Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column 10-31-06

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,

I didn't get much sleep last night because I opened my email at one o'clock in the morning. The Golden Rule of Email should be "never, ever, open your email when you're having trouble sleeping, because something you read might keep you up for the rest of the night." And it did.

The first click of the mouse was a delight. No problems there. My daughter sent me the nicest email and I was feeling all warm and fuzzy, thinking, 'Ah, that was so sweet.' But the feeling didn't last for long.

Unfortunately, when something feels good, I'm not content to just sit back and enjoy the "feeling good" part. No, I have to keep going. So I opened another email, assuming the "feel goods" would just keep rolling in, but they didn't. The next email was work related--never would have expected a problem, but then isn't that the worst kind?

My eyes at half mast, I was just beginning to think I'd go crawl back into bed and then "wham"--wait-a-minute, what did I just read?

That wasn't what we discussed and so I printed out the document, grabbed a highlighter and a red pen, and took my late night homework into the living room. One hour later, there were numerous bold scratches and notes on the documents, and I was wide awake at two in the morning. I tried to put the email out of my mind and concentrate on getting back to sleep, but no zzz's for me. And soon it was three o'clock in the morning.

Some people count sheep jumping over little white fences, but a football game is always a guaranteed snooze for me. When I break the Golden Email Rule, then it's time to break out my Emergency Sleeping Pill. My husband recorded a football game for occasions just like this one. So I popped the tape into the VCR and soon I was counting little pigskins sailing over the goal post and drifting off to sleep.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected] 
http://www.DearReader.com

P.S. This year, every month, I've been giving away two dozen of my homemade chocolate chip cookies to a book club reader. Today's the LAST day to enter the October Cookie Giveaway! To enter, go to: http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/cookie4.html

READ THE CLASSICS: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs, and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing. Go to: http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/path_go.cfm?x=815&site=23

Dear Reader Column 10-30-06

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,

Thought maybe I should do a little fall housekeeping today--some book club reminders, and of course I have some books to give away, too.

Please don't ever feel guilty about hitting the delete key. If a book isn't a good match for you, or if you fall behind in your reading, start fresh any Monday morning. Keep the book club something that's fun in your life.

Midnight tomorrow (Tuesday) is the deadline to enter the October Chocolate Chip Cookie Giveaway. I'd love to bake for you and, if I do say so myself, my cookies are fantastic! Enter right now, go to: http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/cookie4.html

Miss a daily read? You can get it immediately when you go to the Missing Read Link: http://www.emailbookclub.com/miss You'll always find the Missing Read Link right after my column in each day's read.

It's a thriller, no doubt about it, and I have 25 copies to give away to readers this week. Author Kyle Mills was kind enough to send me some hardcover copies of his book, The Second Horseman. To enter this week's book giveaway simply send an email to: [email protected]

Well, that about wraps it up. I'm heading out on a jet plane later today. I'll be in New York City this week. Talk to you tomorrow.

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

Warmest regards,
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected] 
http://www.DearReader.com

AUTHORBUZZ: Amazing contests this week! WIN an authentic Hungarian recipe, free bookplates, and lots of signed free books from these terrific authors: Rebecca McEldowney, Soul of Flesh; Jeri Smith-Ready, Eyes of Crow; Barbara Fischkin, Confidential Sources; Sean Doolittle, The Cleanup; and Karen Marie Moning, Darkfever. Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

READ THE CLASSICS: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs, and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing. Go to: http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/path_go.cfm?x=815&site=23

Dear Reader Column 10-27-06

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,

I think I'm addicted and if I can get through the next six days I'll never wildly bid again.

Three months ago I bought a vintage apron at an antique store and in the last 60 minutes I've placed bids on ten vintage aprons on eBay. How did this happen? eBay was just something other people did. I don't buy lottery tickets, don't shop on television and never had an eBay account until two hours ago.

Vintage aprons are hard to find in antique stores so I thought I'd Google it and oh my, a list over 15 pages long--that's about 1,589 aprons--were suddenly on the screen in front of me. And that's when I lost my mind.

That's cute, oh, look at that one, I like that one too, and before I knew it I'd placed bids on 10 aprons. Sure, it was only ten bucks here, twenty bucks there, but when I finally noticed my total bidding amount, I was a little shocked.

"Time left 32 minutes." I'm watching my eBay page right now. It lists all the items I've bid on and this page is becoming addictive. Instead of getting my writing done, every 10 minutes I click over to see how I'm doing. Darn, I was outbid by 50 cents. One apron down and another nine to go.

I'm new to this, but the eBay auction reminds me of when the auctioneer was selling my grandmother's things before she moved into a nursing home. I was just a kid mind you, but even I was amazed at how the adults around me went nuts, bidding on bird figurines and other trinkets, upping their bids, just so the guy next to them didn't win. And speaking of winning, after the eBay screen says I was the winner, then it tells me to ante up the money. "Send your check to..." If you win the race, why should you have to pay for the trophy?

This could be a dangerous way for me to shop because I don't like to lose and I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I got so caught up in the shopping frenzy that I forgot to read the fine print. One of the aprons I placed a bid on has yellowing on it from age. I was in such a crazed hurry to bid on the apron that I didn't bother to read the description. The "yellowed" apron auction is just about to close. I'm counting down the minutes on the screen, hoping someone else wins. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, 'Oh please, somebody else bid on this thing. Come on baby, outbid Suzanne,' two, one, and the screen flashes that I'm a winner. Okay, so it was only an $8.32 lesson on reading the fine print.

My other eight aprons are on the auction block for another six days and then I promise I'll never wildly bid again--well, I promise at least I'll read the fine print!

Of course I have to show you one of my aprons, and I'm giving one away to a reader, (it's not the yellowed one). To see one of my "winning" aprons, and to enter the drawing, go to:

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

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
http://www.DearReader.com

P.S. This year, every month, I've been giving away two dozen of my homemade chocolate chip cookies to a book club reader. Today's the day to enter the October Cookie Giveaway! To enter, go to: http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/cookie4.html

READ THE CLASSICS: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs, and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing. Go to:
http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/path_go.cfm?x=815&site=23

Dear Reader Column 10-26-06

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,

There's an art to giving something away, especially when you don't know the person you're giving it to. But put a bag of chocolate chip cookies in my hand and I can walk up to a complete stranger, smile, and ten minutes later, I'm probably someone they'll always remember. Homemade chocolate chip cookies are one of those things that's hard to forget. And giving away cookies is a lot of fun for me.

So I bake cookies, and then go on the hunt for someone to give them to. I used to think giving away cookies was my own idea, but apparently it's in my genes. My mother always hated to cook, so I was really surprised last year when I was standing in the receiving line at her wake and almost every other person offered their sympathies and then commented that they'd never forget my mother, because she was always baking cookies and giving them away.

I don't know what my mother used to say when she randomly handed someone a bag of cookies, but here's how I do it. Two weeks ago, I bought a skirt in a neighborhood store and Liz, the store owner, seemed like such a nice person that I decided to put her on my cookie list.

"I absolutely love your store," I told her, "and I sure hope that business is good." Then I handed her a big bag of my chocolate chip cookies. Liz wasn't quite sure what to make of me--a big bag of chocolate chip cookies from a woman she didn't know, but she appeased me, smiled and simply asked, "Cookies? How nice. What are the cookies for?"

"Oh nothing special," I told her, "I know how difficult it is to run a small business and since I love to bake, I thought you might enjoy some of my chocolate chip cookies." And she did, and now Liz is on my "baking list".

My mother would be so proud.

This year, every month, I've been giving away two dozen of my homemade chocolate chip cookies to a book club reader. Today's the day to enter the October Cookie Giveaway! To enter, go to:

http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/cookie4.html

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected] 
http://www.DearReader.com

AUTHORBUZZ: This week make sure you enter to win signed free books from these terrific authors: Don Bruns, South Beach Shakedown; Mark Coggins, Candy From Strangers; Katherine Lanpher, Leap Days; Pamela Samuels-Young, Every Reasonable Doubt; and Paramhansa Yogananda, The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita. Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

READ THE CLASSICS: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs, and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing. Go to:
http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/path_go.cfm?x=815&site=23

Dear Reader Column 10-25-06

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,

It's part of the Dear Reader Column magic. I write a column and readers write a column back to me. My mailbox was flooded with replies from last week's column about the big moments. If you missed the column you'll find it at:

http://dearreader.typepad.com/dear/2006/10/dear_reader_col_11.html

Here's what some readers had to say. From my Email Bag:

"Good Morning Suzanne - I must confess I enjoy your comments more than most of the book excerpts, though they are quite good as well. Today's comments struck a very familiar nerve. After 38 plus years of marriage, my wife and I talk at least once a day during the work hours and if out of the area travel is involved, probably twice a day. Unfortunately, marriage commitment is downgraded in today's society and frankly people are missing a true blessing by not working through things... My wife and I continue to be challenged by kids and grandkids and love all of it, but mostly we love being able to take time to share between just us and how we're doing. That sounds like what you and your husband share. Isn't it great?! As you say, 'thanks for reading'." -- Jim G.

"Suzanne, I cried as I read your message today. I lost my best friend, my hero, my love just three years ago. We also had to be in touch, even when we were apart, but most of all I miss the laughter we shared. We so enjoyed finding the humor in everything and trying to top each other's comments and descriptions. How our house rang with the sound! And every time we drove out the road from our home on the edge of the Great Smokies, we would look around and say, 'We live in the mountains!!' How we loved it here. It isn't the same now. Hold on to your love, dear girl....hold on tight as long as you can." -- Pat H.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
http://www.DearReader.com

READ THE CLASSICS: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs, and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing. Go to: http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/path_go.cfm?x=815&site=23

Dear Reader Column 10-24-06

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,

My husband told me the other day that he was proud of me and I think I was grinning from ear-to-ear, just like a little kid.

After all, the greatest thing you can hear when you're a kid, is your parents or teacher saying, "I'm so proud of you." But when you're all grown up, who's left to say those words?

When a friend of mine ran her first 3-mile race, she sent me an email announcing, "I actually finished the race and wasn't even the last one to cross the finish line!" My first instinct was to hit the reply button and congratulate her, but instead I picked up the phone and asked her to tell me all about it.

Running the 3-mile race--she said it was one of the toughest things she'd ever done. I was trying to think of just the right words to let her know how happy I was for her and then I simply said, "Angela, I'm so proud of you."

It was amazing. I could hear Angela smiling through the phone, and I was surprised because the words made me smile, too.

How about that, two all grown up adults, smiling and feeling on top of the world, because somebody said, "I'm proud of you!"

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected] 
http://www.DearReader.com

READ THE CLASSICS: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs, and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing. Go to: http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/path_go.cfm?x=815&site=23

Dear Reader Column 10-23-06

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,

I invite you to sample a special book this week, Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert. It was the book I took with me on vacation and after I finished reading it, I even went back and thumbed through it a second time.

You can sample the book, and of course I'm giving away free copies, but the excerpt starts at Chapter One, and the first couple of paragraphs of Daniel's FORWARD shouldn't be missed.

From the FORWARD:

"What would you do right now if you learned that you were going to die in ten minutes? Would you race upstairs and light that Marlboro you've been hiding in your sock drawer since the Ford administration? Would you waltz into your boss's office and present him with a detailed description of his personal defects? Would you drive out to that steakhouse near the new mall and order a T-bone, medium rare, with an extra side of the really 'bad' cholesterol?

Hard to say, of course, but of all the things you might do in your final ten minutes, it's a pretty safe bet that few of them are things you actually did today.

Now, some people will bemoan this fact, wag their fingers in your direction, and tell you sternly that you should live every minute of your life as though it were your last, which only goes to show that some people would spend their final ten minutes giving other people dumb advice."

Oh, yes, Daniel's a Harvard College Professor of Psychology, but he doesn't write like one. (That's a compliment Daniel!)

So, do you think you know what makes you happy? Start reading and find out. Read the sample, send me an email telling me what you think (I'll forward your comments on to the professor) and you're entered in the book drawing. Go to:

http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/path_go.cfm?x=805&site=13

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected] 
http://www.DearReader.com

AUTHORBUZZ: This week make sure you enter to win signed free books from these terrific authors: Don Bruns, South Beach Shakedown; Mark Coggins, Candy From Strangers; Katherine Lanpher, Leap Days; Pamela Samuels-Young, Every Reasonable Doubt; and Paramhansa Yogananda, The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita. Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

READ THE CLASSICS: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs, and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing. Go to: http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/path_go.cfm?x=815&site=23

Dear Reader Column 10-20-06

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,

On days when everything feels like it's out of control, all I need to do to regain my sanity is walk down to the corner and push the traffic light button.

It's the one and only traffic light in the city that "does its thing" the instant a pedestrian pushes the little white button on the side of the pole. And it's on my street. Aren't I the lucky one?

You can't count on a lot of things in life anymore, but my traffic light--the one down at the end of my block--push that button and in seconds: one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi, the green light turns yellow, the yellow light quickly turns red and what do ya know, the world stops for a few minutes, just for me.

The signal's been sitting on the corner for years, but for some reason I never noticed it until the other day when I was out for a walk. It was one of "those" days. I had a problem, but there didn't seem to be any solution. Cars were streaming down the street and when I pushed the traffic light button so I could walk across, not only did the traffic come to a halt, but I regained a feeling of power.

I know it sounds stupid, but when I pushed that button and the cars stopped, I felt like I was back in control of things. Of course I could figure out how to solve this problem. Look at that. I made 12 cars come to a screeching halt--including a Mercedes, a BMW, and a shiny convertible with its top down. Yes, the world was looking pretty good again. So I crossed the street and since it was a long red light, I crossed back over again and waved at the cars as I went by.

It might not be my personal traffic light, but when I need a little help finding my way, it sure feels like it was put there just for me.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected] 
http://www.DearReader.com

READ THE CLASSICS: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs, and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing. Go to: http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/path_go.cfm?x=815&site=23

Dear Reader Column 10-19-06

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 missed Monday's birthday column be sure to join in the fun today!

AuthorBuzz made its debut in the online book clubs one year ago and we're celebrating all this week!

Happy Birthday to AuthorBuzz!

If you've never visited AuthorBuzz, the link appears right after my column every Monday and Thursday. Each week click on the link and you'll be introduced to new authors and they're always giving away fun and sometimes unusual things.

Book club readers have won over 1500 signed books, a trench coat, boxes of chocolates, Starbucks gift certificates, jewelry, and Sandy Hall and her grandson, Tyler Dalton won author Alex Kava's Crime Lab Tour Contest. Their prize included airfare from Spartanburg, South Carolina to Omaha, Nebraska where Alex's latest novel, A Necessary Evil takes place and they toured the crime lab.

Author, Ad Hudler, flew to Denver to meet book club reader and winner, Dorie Furman. Ad cooked dinner for Dorie and her friends and then they discussed Ad's book, Househusband, in the charming Virginia Village library.

Jane Cleland, author of Consigned to Death, gave away copies of her book and free appraisals for antiques. "The coolest thing that's happened so far," Jane said, "is that we 'found' a $30,000 watercolor--a Thomas Moran--thrilling to the owner and worthy of some buzz in arty circles!"

Authors have received more than a quarter of a million emails from book club readers. If you haven't joined the fun, be sure to visit AuthorBuzz today. Take a look around, send this week's authors an email and then join the party.

As part of the birthday celebration I'm giving away 100 books to readers! Visit AuthorBuzz, then enter the drawing by going to:

http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/give2.html

Happy Birthday AuthorBuzz!

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected] 
http://www.DearReader.com

AUTHORBUZZ: This week brings lots of signed free books and short stories from these terrific authors: Martha Powers, Death Angel; Lise Haines, Small Acts of Sex and Electricity; Connie Brockway, Hot Dish; Diane Setterfield, The Thirteenth Tale; and Mark Terry, The Devil's Pitchfork. Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

READ THE CLASSICS: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs, and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing. Go to: http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/path_go.cfm?x=815&site=23

Dear Reader Column 10-18-06

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 wanted to write a check and send it to him, but it didn't seem like the right thing to do.

When my husband and I first met Greg, he was a massage therapist, a young guy in his late 20s and his dream was to go to chiropractic school and then start his own practice.

What a great kid. We encouraged him to follow his dream and when he finally enrolled in school, we continued to stay in touch with him. We'd exchange emails and when Greg would come back home to visit his parents around the holidays, he'd call and we'd get together.

Four years later, Greg graduated at the top of his class, but now he faces what every new grad worries about. "I've got this training and now how do I make a living? I need a job." He was worried, so over lunch we brainstormed about ways to market himself--to get his name out in front of the public. And he arranged to give some talks in front of groups.

After his first speech, sixty percent of the people filled out a "How-did-speaker-do" questionnaire, and the woman in charge of booking speakers told Greg that he gave an excellent presentation. But today Greg is playing the "Yes, but..." tapes in his mind.

"Ah, Suzanne," he said, "I'm out there promoting and people are giving me great feedback, but if I wasn't living with my parents right now, I couldn't afford rent. I'm broke, broker than broke. I get up every day, put on the one pair of dress shoes that I have, try to wear my good pants as many days as possible, I desperately need a new belt, but if I button my suit jacket no one will see it. People tell me I'm going to be a success, but if they only knew how broke I was."

I wanted to write him a check right then and there, contribute what I could to try to ease his worry, but then I remembered something my son told me one day, years after he'd had asked me to lend him some money for a business idea he wanted to pursue. My husband and I had helped him in the past, as parents do, and he was a hard working kid, but this time when he asked, I felt that it was time for him to completely go it alone.

"I never told you at the time, Mom," my son said, "but I was angry at you because you turned me down. But you know, looking back, it was the best thing you could have done for me, because it forced me to take the leap myself. And now I know that I did it all by myself."

It pains a mother to say no sometimes, and it was painful to hear how worried and scared our young friend Greg was. But I knew he'd make it through. So instead of a check, my husband and I listen whenever he needs to talk, we pick up the lunch check when we kick around some business ideas, but we did buy him one thing, a new wallet. His wallet was falling apart and we told him that he was going to need a new one pretty soon because we could see that success was rolling his way.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected] 
http://www.DearReader.com

READ THE CLASSICS: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs, and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing. Go to: http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/path_go.cfm?x=815&site=23