Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column 07-17-07

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,

When my husband snores at night, all I have to do is tap him on the shoulder and tell him he needs to roll on his side--problem solved. When I'm in an airplane and the woman seated next to me has fallen asleep and her snoring is drowning out the engine noise, tell me, what's the proper etiquette?

And here's another etiquette dilemma I encountered on a recent flight. What do you do when the man seated next to you has a--how can I put this delicately?--a finger in the nose problem. I'm not talkin' an occasional touch-the-end-of-your-nose-sort-of-thing. This was serious business the entire two hour flight.

I didn't want to embarrass the woman who was snoring, so I tried to wake her up with my own set of noises, like clearing my throat and coughing. That didn't work. Neither did tapping her gently on the arm, so I decided a full frontal attack was called for. I'd head for the bathroom and on my way past her, I'd make sure that I practically fell in her lap. Yep, that worked. She woke up and didn't have a clue of what she'd been up to while she was sleeping.

Now my other seat mate proved to be a much more challenging task. He was dressed in a business suit and it was obvious he was traveling to an appointment, so I tried to strike up a conversation about business. But he wasn't a talker and would only answer with a yes or no. It was clear that he wanted to get back to the business at hand. (pun intended)

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

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

READ THE CLASSICS: Fifth Business by Robertson Davies and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/3x9eam

Dear Reader Column 07-16-07

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,

Try something different this summer, read the Classics. This month's Penguin Classic is Fifth Business by Robertson Davies. Read the sample and enter the giveaway. You could win a Penguin book bag--just like mine--or you could win a copy of this month's classic. I have twenty to give away.

You'll always find the Classic Link right after my column.

Go to: http://tinyurl.com/3x9eam

AuthorBuzz is featured on Monday and Thursday--you'll find that link after my column, too. This week "tell an author what matters most to you in your life and help raise money for a worthy cause." Plus discover new titles from five great authors.

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

Be sure to tune-in every day this week. I'll be announcing this year's Write a Dear Reader Contest. Every year, when I go on vacation, I give readers a chance to "fill-in" for me. Write a Dear Reader column--I'll pick two winners--the columns will run while I'm gone and each winner will receive 54 books (most of them signed) and a Vanguard book bag.

Get published, get books, get a book bag and have a lot of fun!

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

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

AUTHORBUZZ: Tell an author what matters most to you in your life and help raise money for a worthy cause. Plus discover new titles from five terrific authors. Andrew G. Marshall, I Love You, But I'm Not In Love With You; J.B. Stanley, Fit To Die; Kiara Brinkman, Up High In The Trees; Bret Lott, Not Safe but Good; and Luanne Rice, What Matters Most. Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

Dear Reader Column 07-13-07

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,

Things have been kind of crazy lately. Crazy-good. But sometimes even too much good can put me into a tailspin.

It was only 9:30 in the morning and I was already stressed out. Couldn't think, could hardly write, but had to write because I was finishing a project. It was something I'd been looking forward to working on, but things weren't moving along as quickly as I'd planned.

Fed up with myself, I kept muttering, 'Why, oh why, oh why, is it taking me so long to get this done?' My husband tried to offer some soothing words, on his way out the door, but I was right in the middle of another round of 'why, oh why,' so I wasn't available to listen.

But when my husband returned, he immediately got my attention. Most men bring their wives candy or flowers when they want to show how much they care, but not my husband. He walked through the door, smiled, set a turtle on my desk and handed me a card,

"Remember who won the race. Go slow."--Love, Bob

I don't know how he does it, but my husband always seems to know just the right thing to do when I need to be rescued. I know it's ridiculous, it's only a child's toy, but it's the cutest turtle I've ever seen. We instantly hit it off. My new friend makes me smile and the look in that turtle's eyes reminds me to slow down, have fun along the way, and enjoy the crazy-good.

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

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

P.S. If you're in the middle of "crazy-good" and you need a reminder to slow it down, my husband bought another turtle for me to give away to a reader. (It's just like mine!) To see a picture of the turtle and to enter the giveaway, go to: http://tinyurl.com/2of5vd

Dear Reader Column 07-12-07

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 friend Linda made some Zucchini Bisque the other day. I've never been a big fan of zucchini, (too many bad zucchini memories from my childhood) but now I've changed my mind, because Linda's Zucchini Bisque was the best soup I'd ever eaten.

I have a lot of great memories about growing up in a small town, but zucchini season is not one of them. Every year when the first home grown zucchini was spotted, word spread quickly and the friendly community where I lived suddenly became a ghost town. The small town dwellers locked their doors, pulled the drapes and hid in fear until the zucchini plague had passed over.

Gardens are plentiful in a small town and so is their bounty--especially zucchini. Each zucchini seed packet contains about 40 seeds and no respectable gardener can seem to resist planting each and every one of them. With almost any other vegetable you could count on casualties, so things would even themselves out, but not with zucchini.

Zucchinis have got the vegetable procreation thing down pat. Plant those 40 seeds in lousy soil, ignore them, deprive them of fertilizer, but as long as the sun shines and it rains, they'll grow...and grow...and grow. And that's the problem.

Zucchini bread and cake, stuffed zucchini, grilled zucchini pizza, chocolate zucchini slices, zucchini and cream cheese sandwiches, enough already. So what's a small town gardener do with their never-ending crop? Why, share them with the neighbors, of course.

But if your neighbors seem to duck out of sight whenever you stop by with a bundle of zucchini joy, take a hint from this small town girl--make a midnight run. Drop the zucchini off on your neighbor's doorstep--and run.

Zucchini Bisque

2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion - cut coarsely
1 cup chopped carrots
4 cups chopped zucchini - cut coarsely
1 can chicken broth (or one bouillon cube dissolved in 1 cup boiling water)
1/4 tsp sugar (optional)
1/4 tsp marjoram cream/milk (optional)

Melt butter over medium heat, add vegetables. Cook until onions are limp. Stir in broth, marjoram, and sugar. Simmer for 20 minutes until vegetables are tender.

Cool slightly, mix into a pulp till smooth. Add 1/4 cup cream (milk), return to heat till warm. Serve garnished with nutmeg, parsley.

You can freeze the bisque before adding cream/milk. I freeze portions in sandwich bags. It's great served cold too, but I like it warm.

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

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

P.S. My book shelves are overflowing. Can you help? I have 20 books to give away to readers. To enter the giveaway, simply send an email to: [email protected]

AUTHORBUZZ: Discover books you'll read and never forget from these terrific authors. Christina Skye, Code Name: Bikini; Shirley Tallman, The Cliff House Strangler; Julie Kenner, Demons Are Forever; Blair Underwood with Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due, Casanegra; and Michelle Moran, Nefertiti. Plus lots of signed copies to win! Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

Dear Reader Column 07-11-07

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 spend a lot of time on airplanes, traveling to big cities. In the beginning, years ago, it all seemed quite romantic, even though my trips are usually all business. But now after years of checking in and out of hotels and airports, the only thing that's romantic about traveling is when my husband picks me up at the airport.

"It's not necessary," I always tell him. I could hire a car, but I really adore the fact that he's waiting for me when I get off the plane.

As soon as I hear the captain announce to the flight attendants to prepare for landing, I start preparing, too. Checking my hair in my compact mirror, putting on some lipstick and trying to hand-press out any frumpy wrinkles, creased in my skirt, from sitting for such a long time.

After the plane's landed and I'm riding the airline tram to where my husband will be waiting, I'm still preparing; practicing different looks in my mind, picturing the way I want to look when he first sees me.

It's been a long trip, I'm tired, but nevertheless I ignore it and gear up for one last appointment--the most important appointment of all--the one with my husband.

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

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

P.S. My book shelves are overflowing. Can you help? I have 20 books to give away to readers. To enter the giveaway, simply send an email to: [email protected]

Dear Reader Column 07-10-07

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,

Remember to keep the book club fun. If you go on vacation, or a book isn't a good match for you, simply hit the delete key. Every Monday I feature a new book.

I always love to hear from readers, thanks for taking the time to write. Margaret read my "Whistling Toilet" column and she thinks her toilet is more talented than mine. And after reading her reply, I think I'd have to agree.

*If you missed the "Whistling Toilet" column, go to:
http://tinyurl.com/37e9xp

From my Email Bag:

"Dear Suzanne,

If your toilet merely whistles at you, you need to step into the 21st century, Japanese style. Here toilets politely raise their lids when they sense your approach. They keep your behind warm in winter (most foreigners claim that feature takes a little getting used to; at first it feels like someone else just vacated the seat), and all year round they rinse it and blow-dry it at the temperature of your choice.

If you want, urinalysis results and blood pressure readings will be faxed to your doctor's office, courtesy of your toilet, which politely lowers its lid in a bow as you depart. Embarrassed by bathroom noises? Push a button and the rush of a stream will be simulated, thus saving the water that would be wasted by repeated flushing to cover the sound of bodily functions.

I'm sorry, but your toilet is just not talented enough.

Sincerely, Margaret"

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

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

P.S. My book shelves are overflowing. Can you help? I have 20 books to give away to readers. To enter the giveaway, simply send an email to: [email protected]

Dear Reader Column 07-09-07

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 neighbor stopped me the other day when I was out for a walk. His son, Mack, was supposed to be writing an essay to submit along with his college application, but 'Dad' was getting concerned, because he hadn't seen anything written yet. So he suggested maybe Mack should come over to my house Saturday to talk about his essay.

I was happy to help, but later that evening I got to thinking that a senior in high school probably wasn't going to be too excited about talking to the neighbor lady about writing--especially on a Saturday night. Mack's topic was how reading Science Fiction had influenced his life, so I decided to see if I could influence Mack to telephone me. Early the next morning, I walked over to his house and left a stack of Science Fiction books outside the door, with a note tucked inside:

"Mack, I heard about the essay you're working on. Great topic, I'm curious. The books are yours to keep. Hope you enjoy them, Suzanne."

It was kind of exciting, doing a little "undercover" work, waiting to see if Mack would take the bait, and I was just about ready to give up hope when finally at 1:30 in the afternoon my phone rang. The books did their job. Mack thanked me over and over again, so I quickly suggested dinner, and to my surprise, Mack said yes. It was a date. Dinner and a discussion about writing, I'd pick him up at six.

Mack was pretty quiet at first and I could tell he still wasn't sure what he wanted to write about. So, I asked him how he liked to spend his time, and after we talked about computers, Science Fiction and his friends, he mentioned his dog.

He has a chocolate lab, but he still misses his first dog, who was 15 years old when she had to be put to sleep. And when I asked Mack who took the dog to the vet when she had to be put down, Mack looked down at the table and his voice got very soft, "My mom took my dog to the vet while I was at school."

I knew he was holding back the tears and by this time, so was I, but I told Mack that crying can be very inspiring. Sometimes when I'm writing a column, I'm crying while I'm writing and I feel exhausted when I'm finished.

I'd brought along a column about putting your heart into your writing and I showed Mack a page of random notes I'd written before I got the idea for the column. I wanted him to see what the beginning of a column looks like before it's written--what a mess it is--hoping it would make him feel a little less pressured. And in the scattered notes, I pointed out the one line that ended up giving me the idea for the "Putting Your Heart Into It" column.

Before we said good-bye, I told Mack no doubt about it, I was sure there was a great essay inside of him and I had the feeling it was about his dog.

'Dad' called the next morning, while his son was still sleeping, "You certainly gave Mack a lot to think about, he was up most of the night."

Apparently Mack was up thinking about his dog, because yesterday I read Mack's story: "My first dog was my best friend for much of my childhood. He was a sweet yellow Labrador with hardly any yellow..."

It was a wonderful story about a boy and his dog and a lesson learned about life: "Sometimes the most painful thing we do, helps the ones we love."

It was a story that left me in tears.

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

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

AUTHORBUZZ: One author is giving away a copy of her book every day in this month! Discover books you'll read and never forget from these terrific authors. Christina Skye, Code Name: Bikini; Shirley Tallman, The Cliff House Strangler; Julie Kenner, Demons Are Forever; Blair Underwood with Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due, Casanegra; and Michelle Moran, Nefertiti. Go to:
http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

Dear Reader Column 07-06-07

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 toilet whistles at me. It's kind of a sly, little "Yoo hoo! Come hither!" sort of whistle. This is a new thing for me and my toilet. Our past propinquity has been the customary toilet/owner relationship.
We keep each other clean and tidy.

Don't get me wrong--I always applaud creativity. So at first, a whistling toilet was actually quite amusing. I was even a little boastful, thinking I probably had the most entertaining toilet on the block. Why, my toilet whistles every time I flush! It even puckers up in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. But this whistling thing is beginning to get a little irritating.

You know how a joke is hilarious the first time out, still funny the second go-around, but after three times, the punch line just doesn't do it for you anymore? Well, my toilet has whistled one too many tunes.

I asked friends if they had any ideas about how to solve the whistling toilet mystery, but they were only amused. "Why does your toilet whistle, Suzanne? Maybe it wants to play, 'Name That Tune?' Maybe it thinks you have a cute butt."

O.K., it's time to call a professional.

"Joe's Plumbing. Can I help you? Why does your toilet whistle? Well, maybe it thinks you've got a cute...."

Yeah, yeah, I've heard that one before.

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

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

READ THE CLASSICS: The Quiet American by Graham Greene and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/2xdyfj

Dear Reader Column 07-05-07

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 was a guest on a live radio show the other night. My segment was scheduled at 7:38 p.m. (Pacific Time). I live in Florida, so it was 10:38 my time. Little did they know they were interviewing me while I was sitting in my pajamas. The evening's topic was love and dating.

"So Suzanne, tell us about your love affair with books. And do you remember your first love--the first book that you dated?"

When I was young, my love affair with reading and books was pretty rocky, and so were my dating experiences. I spent a lot of nights alone. A good man may be hard to find, but let me tell you, it can be just as tough to find a really good book. My parents had a long list of rules for dating and reading. The most important: if I started reading a book, I had to finish it. Consequently I was always afraid to commit. And there was that curfew. Lights out by 10 p.m. "Ah, gee, that's just when the fun started--the story was just getting good."

Frequently, well-meaning people would recommend books, bragging up their good qualities, telling me how "nice" they were, but my blind dates were usually a disaster. You can't snuggle up to a book that you aren't really attracted to. My mother wanted me to date the classics, but I wasn't the least bit interested. I wanted to read on the wild side.

When I got older, my job was consuming. Life got busy and I thought there wasn't any time to find that special book. When I wanted to get back in the game, I was overwhelmed. Hardcover, paperbacks, fiction, mystery, true crime, science fiction--where was a girl supposed to begin? Should I date for fun, or should I get serious and head straight for the Business Section?

But then I came up with the idea of the book clubs--kind of like speed dating. You get to sample a book for five minutes, just a little bit every day, and if you decide "he's" not your type--"Sorry Charlie"--hit the delete key and every Monday you're introduced to another possible match.

"Well, our time's up, Suzanne." Wow, where did the time go? A good book, a great date, a fun interview--it's true, they always end too soon.

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

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

AUTHORBUZZ: Find out about new books to read and signed copies to win from these terrific authors: Kathryn Caskie, How to Engage an Earl; Mark Terry, The Serpent's Kiss; Cindy Kirk, When She Was Bad; Susan O'Doherty, Getting Unstuck without Coming Unglued; and Alexandra Enders, Bride Island. Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

READ THE CLASSICS: The Quiet American by Graham Greene and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/2xdyfj

Dear Reader Column 07-04-07

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 was feeling pretty sad and disappointed a few weeks ago and when I mentioned it to a friend she matter-of-factly said, "Okay, and why is that a problem?"

Her rationale was that most people tend to walk around thinking they should feel happy and cheerful every day, and if they aren't, they see it as a failure. But it's not. Because that's just the way life is--up and down, happy and sad.

My friend sold me on her theory and I decided to stop resisting and give myself permission to feel sad and disappointed. And do you know what? Almost immediately it took some of the pressure off, because I didn't need to "fix" the way that I felt anymore. I could just "feel" whatever came my way.

My usual routine--when I'm not feeling great--is to work hard at pretending I'm happy. This method definitely hasn't proved to be successful in the past. Because if I turn away from what I'm feeling, I'm just postponing a hurt that I'll end up having to deal with later. And the tricky part about later, is that my sad and disappointed feelings then show up as anger. I turn into one angry, irritated Suzanne, and by then I can't explain why.

It's a messy job--working through crummy feelings, walking through the mud and muck--but it's a necessary journey. Having a lousy day? Hey, grab your boots, and let's walk together. I'll be happy to show you the 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: The Quiet American by Graham Greene and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/2xdyfj