Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column 05-17-11

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and receive her daily
column at: DearReader.com


Sample Suzanne's book at:
Muffins and Mayhem, Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life

I'd love to meet you in person. I'll be blowing bubbles, sharing some of my homemade chocolate chip cookies and reading from my book, Muffins and Mayhem at Bookstore 1 Sarasota. Can you make it? I hope it's a date...See you at
6 p.m., on May 24th.

 

Dear Reader,

A little extra fun at the book clubs today.

Readers want to know, "Where's the recipe?" and "Which bubble machine?" And, I'm looking for a book club reader to test a bubble machine for me. How about you? Keep reading . . .

"Hi, Suzanne! I enjoy your column very much; this is the first time I have written any author. I have a very important question, what kind of bubble machine do you use? I'd like to buy one. I've decided to make a conscious effort to have more fun, and think the bubble machine would be just the thing!"--Rita in Tennessee

(Suzanne replies:) Rita, a bubble machine is just the right thing for fun! My Chauvet B-250 bubble machine is electric, continuously pumping out zillions of bubbles. All you need to do is refill it with bubble solution. People walking, jogging, or biking past my house expect to see bubbles. In fact it's almost like the word has spread about a fantastic Christmas light display, but instead of folks driving by to see the lights, they stop in front of my house to walk through the bubbles.

Unfortunately I can't recommend an inexpensive, battery-operated bubble machine. The discount stores used to sell a great one for $20.00, but not any more. The brands they sell now, run great for three minutes, but then they foam up and the bubbles disappear.

But there is an inexpensive bubble machine on Amazon that I'd like to try. From customer reviews, it sounds like it might be a winner. But I need someone to test it for me. I'll buy the machine--the only thing I need is a book club bubble tester. Fire up the bubble machine and report your results, including a photo.

If you'd like to be my bubble machine tester, send an email (selling your particular bubble tester skills) and include your mailing address in case your name is chosen. Send your email to:
contest@dearreader.com

"Hi Suzanne, I wish you would include a link to whatever recipe you refer to in your daily column. For example, I went to your website list of recipes and couldn't find one called Chocolate Cupcakes (you mentioned when you were cooking with your grandson, Paul). Is it there and I just can't see it?"--Chris H.

(Suzanne replies:) Good point, Chris. Thanks for the nudge. I'll do better in the future. The Chocolate Cupcake recipe you're looking for is listed as a cake, but you can use it to make cupcakes instead. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/3uzw2mr

The link to our complete book club recipe file is: http://tinyurl.com/SuzanneRecipes

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

* I'd love to meet you in person. I'll be blowing bubbles, sharing some of my homemade chocolate chip cookies and reading from my book, Muffins and Mayhem at Bookstore 1 Sarasota (941-365-7900). Can you make it? I hope it's a date...See you at 6 p.m., on May 24th.

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

* This month's Penguin Classics book is IOLA LEROY by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/May11Classics

AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win: Goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

 

Dear Reader Column 05-16-11

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and
receive her daily column at: DearReader.com

Sample Suzanne's book at:
Muffins and Mayhem, Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life

I'd love to meet you in person. I'll be blowing bubbles, sharing some
of my homemade chocolate chip cookies and reading from
my book, Muffins and Mayhem at Bookstore 1 Sarasota.
Can you make it? I hope it's a date...See you at 6 p.m., on May 24th.

Dear Reader,

There's unusual stuff in every room of my house and each thing tells another story about the quirky side of my personality. I think I have my grandparents to thank for this delightful personality trait.

When I was a kid Grandma and Grandpa Hale lived in a two-story house that had three bedrooms upstairs. Open a door on the first floor, climb the steep staircase, pass by a wall filled with huge ornately-framed photographs of relatives long gone, walk down the hall, turn to the left, open another door and there it was--the most interesting room in my grandparents' home. And lucky me, whenever I visited, it's the room I got to sleep in. It was a kid's dreamland, because the spare bedroom was overflowing with interesting stuff--stuff that needed a place when it wasn't being used. Grandma never had to tell me a bedtime story after she tucked me in, because all I had to do was look around the room and every single thing I saw told me a story.

The set of plaid suitcases over there in the corner, my grandparents and I used those suitcases when we went to visit Aunt Inez. Aunt Inez was my favorite aunt, she never forgot my birthday, even when I was 25. See those stacks of stained berry boxes? Grandma's back yard was filled with red and purple berry bushes and even gooseberries. Word got around and almost every day there was a steady stream of berry customers stopping by. Helping Grandma Hale pick raspberries, strawberries and grapes was one of my favorite things to do in the summer. And over there, that's Grandpa's brown rattan fishing basket. He'd sling it over his shoulder whenever we went fishing together, and we'd use that same basket in the fall to collect walnuts in the woods.

Grandma and Grandpa grew popcorn, too. Once a year the entire bedroom floor--the guest bedroom I slept in--would be covered with rows and rows of popcorn cobs drying on top of newspapers, which was pretty entertaining for a kid, except at night when I tip-toed barefoot through the popcorn to get to the bathroom.

I loved sleeping in the guest room filled with "stuff" at my grandparents' home, and those memories and stories are probably why I feel right at home with the odd and interesting stuff in my own home today.

There's a fish and fishing pole hanging from my ceiling, a wedding gown in my bathroom, a huge circus tent mallet in my living room, and more. Let me show you some of my "stuff". Go to:
http://tinyurl.com/2o7jbc

And while you're looking at my stuff, you'll discover today's giveaway. Read the story behind it and enter the random giveaway drawing. I'm looking for a good home for one of the interesting things in my house.

* I'd love to meet you in person. I'll be blowing bubbles, sharing some of my homemade chocolate chip cookies and reading from my book, "Muffins and Mayhem" at Bookstore 1 Sarasota. Can you make it? I hope it's a date...See you at 6 p.m., on May 24th.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@EmailBookClub.com
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com

AUTHORBUZZ: Lorna Seilstad, today's featured author, writes...

When you think of summer what comes to mind? For me, it means baseball, lemonade, beaches and fun. Travel back to 1901 and meet the Bloomer Girls baseball teams. It's hard to imagine the great crowds that turned out to see the "spectacle" of women ball players.

To read more about A GREAT CATCH (Book two in the Lake Manawa Summers Series) goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

This month's Penguin Classics book is IOLA LEROY by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/May11Classics

Dear Reader Column 05-13-11

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and
receive her daily column at: DearReader.com

Sample Suzanne's book at:
Muffins and Mayhem, Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life

I'd love to meet you in person. I'll be blowing bubbles, sharing some of my homemade chocolate chip cookies and reading from my book,
Muffins and Mayhem at Bookstore 1 Sarasota.
Can you make it? I hope it's a date...See you at 6 p.m., on May 24th.

Dear Reader,

Laura Martin Bacon, a longtime writer and creative consultant for Williams-Sonoma, reads at the book clubs. In her spare time--I'm smiling because Laura is one busy woman--she's also the Culinary Creative Director of DOOF: Making good food FUN! (foodbackwards.com) DOOF teaches kids the amazing journey of food from its source to their table, through classes and messy, hands-on cooking experiences. When Laura read that my grandson and I cook together once a week, she suggested that even though Paul is only four-years-old, and he can't read the Chocolate Cupcake recipe we've made many times over the past two years, it might be interesting to listen to Paul explain how to make Chocolate Cupcakes, while I wrote down his rendition of the recipe.

I loved the idea, so last week, instead of baking Chocolate Cupcakes, Paul explained step-by-step, "how" to make Chocolate Cupcakes.

Mr. Paul Beecher's (in his own words) recipe for Chocolate Cupcakes:

"We need flour. We need butter and we need frosting and vanilla, eggs, sugar. And we need chocolate chips. Put butter and sugar in the mixer. Put the flour in one bowl. Baking soda and salt.

We need brown sugar inside the mixer. Mix the flour, baking soda and salt together. Put vanilla in mixer. Eggs, crack them in a bowl. Put them inside the mixer. Put flour in mixer. Turn the mixer up so it go fast.

Put the liners in the pan. Put chocolate inside the papers. Put the liners inside the holes in the pan.

Grandma puts the pan in the oven. Grandma washes dishes.

When the timer rings, stick a toothpick in. If it soft, it needs more in the oven. Timer rings again. Toothpick again. It done.

Grandma takes out of the oven. Then we let them cool. When them a little cool, take them out of the pan. When them cool, frost them. Sprinkles.

We bring to somebody else."

I was amazed at what Paul remembered about the recipe. The only thing he didn't mention was cocoa, but that's the only thing I always measure myself. Cocoa makes such a mess and it's very difficult, even for me, to get it out of the container. Maybe that's why Paul added chocolate chips to his recipe, because he knew we needed some kind of chocolate? But most likely, he was probably thinking about the chocolate chip cookies we bake together.

Even at four years old, Paul seems to understand one of the most important ingredients in a recipe. Love. Giving the best of yourself; baking something wonderful to share, or in Paul's words, "to bring to somebody else."

* I'd love to meet you in person. I'll be blowing bubbles, sharing some of my homemade chocolate chip cookies and reading from my book, "Muffins and Mayhem" at Bookstore 1 Sarasota. Can you make it? I hope it's a date...See you at 6 p.m., on May 24th.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@EmailBookClub.com
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com

AUTHORBUZZ: Spencer Seidel, today's featured author, writes...

A storm is coming and Alice Wynter is headed into the eye. After receiving word of her father's suicide, Alice races home to rural Maine to discover that Wynter family secrets run deep, secrets that have deadly consequences.

To read more about DEAD OF WYNTER goto:
http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

This month's Penguin Classics book is IOLA LEROY by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/May11Classics

Dear Reader Column 05-12-11

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and receive her daily column at: DearReader.com

Sample Suzanne's book at:
Muffins and Mayhem, Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life

I'd love to meet you in person. I'll be blowing bubbles, sharing some of my homemade chocolate chip cookies and reading from my book,
Muffins and Mayhem at Bookstore 1 Sarasota.
Can you make it? I hope it's a date...See you at 6 p.m., on May 24th.

Dear Reader,

Tessa Bartels, a long-time book club reader, wrote:

"Suzanne, you've left out a step in the tomato cake recipe (in Tuesday's column). When do we add the tomatoes? Or is this like your Beef & Broccoli recipe--with no beef?"

Whoops! The tomatoes (nuts, raisins and dates), are added after the flour. For the complete Tomato Cake recipe, including the tomatoes, go to: http://tinyurl.com/TomatoCake

Tessa has a very good memory. A couple of years ago, when I shared my Beef with Broccoli recipe with readers, my mailbox was flooded with readers wondering, "Where's The Beef?"

Turning back the clock, below is my original Beef with Broccoli conundrum:

Where's the Beef?

"Dear Suzanne, are you okay? I was reading your Beef with Broccoli recipe but interestingly enough, the recipe does not include 'Beef.' Is it an oversight? Or was I just imagining things? Hope to hear from you."-- Beatrice

"Where's the beef?"

I don't know, Beatrice, I'm still looking for it. Started looking for it early this morning, when hundreds of emails, similar to yours, started showing up in my inbox.

So I dug through my recipe box and found the recipe card. "Beef with Broccoli" was clearly printed at the top of the card, but when I read through the recipe--you're right, there's no beef! So what happened to the beef? And the bigger question, "Where's the beef 'been' all these years?"

It's amazing what you can convince people to believe. Because I've been serving this recipe for 20 plus years, "Here, enjoy some of my Beef with Broccoli," and no one has ever questioned what was--or wasn't--on their plate.

"Suzanne, I see mushrooms, in this delicious Beef with Broccoli. Are you sure this isn't Beef with Mushrooms?"

"Of course it's Beef with Broccoli. Those mushrooms on your plate? They're a newfangled kind-of-beef. Vegetarian beef--came from a cow that had a real thing for mushrooms."

"Where's the Beef?" I'm still looking for it, Beatrice.

In the meantime, trust me, it must be a great recipe because you're the very first person who's ever asked "Where's the Beef?"

* I'd love to meet you in person. I'll be blowing bubbles, sharing some of my homemade chocolate chip cookies and reading from my book, "Muffins and Mayhem" at Bookstore 1 Sarasota. Can you make it? I hope it's a date...See you at 6 p.m., on May 24th.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@EmailBookClub.com
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com

AUTHORBUZZ: Read along with the authors and enter contests to win free books. Be sure to enter!

LOST AND FONDUE by Avery Aames

NEVER WAVE GOODBYE by Doug Magee

SHEDROW by Dean M. DeLuke

DEAD OF WYNTER by Spencer Seidel

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

This month's Penguin Classics book is IOLA LEROY by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/May11Classics

Dear Reader Column 05-11-11

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and
receive her daily column at: DearReader.com

Sample Suzanne's book at:
Muffins and Mayhem, Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life

I'd love to meet you in person. I'll be blowing bubbles, sharing some of my homemade chocolate chip cookies and reading from my book, Muffins and Mayhem at Bookstore 1 Sarasota. Can you make it? I hope it's a date...See you at 6 p.m., on May 24th.

Dear Reader,

You'll find my recipes and recipes that readers have shared at:
http://tinyurl.com/SuzanneRecipes

Readers rave about Chocolate Cupcake Kiss Surprise and Taco Soup, and be sure to try my simple-to-make Honey Mustard Chicken.

"Hi Suzanne, I baked your Chocolate Cupcake Kiss Surprise recipe and sent them with my son & husband on a camping trip with the boy scouts this past weekend. They all loved them! Thank you for sharing your recipes. I love to cook but I have always used a boxed cake mix to make cupcakes. I didn't taste these because there were exactly enough for the scouts & parents going. I will have to make them again just so I can have one. They looked and smelled delicious! Thank you again for sharing your love of baking and reading."--Josephine

"Suzanne, I wanted to tell you we have made your Taco Soup recipe three times so far, and the recipe has been requested a number of times. The ingredients fill my Crock Pot to the brim, but it doesn't seem to be a bad thing! Have to tell you, the first time I made it, I misread the recipe and instead of the five hours at a low setting, I had it set on high. But it came out wonderful anyway. Thanks for all the good book picks, and sharing a bit of your day."-- Bev Gibbs

If you're looking for a simple, impressive dish for dinner, my recommendation is Honey Mustard Chicken. Here's the recipe:

Honey Mustard Chicken

2 tablespoons cornstarch
14 ounce can chicken broth
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon coarse-grain mustard or your favorite, but not yellow mustard
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 cup carrots, cut matchstick size
1 medium sweet onion sliced
4 cups cooked rice (I used the microwave rice packets)

Mix cornstarch, broth, honey and mustard in a bowl until smooth. Set aside.

Spray skillet with non-stick spray, sprinkle chicken with seasoned pepper (or your favorite pepper) and then brown chicken on both sides. Approximately 10 minutes. Set chicken aside.

Stir cornstarch mixture and cook over medium high heat, constantly stirring, until it thickens. Pour mixture over chicken, add carrots and onions. Cook over low heat in a covered pan until chicken is no longer pink. Serve with rice.

I'd love to meet you in person. I'll be blowing bubbles, sharing some of my homemade chocolate chip cookies and reading from my book, "Muffins and Mayhem" at Bookstore 1 Sarasota. The bookstore's address is: 1359 Main St, Sarasota, Florida. Can you make it? I hope it's a date...See you at 6 p.m., on May 24th at Bookstore 1 Sarasota.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@EmailBookClub.com
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com

AUTHORBUZZ: Dean M. DeLuke, today's featured author, writes...

High society, the racing elite, medical and veterinary specialists, mob figures, and Kentucky Hill folk entangled in a unique medical thriller. You won't want to miss SHEDROW. Take a peek right now, goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

Dear Reader Column 05-10-11

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and
receive her daily column at: DearReader.com

Sample Suzanne's book at:
Muffins and Mayhem, Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life

I'd love to meet you in person. I'll be blowing bubbles, sharing some of
my homemade chocolate chip cookies and reading from my book,
Muffins and Mayhem at Bookstore 1 Sarasota (941-365-7900).
Can you make it? I hope it's a date...See you at 6 p.m., on May 24th.

Dear Reader,

It was a first for me and it was my grandson's idea. "Let's bake a tomato cake, Grandma."

A tomato cake? I'd never heard of such a thing. Didn't even know if I could find a recipe. A couple of my friends suggested a recipe, but the only tomato in it was a can of tomato soup, which didn't sound too appetizing, or adventurous. But then I finally discovered a recipe that included the real thing: fresh, ripe tomatoes.

Nuts, raisins, dates (it was the first time my grandson or I had used dates in a recipe) and two cups of fresh, ripe tomatoes, does indeed make a Tasty Tomato Cake. The recipe is below:

Tasty Tomato Cake

1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs

Sift these ingredients together:
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt

2 cups fresh ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1/2 cup nuts, chopped
1/2 cup dates, chopped
1/2 cup raisins

Cream sugar and butter. Add eggs. Add sifted dry ingredients, mix well. Pour into greased 9x13 baking pan, or a Bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until cake tests done. Frost with cream cheese frosting when cooled.

If you'd like to see photos of the baking process and the finished cake, (you'll love how my grandson decorated it) go to: http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/tomato.html

Paul, doesn't even like tomatoes, but he does like broccoli...

"Let's bake a broccoli cake Grandma."

Is there such thing as a broccoli cake? If you have any recipes, help me out and send them my way.

Today is Classic Day. To start reading "Iola Leroy" by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper go to: http://tinyurl.com/May11Classics

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@EmailBookClub.com
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com

AUTHORBUZZ: Doug Magee, today's featured author, writes...

NEVER WAVE GOODBYE is the story of Lena Trainor, a woman who puts her only child on the bus to camp Arno, goes back in the house and is horrified when, fifteen minutes later, the real bus from Camp Arno arrives.

To read more about NEVER WAVE GOODBYE goto:
http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

Dear Reader Column 05-09-11

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and receive her
daily column at: DearReader.com

Sample Suzanne's book at:
Muffins and Mayhem, Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life

I'd love to meet you in person. I'll be blowing bubbles, sharing
some of my homemade chocolate chip cookies and reading from my
book, Muffins and Mayhem at Bookstore 1 Sarasota. Can you make it?
I hope it's a date...See you at 6 p.m., on May 24th.

Dear Reader,

My first thoughts when I wake up can set the course for my day. Lately, I've been on a crash course. I haven't figured out why yet, but the first thing I do in the morning, after I open my eyes, is start running a problem list through my brain. And if there aren't any problems within instantaneous reach, my mind goes hunting for possible future disasters.

"What if the flowers in the front of my house never recover, because I forgot to water them last week? What if I can't get the spaghetti stain out of the white shirt I had on the other day?" As you can see, these are ridiculous, trivial concerns, but even ridiculous can be a huge jolt to one's system early in the morning.

So until I figure out what's really bothering me, every night before I go to sleep, I review the day and pick out at least one thing that makes me feel happy or proud of myself. It's part of my Emergency Interruption Plan. For instance, the last couple of weeks I've been spending time with Denise Austin every day, down on the floor doing an intense 10 minute ab workout. So yesterday morning when I woke up, by the time I'd reached worry #4 on my morning problem list, instead of moving on to item number five, I started thinking about what a great woman I am--I did my exercise program yesterday! 'Good job Suzanne!'

My Emergency Interruption Plan has been a tried-and-true savior for me, but in order for it to work, I have to figure out how I'm going to interrupt negative thinking before it starts. I can't devise a plan in the middle of a worry session. If I haven't planned in advance, worry wins out every time.

Worry and problems are determined little stinkers. If I don't give them the proper attention they feel they deserve, (because I successfully interrupt them with good thoughts) they try again later in the day. So now I've added additional arsenal, cooking has become my Emergency Interruption Activity. I love to cook and when I'm in the middle of a recipe, there's no room for anything else in my mind. Hot and Sour Soup, Goulash, Brownie Cupcakes and Chocolate Chip Cookies were the interruption activities that saved me the other day. I'd cooked way too many things for my husband and me, so I delivered some to friends and family. And boy, were they appreciative. Maybe a little too appreciative, because when my friend called yesterday to tell me how much she loved the Hot and Sour soup I gave her last week, she also inquired, "Suzanne, are you sure there isn't anything bothering you today?"

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@EmailBookClub.com
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com

AUTHORBUZZ: Avery Aames, today's featured author, writes...

Buried bodies and buried treasure. Charlotte's worst fears are realized about the abandoned winery, that's soon-to-be a liberal arts college, when...a student is found dead.

To read more about Lost and Fondue (A Cheese Shop Mystery) goto:
http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

Dear Reader Column 05-06-11

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and receive her daily
column at: DearReader.com



Sample Suzanne's book at:
Muffins and Mayhem, Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life

Dear Reader,

She was wearing jeans, a T-shirt and tennis shoes, her dark brown hair was tied back in a ponytail, there was a big, friendly smile on her face--and she was carrying a pair of yellow rubber gloves. Most people wouldn't even notice her, but to me she was an angel. Well-rested and ready to dig in, she wasn't interested in taking any shortcuts (because she'd already been working for hours). Nope, this woman who felt like a savior and looked like a princess to me, was ready to work.

Three years in a row I'd organized and served a free Christmas dinner in our church's dining room. Hundreds of guests were served. Filling the volunteer sign-up sheet never concerned me, except, under the heading of Clean Up. There's not a lot of glory in being part of a clean-up crew, yet my angel in the T-shirt and tennies, signed up every year.

People who volunteer to clean up life's messes, face the end when things aren't pretty any more. They ask for nothing in return, but those people should be given awards--bigger awards than anyone else.

A friend of mine volunteers every year to pick up water cups the marathon runners drop in the street, as they're running the race. There's no glory in her job. By the time she shows up on the route, the spectators have all long gone.

My husband is the clean-up crew when I garden. I pull the weeds and trim the bushes, and magically stacks of debris are bundled and waiting on the curb for the next day's garbage pickup. When I make my messy Hawaiian Chicken, my husband appears just as I'm sliding the pan into the oven. "Go relax, Suzanne, and let me clean up the mess."

A woman volunteered at a center where homeless people can take showers and get their clothes washed. She'd signed up to fill the washing machines, but instead, when she noticed the showers needed cleaning, she rolled up her sleeves and took on the task. No one asked her to do it, no one expected her to do it--especially on her first day.

Angels in T-shirts and tennies, and yellow rubber gloves. Smiling, ready, and more than willing to clean up life's messes. God bless them.

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

Warmest regards,
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com

P.S. I'd love to meet you in person. I'll be blowing bubbles, sharing some of my homemade chocolate chip cookies and reading from my book, Muffins and Mayhem at Bookstore 1 Sarasota. The bookstore's address is: 1359 Main St, Sarasota, Florida. Can you make it? I hope it's a date...See you at 6 p.m., on May 24th at Bookstore 1 Sarasota.

AUTHORBUZZ: Homemade Orange Compote, BIBLIOPHILE gift bags and free books are all items you can win in contests sponsored by this week's fabulous authors--but you have to enter first!

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

 

 

 

 

Dear Reader Column 05-05-11

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and receive her daily
column at: DearReader.com



Sample Suzanne's book at:
Muffins and Mayhem, Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life

Dear Reader,

Love is in the air--literally.

Nineteen years ago, when my husband and I moved from Madison, Wisconsin to Sarasota, Florida, bugs were one of my biggest concerns. I envisioned creepy crawlers that had grown to B-movie proportions, "The Killer-Bugs that ate Sarasota."

But other than an alligator taking a dip in my neighbor's swimming pool, lizards scurrying back and forth across the sidewalk, and occasional black snakes (which are harmless), the two most annoying natives are invisible biting flies--appropriately called no-see-ums--and love bugs.

Twice a year it's mating season for love bugs. Thousands of females emerge from their larvae looking for an acceptable male suitor and when they find one, they latch on to each other in mid-air, but instead of rolling over and going to sleep afterwards, the two lovers fall to the ground in the heat of passion. Frequently they fall into the path of a moving vehicle. Splat, splat. (What a price to pay for love.)

My windshield, everybody else's windshield and sometimes the entire front-end of every single car in Sarasota is covered with a sticky adhesive-like love bug mess. Superglue should be so strong. And the worst part is, if the aftermath doesn't get cleaned off immediately, the love bug leftovers will eat right through the paint on your car.

Yes, at this very moment love is in the air, hanging in the trees, attached to storefront windows, on my car, and inside of my car (because even love bugs appreciate a little backseat romance).

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

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

AUTHORBUZZ: Homemade Orange Compote, BIBLIOPHILE gift bags and free books are all items you can win in contests sponsored by this week's fabulous authors--but you have to enter first!

LOVE SHRINKS: A Memoir of A Marriage Counselor's Divorce by Sharyn Wolf

HOT LIGHTS, COLD STEEL by Doug Lyle

THE LOST SUMMER OF LOUISA MAY ALCOTT by Kelly O'Connor McNees

MURDER UNDER COVER: A Bibliophile Mystery by Kate Carlisle

THE DARLING STRUMPET by Gillian Bagwell

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

 

 

Dear Reader Column 05-04-11

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and receive her daily
column at: DearReader.com


Sample Suzanne's book at:
Muffins and Mayhem, Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life

Dear Reader,

My kindergarten teacher wrote a note to my parents on my report card, "Susan responds well to praise." (Susan is my given name.) I probably shouldn't admit it, but I still respond to praise even at the age of 56. Tell me I've done a good job and my face lights up like it did when I was in kindergarten. If other people commenting "good job" make such an impression on me, I imagine my words of praise make a big impression on someone else. So whenever I read a book that makes a difference in my life, I try to pass on "good job; I loved it" to the author because I know first-hand what it means to hear from a reader.

From my Email Bag:

"Hi Suzanne--just wanted to drop you a quick note this morning to let you know how much I enjoyed your book. I finished it a couple of weeks ago and hated turning the last page. I've even tried several of the recipes. I suppose it's because we're close to the same age, but sometimes your reminiscence would take me back to my own teen years. Wow, did we think we were cool or what? And sometimes your mother's actions/reactions so echoed my mother's. Keep writing and I'll keep reading. Enjoy you so much!"--Best regards, Brenda B.

If you'd like to give my book, Muffins and Mayhem: Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life to Mom for Mother's Day, there's still time for me to send you an autographed bookplate, bookmark, recipe card and a letter to Mom. To make your request, goto: www.MUFFINSANDMAYHEM.COM

I'd love to meet you in person. I'll be blowing bubbles, sharing some of my homemade chocolate chip cookies and reading from my book, Muffins and Mayhem at Bookstore 1 Sarasota. The bookstore's address is: 1359 Main St, Sarasota, Florida. Can you make it? I hope it's a date...See you at 6 p.m., on May 24th at Bookstore 1 Sarasota.

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

Warmest regards,
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com

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