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 11-04-09

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,

When you write something and send it out into the world you never know what will happen. Christine Hughes was one of this year's grand prize winners in our Write a Dear Reader Contest, and now her winning column is being published in the "Senior Times" a magazine supplement in The News Review Roseburg, Oregon's daily newspaper. Bill Duncan, editor of the "Senior Times" was so "deeply moved" by Christine's column 'The Good China' that he's publishing it in the November issue. Congratulations Christine!

If you'd like to peruse all of the entries in the Write a Dear Reader Contest for 2009, including Christine's column, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/DR2009/writedearreader2009a.pdf

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

Warmest regards,
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 11-03-09

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,

The daily column brings a little slice of life from readers.

From my Chinny-chin-chin Email Bag:

"Suzanne, you must make a close friend pact. I have done this with a very close girlfriend of mine. I believe my family would allow a full beard to grow under my chin and take pictures and make jokes! But my girlfriend and I have sworn on our long friendship that we will show up and take care of the chinny-chin-chin issue. Oh I feel so serious about this issue that I now have a pair of tweezers in my nightstand, in my purse, in the little decorative box near my spot in the family room and yes in the console in my car! (We were once on a long distance car trip when the enemy began to invade and wave boldly.)

My mother did this for my grandmother and I have vowed to do it for her...but I have sons! They have no understanding of the war! Maybe one day I'll have a daughter in law and she will become the tweezers bearer. In the meantime, my girlfriend is my most trusted comrade. Thank you for always making me smile and sometimes laugh."--Toni Worlitz

"Dear Suzanne, thank you for yesterday's column regarding living wills. The past two weeks I have been visiting my dearest friend at the hospital where her husband lies motionless and in varying degrees of consciousness. She is struggling with the hardest decision we face when our spouse or loved one is so ill. They do not have living wills. But even in her sadness she reminded me as she always does that I should not let her facial hairs grow long when she reaches this stage in life. I guess this is one of those universal traits in women. Next visit I will share your story with her. Thanks for sharing it with us."--Barbara K.

"Suzanne, that was an interesting tidbit about hair on the chin. And the sidebar on your son's determination to hang on with a cigarette lighter and riding around in a car was great. To plug or not to plug, such a question, ha!"--Fred L. Black

*If you missed Monday's column, you'll find it at: http://tinyurl.com/ykyvswj

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 11-02-09

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,

Years ago my husband and I each drew up a will, including a living will. Most people's living will outlines their wishes regarding life prolonging medical treatments. Mine does, too. If there's "no-hope, no-hope," feel free to pull the plug. Quite the opposite of our grown son's wishes, in his own words, "Don't pull the plug! I don't care if you have to plug me into the cigarette lighter and drive around with me in the front seat of the car. Find a way to keep me going!" But come to think of it, he might be out of luck now. Do they even put cigarette lighters in cars anymore? I guess we could hook him up to the IPod plug-in, or the phone charger and hope the car battery never goes dead.

I've added a personal grooming advanced directive to my own living will. Mind you, I'm not overly fastidious when it comes to grooming, but I've left strict instructions for my husband and grown children. If my mind should deteriorate and I end up sitting in a wheelchair parked in the hallway of a nursing home, with a crocheted lap pad resting over my knees, there better not be strands of curled hair dangling down from underneath my chin. Chinny-chin hair! It's one of my pet peeves. Don't people look in the mirror? Well, okay I admit they are fast growing. When I went to bed the other night, it was all-clear underneath my chin, but when I woke up there was a single dangling strand of hair waving at me. Get out the wax! Call the esthetician! Yes, I've left no wiggle-room in my living will, pull 'em out with your own teeth if you have to, but get rid of those chinny-chin hairs!

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

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 10-29-09

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,

Thanks for taking the time to write. I appreciate hearing from you.

A Question from my Email Bag:

"Hi Suzanne, did you ever have an idea that seemed great in your head, but flat when you put it on paper? How do you get around it? As wonderful as your columns are it is hard to believe you have this problem, but maybe you did when you started?"--Jenn Doyle

(Suzanne replies:)

Dear Jenn,

Thanks for your email and your vote of confidence, but absolutely "yes" I experience the falling flat problem you've described. The more experience I've gained as a writer, the more frequently it happens to me, because I take more chances with ideas. But it's really just part of the writing process.

A great idea might be humming around in my brain for days, but when I sit down to start writing--hey what happened? Suddenly the idea that felt like pure creative genius, I can't even come up with the first line.

This very thing happened to me a few weeks ago when I was in New York City having lunch with my agent. I was trying to tell him about an idea for my second book (my first won't be out until June 2010) but in the middle of explaining the concept I realized not only wasn't he "getting" it, I didn't even know what the heck I was talking about anymore.

So what's a girl to do? If I really love an idea and I'm not willing to give up on it, I let it percolate for a while. Sometimes the timing isn't right. I need to spend more time with the idea, so every chance I get I continue talking about it (no matter how disjointed I sound), and eventually everything comes together. Well, most of the time.

I imagine every single writer would admit to having the same problem, so if you discover a solution, please send the "fix" to me first--thank you very kindly--then hurry and produce one of those late night infomercials. "Call now and for only $19.95 this secret 'fix' will guarantee your writing ideas will never fall flat again!" I can see it now...hundreds of thousands of sleepless writers (including me), up in the middle of the night trying to get that flat idea to work, will pick up the phone. You'll make millions!

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 10-28-09

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 10-27-09

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,

Three weeks of vacation was way too long for me. Next year I'll make it two. But thank heavens I'd booked a long stretch of time this year, because I spent half of my vacation with a bug. I think I acquired the daycare bug. No need to place blame, I just always like to try to figure out the "why" behind something. Why did I seem to feel better after a couple of days and then get re-infected? Because I'm a grandma softy. When my grandson, called and asked, "Grandma can I come over to your house?" Of course I melted and said yes. What grandma wouldn't? Who cares if he's wheezing and sneezing and other kids at his school are out sick? A grandma's love can conquer everything--except the flu!

So I haven't been able to do everything on my vacation list yet. I'm still planning on setting up my card table on the corner of Main Street, with a sign "Writer looking for stories." I put that idea on hold because I felt it would be socially unacceptable to ask someone for a story and give them the flu in return!

I'm happy to report I'm fully recovered, so don't shy away from entering today's giveaway. If you're a winner, I'll only be sending you the souvenir, not the flu. I have 44 items to share with you from my stay-at-home vacation. My grandson's favorite "Let's Go Fishin' Game," books, colored bubbles, purple Christmas lights (the same kind that are in my yard) retro aprons, and tins of papers tags that help keep me organized. To enter the Vacation Giveaway, go to:
http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/giveaway102309.html

** Authorbuzz had a whoops yesterday, the authors and giveaways they advertised were not on the page. Everything is working today so be sure to visit the site. Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

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

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

 

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