillas of Gill Park; and Nancy Werlin, Impossible. To find out more from the authors go to: http://www.authorbuzz.com/kidsbuzz

Dear Reader Column 10-28-09

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

If I'd just been under the weather for a week during my recent three week staycation it wouldn't have interfered so much with my plans. But my vacation illness included a good old-fashioned cold sore on the left side of my lower lip, and a string of healthy fever blisters running down from my nose, to the top of my lip on the right side of my face. At least things were balanced!

There aren't a lot of things you can do when you are clearly a "marked" person. Even after I wasn't contagious my vacation activities were limited. I couldn't even enjoy simple pleasures like baking cookies and giving them away to strangers, or friends. "Here I baked today and I thought you might enjoy these cookies. Oh, that 2-inch scab thingy on my face underneath my nose, nothing to worry about. I assure you I'm not contagious--anymore. Well, I guess unless one of those little devils breaks open...but let's not even go there. My doctor gave me the 'all clear' yesterday. And anyway the cookie dough is sterilized--baked at 375 degrees for 12 minutes or until golden brown--so you have nothing to fear. Just because my doctor turned down the bag of cookies I offered him, that doesn't mean a thing, he's trying to lose weight. But just in case you're having trouble working up an appetite, here's a bottle of hand sanitizer to go along with the cookies."

When you live with "thingys" on your face for days, they start to feel familiar, kind of like one of the family. Now I understand a little better why the last time I visited Uncle George and Aunt Alice (who I hadn't seen in over a year) after hellos and hugs, and the coffee was poured, the conversation moved on to Uncle George's latest surgery. "I'm feeling pretty good now, but boy you should see the scar they left when they took the vein out of my leg." And without a second thought he's standing up, unzipping his pants, sliding them down so everyone can get a good look, "It's healed pretty good, don't you think?"

Well, I'd do a little show and tell, before-and-after, but take my word for it--I'm all healed now. So with that in mind, let me announce this month's Chocolate Chip Cookie contest. My oven's preheated and I'm mixing the batter. Do you dare to go where others are squeamish?

To enter this month's Chocolate Chip Cookie Giveaway, and to see past satisfied and "healthy" cookie winners, go to: http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/cookie091809.html

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

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

KIDSBUZZ: This week, picture books, middle-grade and teen novels about dinosaurs, expressing anger, gorilla suits, and true love from: Laura Rennert, Buying, Training & Caring for Your Dinosaur; Gail Silver, Anh's Anger; Amy Gordon, The Gorillas of Gill Park; and Nancy Werlin, Impossible. To find out more from the authors go to: http://www.authorbuzz.com/kidsbuzz

 

Dear Reader Column 10-26-09

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

Hello, hello, it's so good to be back from vacation! I missed you!

This year I booked a staycation. I stayed at home for my entire vacation, but I planned an itinerary in advance to ensure I'd be relaxed and entertained. Originally my idea was to get up every morning and go out in the community searching for a story. Say hello to strangers, find an exciting story every day, and type it up--deadline midnight! The idea sounded intriguing initially and my adrenaline was pumping, but the closer it got to day one of my vacation, the more it started feeling like I was planning a working vacation. So I nixed that idea in exchange for these.

1. Spend an afternoon on Siesta Key Beach.

2. Set up a table downtown on Main Street with a sign: "Writer looking for stories" and see what kinds of interesting people I'd meet. I realized it was "iffy" whether or not I needed a permit to set up a table and chair on a public sidewalk, but I figured even if I got arrested I'd certainly be guaranteed one good jailhouse story along with a mug shot I could share with you.

3. Invite my family to an Eat-and-Run dinner. (Eat-and-Run means after they finish eating they don't have to stick around, just say thanks and head out the door.) Scattering Eat and Run dinners in-between normal dinner invitations means we find the time to get together more often.

4. Spend time with my grandchildren.

5. Hang outdoor Christmas lights.

Every year, for the past four years, I've announced to myself that I was going to string Christmas lights over my bushes and palm trees, and every year for the past four years, I haven't put up one single strand of lights. I realize putting up Christmas lights before Thanksgiving is a social faux pas, so surely stringing Christmas lights before Halloween must be an outright holiday transgression. That's why I chose the color purple.

Purple covers any possible social gaffes--at least this year--because New York fashion designers have designated purple (Purple Heart, Pantone color 18-3520) as one of the "in" colors for Fall 2009. And since the first day of Fall was on September 22nd and winter doesn't officially begin in the Northern Hemisphere until precisely 7:42 a.m. EST on December 21, my yard is legally covered in Christmas lights even though it's only October 26th, and it's wearing the latest fashion trend!

Tune in tomorrow for more vacation escapades and I'll be giving away vacation souvenirs. It's so good to be back!

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

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

AUTHORBUZZ: New authors, old favorites--all wonderful books you can win: James D. Stein, The Right Decision; Linda Lael Miller, A Creed Country Christmas; Terri DuLong, Spinning Forward; Laura Brodie, The Widow's Season; and Terry Brennan, The Sacred Cipher. Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

Dear Reader Column 10-21-09

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 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 enjoying a vacation and author Emilie Richards is filling in for me today. Emilie is sitting at her computer, waiting to answer your mail so send her an email at: info@emilierichards.com Be sure to read below for details on how to win a free book. Thank you so very much Emilie.--Suzanne Beecher

From author Emilie Richards...

I always enjoy Suzanne's keen eye for finding meaning in the smallest things. I thought of that today as I dug for gold.

I'll confess I'm enchanted by thoughts of buried treasure. Novelists are a romantic lot. My practical friends see tumbledown houses and vacant lots, and they think about septic fields and new construction. I see stories buried in the rubble. Beside that spindly willow? A chest with great-grandmother's pearls and a photo of the man she lost, protected against the ages in a heart-shaped locket. Under those decaying steps? Letters from a long dead president, explaining why he did or didn't go to war, and how the decision haunted him.

With that in mind, with thoughts of a hundred possibilities, today I dug in my own front yard. Not for gold coins. Not gold jewelry. Yukon gold potatoes. Buried last spring where sensible people would have planted shrubs. Buried with hope and ceremony and tender, loving care.

Years ago, during my first sojourn here in Virginia, I also grew potatoes. I planted them on St. Patrick's day and thought of my Irish ancestors, wondering proudly what they would think of my green thumb. Unfortunately, nostalgia and pride do not a garden make. In keeping with the theme, my yield mimicked the Great Famine. Had I depended on my harvest, I would have been the last of my line.

This year I was determined to succeed. Again on St. Patrick's day, I dug holes and placed my starchy hopes at the bottom. And as the plants sprouted and grew, I covered them with soil and mulch and optimism. I calculated when to dig my buried treasure and imagined the dishes I would cook.

My result? Nine potatoes. Not one as large as a dainty lady's fist. Some just a smidgen larger than my thumb.

Treasure is like that. Sometimes the long awaited prize is far different from what we anticipated when we began the hunt. Writing can be that way, too. Sometimes a completed novel is not what we envisioned. A book, like a potato patch, takes on a life of its own and becomes a fat family saga, or a slimmer, more intimate volume. The result might be potato salad instead of potatoes au gratin, a simpler story, earthier, perhaps even tastier.

This year, despite my best efforts, my potato patch was only a short story. But what a succulent bowl of potato salad those nine potatoes will make. At month's end, as I launch into my latest book, I'll remember them and proudly smack my lips. Once again I'll be immersed in anticipation and possibilities. And when the last word is written, I'll be proud of the result and delighted my imagination and hard work carried me to that place.

Emilie Richards is the USA Today bestselling author of more than sixty women's fiction, romance and mystery novels. Her latest, Happiness Key, the story of four unlikely friends in a rundown Florida beach community, debuted in July. Email Emilie at: info@emilierichards.com Her website and blog can be found at www.emilierichards.com If you visit her blog be sure to post a comment that mentions DearReader.com and you'll be entered in a drawing to win one of three books Emilie is giving away.

KIDSBUZZ: This week, fascinating books about ballerinas, witches, explorers and angels from: Susan Kuklin, Beautiful Ballerina; Carolyn MacCullough, Once a Witch; Kathleen Benner Duble, Quest; and Suza Scalora, Evidence of Angels. Go to: http://www.authorbuzz.com/kidsbuzz

 

Dear Reader Column 10-20-09

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

Today's column is written by Diane Martin, a stay at home mother of four children.

Four children! I'm amazed she found the time to enter the Write a Dear Reader Contest, but I'm so glad she did. Diane's column was chosen as one of the runner-up winners. Congratulations Diane! Thank you for entering and keep writing.--Suzanne Beecher

The Toilet Paper Fairy lives at my house. Or so my kids think.

The same goes for the Paper Towel Fairy and the Counter Cleaning Fairy. Most homes have the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, and the Easter Bunny, but my children fervently believe in these lesser-known fantasy creatures.

In case you're unfamiliar, the Toilet Paper Fairy's job is to replace the empty toilet paper roll on the spool, because, obviously, time was too short for the last child to endure that monumental task of removing the empty roll and replacing it with the new roll visibly positioned on the shelf within arm's reach. Or maybe this child was so focused on thoroughly washing his hands before leaving the bathroom that he simply forgot to replace it. One can hope.

My children also believe in the Paper Towel Fairy. Although they are acutely aware of the location of extra paper towels, I often find the empty roll still clamped in place under the kitchen cabinet. Feigning optimism, I hope it was left this way because the child used the last paper towel to clean his mess; then, after walking across the kitchen to throw it away, he noticed the full trash can which he decided to empty, thus causing him to forget about the empty paper towel roll. Yeah, one can hope. Paper Towel Fairy: Get to work!

My kitchen is also visited by the Counter Cleaning Fairy. As my children have grown in independence, they make their own breakfasts, school lunches, and snacks. But with this increased responsibility come additional messes. Regularly, my countertops display dried spots of sticky ice cream or Pop-Tart wrappers that don't get thrown away. And thanks to drink dyes, my white countertop is often stained in various shades of the rainbow. But maintaining my spirit of hopefulness, maybe the child didn't notice the mess he left, because he was so eager to get back to his homework or to be of assistance to a younger sibling in need. One can hope. Well, the Counter Cleaning Fairy was due for a visit anyway.

Once my children have grown and moved out, I hope that these fabled beings no longer need to visit. Or I might just find that my husband was the guilty "child" all along.

Diane Martin

SEARCHING FOR YOUR NEXT BIG THRILL? Read the "Between the Lines" feature interview with Jeffery Deaver then read about great thrillers from: Jaime Rush, Matt Hilton, Bev Vincent, Tom Piccirilli, Laura Childs, Stephen Jay Schwartz, Piet Steyn, Darrel Bain & Stephanie Osborn, Jason Pinter, John Lutz and Gregory Lamberson. Go to: http://www.thrillerwriters.org

Dear Reader Column 10-16-09

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 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 on vacation and author Laura Griffin has graciously offered to fill in for me. Laura would love to hear from you. Send her an email, she'll reply and you might win one of two autographed copies of her most recent release, Whisper of Warning. Email Laura at: laura@lauragriffin.com --Suzanne Beecher

From author Laura Griffin...

"Wine a little. You'll feel better."

For my birthday this year, my husband gave me something sparkly--a T-shirt with this quote scripted across the front in glittery letters above a picture of a wine glass. In return, I gave him a quizzical look.

"You can wear it to Book Club," he explained.

It's a running joke in our household that my Book Club is actually more of a Wine Club, and I'd do almost anything to avoid missing a meeting. No matter how hectic, how crazy, how upside-down my life feels, I find a way--once every four weeks--to get the kids fed and my husband home early so that I can slip out of the house and meet up with a group of women who have somehow become best friends.

"You read the book this month?" my hubby asks as I race out the door, and I shoot him a look because--as I've explained before--that is so not the point.

At Book Club, we talk about books. Sometimes we even talk about the book we've been assigned to read. But we also talk about kids, and husbands, and jobs, and mothers-in-law. We exchange potty training tips and jokes about sex. We analyze the economy, and how it affects us personally. We ponder work-life balance, whatever that is. And yes, we drink wine.

Aside from Book Club, we have very little in common, at least on the surface. We are a nightclub singer, a paralegal, a corporate executive, an author, and the list goes on. We are moms and wives and sisters, though not all of us play all of those rolls. We are a diverse group, and our book selections tend to be as varied as we are: Under the Banner of Heaven, Choke, Anna Karenina (which, I must admit, I didn't finish), The Time Traveler's Wife, a biography of Eric Clapton.

In December, when life gets really hectic, we don't read a book at all, but meet at a movie theater to see a film based on a book. Pride and Prejudice was one of our better picks. Twilight, not so much. But that's part of the fun of Book Club--reading or viewing or talking about something new, something you might not have chosen on your own.

I learn a lot from our lively literary discussions. But I learn even more when our talks circle back to the here and now: How is your marriage? How is your boss? What do you do with the kid who pitches a howling fit in the supermarket aisle?

My Book Club--or my Wine Club, as my husband fondly calls it--is my touchstone. It's my link to other women who are different from me, and yet facing so many similar challenges. My Book Club is the place where I go for laughter and friendship, and even the occasional intellectual discussion.

Are you in a book club? I truly hope so. Because everyone needs a book club. Even when they don't read the books.

Laura is waiting to hear from you. Email Laura at: laura@lauragriffin.com

Award-winning author Laura Griffin started her career in journalism before venturing into the world of romantic suspense. Her thrilling new Tracers Series kicks off this November with Untraceable. Details and excerpts available at www.lauragriffin.com.

 

Dear Reader Column 10-15-09

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

Today's column is written by Wanda Wolfe, one of the runner-up winners in the Write a Dear Reader Contest.

Congratulations Wanda and thanks for filling in for me today.
--Suzanne Beecher

Out of the clear blue last year, a couple of vines snaked up from the ground and wound themselves around the support post on one side of my porch. I came out one overcast morning to find them showing off, flashing beautiful pink morning glories all up and down their lengths. The thing is that I hadn't planted any morning glories. Must have been birds carrying the seeds from elsewhere, but why such gorgeous pink beauties? And why landing just right to avoid the lawn mower and climb up the side of my porch?

All summer long I enjoyed their beauty. Then as cooler weather began to prevail, the pretty blooms faded and were replaced with seeds. I came out one morning to find a neighbor plucking those seeds. She stopped, face turning as pink as the now-gone blossoms.

"Hm. Uh, I hope you don't mind. I know you paid for your seeds when you planted them, but I've been enjoying these all summer, and couldn't resist getting some seeds to plant next to my own porch," she said, eyes filled with guilt.

I laughed, of course, and told her the truth, and said she was welcome to the seeds. She dropped by later with a homemade cake to thank me.

This year, not only the two vines showed up. They brought sisters along and completely obscured the post, with blooms arching out a full foot away from the post. They were twice as gaudy as last year. Now it's coming up on the time for the seeds to show up. I think I'll gather a few of them myself, and bury them on the other side of the porch, so the post there won't be so lonely next spring, or ashamed of his plainness.

And maybe I ought to put a birdbath in the yard, to thank the birds for their gift. Maybe even a bird feeder, you reckon?

Wanda Wolfe

AUTHORBUZZ: New authors, old favorites--all wonderful books you can win: Marilyn Brant, According to Jane; Stuart Neville, The Ghosts of Belfast; Tammy Lakatos Shames, RD, LD, CDN, CPT, Lyssie Lakatos, RD, CDN, CFT, The Secret to Skinny: How Salt Makes You Fat and the 4-Week Plan to Drop a Size & Get Healthier with Simple Low-Sodium Swaps; Dora Machado, Stonewiser: The Heart of the Stone; and Kat Martin, The Christmas Clock. Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

Dear Reader Column 10-05-09

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

Write a Dear Reader Contest winners, guest columnists, free autographed books, the opportunity to ask an author a question (all the guest columnists promised to reply to every reader's email) and vacation goodies from me. For the next three weeks every day a guest columnist will be filling in for me. I'll be on vacation.

I have absolutely no plans for my vacation this year. Yes, I realize that's a dangerous approach, especially since my husband and I can drive around for an hour trying to decide where to stop for dinner. No cars surrounding a restaurant? It's a bad sign, so we drive on by. But when the next restaurant's parking lot is full, we worry we'll have to wait too long. So without any advanced reservations, it's iffy whether or not we'll actually get out of town this year on our vacation.

The backup plan is hanging out on our new screened in front porch. The weather is beautiful this time of year in Florida, so I thought maybe I'd sit on the porch and write. Maybe even start another book. I've had an inkling of an idea, but it seems the harder I try to think about it, the more it escapes me. So I've decided to let the idea come to me. I'm ready and waiting, no pressure, (but just a reminder for whoever might be listening )--I only have three weeks. I have to be back at work on October 26th. Talk to you then.

A special thank you to everyone who entered this year's Write a Dear Reader Contest and to the authors who are filling in for me while I'm gone.

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

Officially on vacation... Suzanne Beecher

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

AUTHORBUZZ: With so many new books out every week, we promise these are five that deserve your attention: Iain Levison, How to Rob an Armored Car; Eileen Goudge, Once in a Blue Moon; Melody Carlson, The Christmas Dog; Laurie Ann Levin, God, the Universe, and Where I Fit In; and Laura Childs, Tragic Magic. Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader