Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column 10-17-05

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Dear Reader,

It was 10:30 in the morning, and my husband and I were traveling on the interstate heading back home from our vacation in the Smoky Mountains. I was in the middle of a donut emergency--it was all I could think about.

I'm not a donut eater. I probably consume about four a year. But for some reason, I just had to have a donut. And when I suggested to my husband that if he saw a bakery sign along the interstate, we should take a donut detour, he eagerly agreed.

And so we put our road map aside, and started looking for a donut sign. How difficult could it be to find a couple of donuts on a Sunday morning? Well, we looked and looked for the next 45 minutes and didn't see one single sign. But every five minutes, we'd see a "Boiled Peanuts Ahead--1 mile" sign.

Where's a Krispy Kreme, blue, interstate sign when you need one? Okay, maybe I was being punished for smart aleck thinking. Because on our way to the mountains, I remembered seeing a Krispy Kreme sign on the interstate and I thought, 'What a waste of money. What kind of fool is driving down the interstate desperately seeking a Krispy Kreme donut?'

And now I know.

Small town exit signs seemed like a good possibility. Every small town has a bakery, don't they? But five attempts later--a Reba's Homestyle Buffet & Grill, a Hollywood Diner, Amy's Cafe, and two Quick Stops--still no donuts.

I was starting to get worried, because if it got too much later, it would be afternoon, and the donuts would be all gone for sure. What's happened to this country that I can't find an old-fashioned bakery. Don't people get up at 3 a.m. anymore to mix, fry, and frost with a few sprinkles on top?

Gainesville 23 miles, Atlanta 75; it was going to be a long wait for a donut, so we tried one last small town exit. And there it was, David's Corner Cafe, our last hope, "Where good friends and good food come together." I was hoping it was also where, "Good friends and donuts come together," but no such luck.

"We don't have any donuts left," David gently told me. (He'd patiently listened to my sad donut story.) "But we do have some great pie." So I settled on a slice of Lemon Meringue. It was good, but it wasn't a Glazed Cruller--my favorite kind of donut.

And of course, when we were back on the interstate, a mere one mile further down the road, there it was: Krispy Kreme--Next Exit.

Are you hungry for a donut yet? I'm giving away four gift certificates--each one for a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts. To enter your name in the donut drawing, go to:

http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/donut.html

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
www.DearReader.com

P.S. FREE ROMANCE BOOKS, BOOK BAGS AND T-SHIRTS. We have 10 romance books by various authors to give away along with two Debbie Macomber book bags and T-shirts. Send an email with your mailing address and you'll be entered to:  enter-to-win@emailbookclub.com

AUTHORBUZZ: free stuff, tours, personal stories. This week's authors: Heather Graham, "Ghost Walk"; Lynn Sholes & Joe Moore, "The Grail Conspiracy"; Paul Levine, "Solomon vs. Lord"; and Gil Smolin, "Reign of the Rat". Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

Dear Reader Column 10-14-05

Join my email book club. Over 300,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

Thank heavens I have deadlines that motivate me, because I think I'm still in a vacation frame of mind. My husband and I were gone for 14 days when we went to the Smoky Mountains a couple of weeks ago. That's a long time for me. Every other time I've tried to take a two-week vacation, I was homesick after six days, and wanted to get back to work.

But not this time. I actually got a bit teary-eyed when we shut the door, and turned in the keys to the cabin that we'd rented. I didn't want to leave. This vacation was the best vacation of my life. I'm not kidding.

It's not that anything didn't go wrong. There was a day of vacation misery on the way to the mountains, but the rest of the days--well, I felt like I was in the middle of a storybook vacation. The kind of tale that is so perfect, it must be make-believe.

Maybe the secret to our great vacation was that we didn't have any expectations ahead of time, and we didn't make very many plans. A travel agent booked a hotel for us--for the nights we'd be on the road en route to the mountains--but after that, the only plans we had were to take things one day at a time.

We ended up renting a cabin in the Smoky Mountains, and when we walked in, we were stunned. We both walked around the cabin saying, "Wow, we really need to stay here longer," and we did. We immediately called and booked some additional days.

Our cabin, which was really an extravagant house, had two bedrooms, three baths, a hot tub, Jacuzzi, kitchen, dining room, two huge screen televisions, four DVD players, a game room on the lower level--complete with a full size pool table, air hockey table, foosball table--and the cabin had wireless Internet. The two decks that framed the back of the house overlooked the treetops, and a picturesque view of the Smoky Mountains.

I may not actually still be on vacation, but I think that magical, vacation feeling is going to stick around a while.

If you'd like to see some of our storybook vacation, go to:

http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/vacation.html

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
www.DearReader.com

P.S. FREE Book...Joel ben Izzy's "The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness" was just released in paperback. I have 20 signed copies to give away. Send a friend an email about the book club, and let me know that you did. That's all you need to do to enter the drawing. If you're a winner, you'll receive a book and your friend will get one, too. Email me at: enter-to-win4@emailbookclub.com

Dear Reader Column 10-13-05

Join my email book club. Over 300,000 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 haven't discovered our new feature, AuthorBuzz, be sure to check it out today. Every Monday and Thursday, after my column, you'll find an AuthorBuzz link. When you click on it, you'll "meet" authors (different authors every week) who've written a special note for us. And you can win books, bookmarks, T-shirts, find out about their tour schedules, and some authors will even visit your book club in person, or call in and discuss their book with you over the phone.

Bookclub readers seem to like our new AuthorBuzz. Every Monday and Thursday, you'll find the link after my column.

From my Email Bag:

"Suzanne, this new feature is great...love the idea of reading a little about the authors before, or in conjunction with, reading the books. Keep up the good work you do for all of us!"-- Eleanor

"Suzanne, something good just got better! Your idea of learning about authors as well as introducing members to new books is terrific! It's perfect for people with 'bibliophile' syndrome. Keep up the good work." --Carol Lewis

"The AuthorBuzz is absolutely great. Really enjoyed the whole web site."-- Patsy Goodman

"Half an hour after going on the AuthorBuzz link, I am back here! and haven't seen all yet! Thanks for the new feature."--Thérèse Mijuskovic

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com 
www.DearReader.com

P.S. FREE Book...Joel ben Izzy's "The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness" was just released in paperback. I have 20 signed copies to give away. Send a friend an email about the book club, and let me know that you did. That's all you need to do to enter the drawing. If you're a winner, you'll receive a book and your friend will get one, too. Email me at: enter-to-win4@emailbookclub.com

AUTHORBUZZ: free stuff, tours, personal stories. This week's authors: Douglas Clegg, "The Priest of Blood"; Gayle Lynds, "The Coil"; David Morrell, "Creepers"; and Lisa Tucker, "The Song Reader". Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

Dear Reader Column 10-12-05

Join my email book club. Over 300,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

The incredible, edible egg was driving me crazy because my hard boiling method--the same one I'd been using for years--suddenly wasn't working anymore. Whenever I tried to peel my eggs, I couldn't.

But thousands of readers, including chicken farmers and chefs, came to my rescue and emailed me their advice; poke the big end with a pin; add oil to the water; shake the eggs vigorously before you cook them, use a steamer; give up and just scramble them; add salt to the water; and be sure to use old eggs.

Egg misery loves company and I was relieved to discover that other book club readers shared my same hard boiled dilemma. Bonnie Cooper, Sharon Leek and Kim Westgaard's eggs were looking just as bad as mine.

Well, good news. I'm happy to report that I tried the "poke the egg" recommendation and it worked so well, that my eggs practically peeled themselves.

From my Email Bag:

"Dear Suzanne,

It's an Oregon pleasure to help you out with your hard boiled egg problem, especially since it also had been a problem of mine before finding this truly easy and always effective way of getting perfect eggs.

* Poke eggs with needle in the large end--I use a bulletin-board push pin

* Place eggs single layer in a pan and cover with one inch water

* Cover pan with lid and bring to a boil

* Remove pan from heat, let sit for 15 to 17 minutes, covered

* Immediately run cold water over eggs or put them in ice water until eggs are completely cooled

* You should be able to easily peel your perfect eggs"

--Faye Daellenbach, of Albany, Oregon

(Suzanne responds:) Thanks Faye. My eggs turned out great. To see the finished product, go to: http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/egg2.html

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
www.DearReader.com

P.S. FREE Book...Joel ben Izzy's "The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness" was just released in paperback. I have 20 signed copies to give away. Send a friend an email about the book club, and let me know that you did. That's all you need to do to enter the drawing. If you're a winner, you'll receive a book and your friend will get one, too. Email me at: enter-to-win4@emailbookclub.com

Dear Reader Column 10-11-05

Join my email book club. Over 300,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

"What's your phone number?"

I hate it when they ask me that question. I'd rather cough up my dress size, my shoe size, what the scale read this morning--anything other than my phone number. Why do they need it anyway? No one has ever given me a compelling reason for why I should give out my phone number to a clerk in a retail store.

When I've asked, the standard response has always been, "Our marketing department wants to know where you live."

Why? Do they want to conduct a follow-up visit in my home, to make sure that I'm taking good care of the shoes that I'm buying today?

I don't want to give out my phone number. I resent having to make up polite ways to say "no" and the clerk hates hearing them: "No, I'd rather not. My number's unlisted." And my personal favorite, "I don't have a phone. I didn't pay my bill and they disconnected it yesterday. Will you take a postdated check?"

A friend of mine used to simply make up a phone number, until she was betrayed by her 5 year-old, who gleefully piped up, "Mommy, that's not our phone number. You told the lady wrong."

It's almost my turn to check out. I can hear the clerk asking the people in front of me, "What's your phone number?" and each one of them is dutifully spitting out every digit. Well, not me. I'm not gonna do it.

How about asking me old-fashioned customer service questions like, "What can I do for you today? Did you find everything? Were you frustrated at all with your shopping experience? Would you like a foot rub before you head home?"

And that's when I noticed the note taped to the clerk's register: "Ask for the number! Win this week's bonus!"

So when it was finally my turn to check out, I intercepted her question with my own proposition. "Look, I'll give you five bucks if you just don't ask me what my phone number is. Have we got a deal?"

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
www.DearReader.com

P.S. FREE Book...Joel ben Izzy's "The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness" was just released in paperback. I have 20 signed copies to give away. Send a friend an email about the book club, and let me know that you did. That's all you need to do to enter the drawing. If you're a winner, you'll receive a book and your friend will get one, too. Email me at: enter-to-win4@emailbookclub.com

Dear Reader Column 10-10-05

Join my email book club. Over 300,000 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 something NEW at the book clubs.

Readers have been asking for ways to find out more "behind the scenes" information about authors and I agreed that it was a great idea. So now, every Monday and Thursday, you'll find an AuthorBuzz link after my column.

When you click on it, you'll "meet" authors (different authors every week) who've written a special note for us. And you can win books, bookmarks, t-shirts, find out about their tour schedules, and some authors will even visit your book club in person, or call in and discuss their book with you over the phone.

If you belong to a book group, or you're a librarian, feel free to include any of the AuthorBuzz information in your newsletters or flyers.

Let me introduce you to this week's authors: Douglas Clegg, "The Priest of Blood"; Gayle Lynds, "The Coil"; David Morrell, "Creepers"; and Lisa Tucker, "The Song Reader".

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
www.DearReader.com

AUTHORBUZZ: free stuff, tours, personal stories. This week's authors: Douglas Clegg, "The Priest of Blood"; Gayle Lynds, "The Coil"; David Morrell, "Creepers"; and Lisa Tucker, "The Song Reader". Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

Dear Reader Column 10-07-05

Join my email book club. Over 300,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

I was at a meeting the other day and the person sitting across the table from me was strongly objecting to someone's idea. Her rationale was, "That won't work, because this is the way that we've always done it."

I knew where she was coming from. I've been there before--unwilling to change my tried and true ways. But that was before my "hard boiled egg" dilemma.

For over 30 years, whenever I wanted to hard boil eggs, I filled the pan up with cold water, put the eggs in, turned the burner on medium-high, waited for the water to boil, then took the pan off the burner, put the lid on the pan, set the timer for 15 minutes and when the bell dinged, I dumped out the hot water and immersed the eggs in ice cold water. And the shells peeled off--no problem.

But then one day, when I woke up and decided to make hard boiled eggs, and I "did it the way that I'd always done it," the shells wouldn't let go, or if they did, half the egg came with it. I figured it just must be one of those days, so the next time I made hard boiled eggs "I did it the way that I'd always done it," but when I went to peel the eggs, again, it was a disaster.

The next five times that I tried to cook hard boiled eggs, I kept doing it "the same way I'd always done it." And each time when I tried to peel the eggs, I couldn't. Finally, I realized "the way I'd always done it," wasn't working any more.

I'm still in the R&D stage (research and development) of figuring out a new method for hard boiling eggs. I'm keeping an open mind, and actually it's kind of fun, because I'm learning a lot of new things about cooking along the way. But I'm always open to suggestions, so if you have any tips, please send them my way.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com 
www.DearReader.com

Dear Reader Column 10-06-05

Join my email book club. Over 300,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

I love to hear from readers. Thanks for writing.

From my Email Bag:

These are two reader responses from my "Bread Bake Off Contest" column. If you missed it, go to:
http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/bread2.html

"Hi Suzanne, just wanted to share my dough rising technique with you. I discovered that if you put it in a car sitting in the sun with the windows all rolled up, it rises in no time!! Then of course, your car smells heavenly for a couple of days. Thanks for all the great books,"--Cathy Day

"Dear Suzanne, one look at the pictures of your bread and I had to bake some right away yesterday! My almost 2 year old daughter got in on the action and was a big help in spreading flour all over our kitchen! Somehow enough stayed in the bowl to make two delicious circles of daisy bread--one for my hungry boys when they got home from school and one for my sons' teacher who is having a hard time at school with one of the kids. She was so thrilled with her loaf of bread--it really made her day! She gave me a huge hug, and proudly showed it to any mother or teacher who passed her way. We only have one tiny piece of our loaf left, it truly was delicious!

It is the perfect recipe for busy families--mix and prepare when you have time and pop it in the fridge, pull it out when you're ready to bake, let it sit while the oven warms up, and then baked in 30 minutes. Couldn't be easier and yet it looked so impressive!

It's these personal little touches that make your book club so special and make you seem like a close friend even though we will probably never meet."-- Pippa Robe

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com 
www.DearReader.com

Dear Reader Column 10-05-05

Join my email book club. Over 300,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

My life is made up of starts and stops. Unfortunately, I recently stopped lifting my hand weights. I was really in the groove for a while. Every day--never missed one--I'd slip my Denise Austin "Hit the Spot" 10-minute tape into the VCR, and I'd lift my hand weights. It only took a few weeks and my arms were looking pretty good. And after a few months, why, those little muscles in my biceps were perky and peeking up at me every time I moved my arm. I was so proud.

But somewhere along the way, my ego got too big for my biceps, and I told myself, 'Suzanne, you can skip your exercising routine today, because your arms are looking good.'

Well, they're not "lookin' good" any more.

Use it or lose it, as the saying goes, and after a few weeks of neglecting my "Hit the Spot" tape, I lost it. Those little muscles in my arms--I couldn't coax them out with mere adulation any longer.

So I've started a new exercise routine. In fact, I started when I was on vacation. I bought some small hand  weights, and took them with me in the car. Whenever my husband was driving, I was in the passenger seat doing "reps" with my cute, little, six pound, red hand weights. It may sound like a tight squeeze, but actually there was plenty of room. I slid my seat back, leaned forward a little bit, and one, two, three, four...in no time, I'd finished fifty-five curls on each arm, and then I lifted the weights up and down another 50 times over my head. I don't know what the people in the cars next to us were thinking about my "On the Road" workout, but it's the best multi-tasking idea I've ever had.

In fact, it worked so well that I decided to get my sit-ups out of the way too. No sense just sitting in my seat when I can be tightening up my abs. So I opened the sun roof, reclined the back of my seat, slid my body around so my back was resting on the "sitting" part of the seat, refastened my safety belt, (I didn't want to fly out of the car) lifted my legs up and extended them through the open sun roof. And voila! I'd created an instant sit up bench. One, two, three, four...fifty crunches, and two semi-driver's "kudos" later (they blew their horns at me) and I'd perked my abs up, too.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com 
www.DearReader.com

Dear Reader Column 10-04-05

Join my email book club. Over 300,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

Jena wrote to me...

"Hi Suzanne, I've been reading with you off and on for three years. I found you while living in Nashville (have you experienced that library? - one of the best in the world, in my opinion) and have taken you with me on our travels. From Nashville, I have accompanied my husband and his work through Sweden, Denmark, and a year in Florida before landing in Atlanta. I am a stay-at-home mom with three young children ages; six, five and a one year old. I am currently trying to get back to the 'adult' world and am not having much luck. That's where you come in :)

I have often wondered - what do you do? And how does someone who loves to read, loves libraries and loves books in general, find a job in the literary field. I could almost picture myself in your shoes down the line of my life. So I'm looking for advice, if you can spare a few minutes to give me some." --Jena

(Suzanne responds:)

Thanks for writing to me, Jena. I always love to hear from readers. If I'm "hearing" you, in-between-the-lines, I think I can identify with where you're at right now.

There have been times in my life when I haven't been sure what direction I should go. I was bored with what I was doing, wanted to get involved in something different, but I didn't have a clue what it might be. Whenever I hit one of those "dry spells" I did two things--one of them you're doing right now--nosing around, networking and talking to people. I was looking to see if any doors would open, looking to see if any opportunities would show up on my doorstep. Unfortunately for me, because I'm not a patient person, I was usually in the "dry spell" for quite a while. But looking back, that too served a purpose for me.

The other thing I did was to make sure that I was listening to myself, and I made time to do it. Every morning the first thing I did when I got up was remind myself that I was looking for direction today. I was going to pay close attention to the people I interacted with, the things I read, saw on television or overheard while I was waiting in the grocery line. You see, for me, I think part of life is kind of like a scavenger hunt. The answers are all out there. It's just that sometimes I don't take the time to look, and I don't knock on the door and ask, "Do you have a.....? I need one of those."

I hope that you find all the things you're looking for. I feel certain that you will. Desire is a big part of finding what's missing, and you're not lacking in that.

Thanks for reading with me. It's an honor to read with a friend like you.

Warm regards,

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
www.DearReader.com