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Muffins and Mayhem, Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life
AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win: Goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader
Dear Reader,
I'm on vacation with my grandchildren and today's Guest Columnist is my extremely talented, crazy saxophone-playing friend, Pulitzer Prize nominee, Thomas Sullivan.
Sully, as friends and soon-to-be friends call him, has been a gambler, a "Rube Goldberg" innovator, a coach, a teacher, a city commissioner, and an All-American athlete. By the time he was six, he'd lived in a dozen countries so he's at home in any culture. Over ninety publishing credits in all fiction categories, Sully's work includes seven novels. For the next month, DUST OF EDEN (don't miss it) has the distinct honor of being featured at Barnes and Noble's "Nook First." You can see the "Nook First" feature and read an excerpt at (scroll to DUST OF EDEN): http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/NOOK-First-eBook-Featured-Authors/379003312
Send Sully an email and you'll receive an entertaining, personal reply. You can reach him at: [email protected]
Take it away, Sully...
Life hurts. Sometimes. And sometimes it soars. Sharing both is probably why you read this column. Me, too. It's also why I write novels. If I had found the perfect soulmate, been the perfect parent, achieved the perfect career, led an unruffled life, I probably never would have written a word. But what I've become is an expert on failure, a habitue of rejection, and along the way a celebrant of small triumphs. And what I've learned is that what matters isn't the destination but the journey and whether or not you take it with courage and charity. You do that best when you remember that life isn't about you. Oh, you'll be the central character, like it or not; but the less you think about that, the more you'll optimize yourself.
Though I publish across a broad range of fiction, the constant is that I always write people stories. And the people come straight out of my life: like the beautiful Norwegian girl I met when I spoke at the House of Literature in Oslo last year. She was coming down the mountain I was skiing up, and it wasn't until I saw the scar that sliced her face in half that I understood the fear of rejection overcome by the courage to reach out behind her terrified "Hi." And then there was the lost soul across the hall in an old man's hotel where I lived when I was just 19. He had a tiny room like mine and I heard him beat up a roommate regularly--until the night I went across the hall to stop it and through the slightly open door saw in the mirror that he didn't have a roommate. He was beating up himself. Or another angel in exile--khaki man--living on the street utterly oblivious to respect or dignity--or so I thought until I saw him pull up an obese, mentally-retarded woman from a chair during a parking lot concert and dance with her as if she were the most sacred Cinderella in the world.
So the reasons for writing and the reasons for reading are pretty much the same: to savor, to celebrate, to end loneliness, to find answers, to share and to hope. Thanks for joining me in all of the above. Like Suzanne, I put out a kind of inspirational newsletter--Sullygrams--though I only manage to do this once a month. Feel free to write me and ask for it or just introduce yourself ([email protected]).
"Nook First" feature: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/NOOK-First-eBook-Featured-Authors/379003312
*Come on, if you haven't entered, now is the time. Can't wait to read your entry. It's writing for fun. Enter the 8th Annual Write a Dear Reader Contest, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/contest2012
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
The vacationing,
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
www.muffinsandmayhem.com
* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE HARBOR by Ernest Poole. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/July12Classics
AUTHORBUZZ: FALLING IN LOVE AGAIN by a collection of authors
Fourteen inspirational stories proving second chances for love do happen. Meet a jilted bride, single mom, and 9/11 widow, who all love happily ever after. These days, everyone has challenges to overcome. We hope you will be inspired by our stories to find more love in your life!
Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on FALLING IN LOVE AGAIN to read more.
A footnote here to thank the many, many people who have sent beautiful e-mails today, subscribed to Sullygrams, or downloaded DUST OF EDEN. All of it is truly appreciated. Please know that I will answer each and every e-mail, but I've been working pretty much nonstop since late last night and barely dented the Inbox. It's a task I look forward to, however, so please allow me some time. Thanks again and my very best to you!
Posted by: Thomas "Sully" Sullivan | July 25, 2012 at 05:40 PM