Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column 06-16-14

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


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

Dear Reader,

You don't always have to finish what you start. Sometimes just the act of beginning something is all that's required, and the rest will come later. I didn't grow up with that message, so I've had to teach myself that lesson along the way.

When I'm writing, sometimes the lines come pouring out of me, and I can't get them down fast enough. But then the intense fanfare abruptly comes to an end. That's it. That's all I've got for the moment. The column's not finished, but apparently that's all I feel the need to say--for now. And so I put it aside.

Setting things aside will probably always be a little unsettling for me. If I start something and don't finish it within the illusory timetable I've set for myself, I feel like I'm being lazy. "There's no good reason why you shouldn't finish that right now, Suzanne." It's a voice from my past and I hear it each and every time.

But I'm beginning to understand that sometimes things need time to "noodle," as my friend puts it. Who knows, maybe the part I need to wrap things up is on back-order, and it will be a couple of weeks before it shows up. But whatever the reason, the timing just isn't right today.

Learning how to set things aside requires me to trust myself. Do I trust myself enough to know that I'll finish it when the timing's right. Or on second thought, maybe the real creative genius is in what's left unfinished. Norman Rockwell started his painting, "The Dugout" in 1948, but he never finished it. It sold--unfinished--for $345,000.

Let's see, how many unfinished columns do I have sitting around? Where's my calculator?

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

AUTHORBUZZ: TERMINAL CITY (Fiction) by Linda Fairstein

Alex Cooper and Mike Chapman are back, faced with the murder of a young woman in the famed Waldorf Astoria Hotel, just days before the President of the United States is set to arrive there for a UN conference. What are the mysterious markings carved into her skin, and how do they connect the killer to the century old landmark--Grand Central Terminal?

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on TERMINAL CITY to read more and to email author Linda Fairstein, you'll get a reply.

 

Dear Reader Column 06-13-14

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


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

Dear Reader,

"Looking for the funny" was my one and only resolution for this year. In response to this past Tuesday's column (about my idea of having a party on my new flat roof to celebrate), Judy, a book club reader, chimed in with her own gathering on the roof experience...

"Suzanne:

On a lovely Saturday, a number of years ago, I noticed many people trekking down the driveway next to our property and climbing a ladder onto the roof of a new house. A man was on the roof lecturing to the crowd. I rushed into our house to tell my husband that a religious zealot was probably on that roof preaching about the second coming.

Being a good husband, and curious, he investigated at once and returned home laughing. This was the first house in our area to have solar panels, and the salesman was using it to give demonstrations. What a laugh!"

-- Judy H.

I'm "looking for the funny" this year, can you help me out? I'd love to hear from you.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

AUTHORBUZZ: AZAGOTH (Fantasy) by Larissa Ione

I'm often asked how I can write romances set in dark worlds full of violence and monsters. My answer? The human world is also full of violence, darkness, and monsters, but we still find the beauty, love, and laughter in life. When I wrote this story, which is set almost entirely in the underworld realm of the Grim Reaper, I definitely had my work cut out for me! It's dark and gritty, and yet, steamy and romantic. Hope you enjoy!

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on AZAGOTH to read more and to email author Larissa Ione, you'll get a reply.

KIDSBUZZ: Meet new authors--send an email, ask a question and they will reply. Plus enter to win a free copy of TIGER or ELEPHANT by Suzi Eszterhas; MISTER BUD WEARS THE CONE by Carter Goodrich; PANSY IN PARIS by Cynthia Bardes; or THE PICARESQUE OF PURPLE by Beth Fine. For a chance to win, say hello to the authors, and more, see http://www.authorbuzz.com/kidsbuzz.

 

 

 

Dear Reader Column 06-12-14

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


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

Dear Reader,

I'm big on making lists. It feels so good when I can draw a line through another completed task. "Way to go, Suzanne!" But sometimes a list works against me because it's not as simple as drawing a line through an item. Especially if it's a list of problems and it's three in the morning. Last night was one of those nights.

When I woke up at 3 a.m. and started thinking about all the things that have been worrying me, I decided to make a list. Bad idea, because I'm obsessive about my lists until they're completed. So every hour--on the hour--I felt the need to take roll call, just to make sure all of my problems stayed on my list until I could tend to them in the morning:

"May I have your attention please. When I call your name, acknowledge that you're still on the worry list. I wouldn't want to lose anybody and I'm willing to stay up all night to make sure I don't."

And of course, I did--stay up all night.

("Yawn") Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

AUTHORBUZZ: ANKLE HIGH AND KNEE DEEP: Women Reflect on Western Rural Life (NonFiction) by Gail L. Jenner

A collection of essays from more than twenty ranch women, cowgirls, and farmers about what they've learned while standing in or stepping out of "mud, manure, and other offal." Colicky horses, late nights spent in barns birthing calves--the trials and tribulations of farm and ranch life are as central to its experience as amber waves of grain and Sunday dinners. These are contemporary accounts of women struggling to keep a lifestyle intact, recollections of childhoods spent in open spaces, and tales of overcoming obstacles.

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on ANKLE HIGH AND KNEE DEEP to read more and to email author Gail L. Jenner, you'll get a reply.

With so many new books out every week, we promise these titles deserve your attention:

(Fiction)
FULL STEAM AHEAD by Karen Witemeyer

(Fiction)
THE POOR MAN'S GUIDE TO SUICIDE by Andrew Armacost

(Fiction)
HERE AND AGAIN by Nicole R. Dickson

(NonFiction)
ANKLE HIGH AND KNEE DEEP: Women Reflect on Western Rural Life by Gail L. Jenner

(Fantasy)
AZAGOTH by Larissa Ione

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

 

 

 

Dear Reader Column 06-11-14

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


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

Dear Reader,

Are you going on vacation this summer? Today's guest author Beatriz Williams (The Secret life of Violet Grant), shares a summer to remember. Be sure to read today's guest column. Send Beatriz an email, say hello and enter her book giveaway, too.
[email protected]

Welcome to the book club Beatriz Williams...

We encountered the first sign of trouble when we reached the Italian port of Brindisi, hoping to board the ferry to Greece.

It was the summer of 1991, and I was nineteen years old, traveling through the Continent on a Eurail pass with my sister and her boyfriend. After landing into the dank miasma of a London June, we'd charted a rapid course due south to Italy. Someone at the hostel in Sorrento said we absolutely had to see the Greek islands. The ferry would accept our Eurail passes, she said. You could take an overnight crossing and save a night's lodging.

She was right, except for the ten thousand lire surcharge. A reservation fee, apparently, or so we surmised as we argued in Englitalian with the ticket agent. We couldn't afford ten thousand lire. We could barely afford our daily bread and Nutella. What about taking the train back around the Adriatic to Greece, we asked.

Impossible, said the ticket agent. He held up a newspaper: Yugoslavia, abandoned by the Soviets, had just erupted into civil war.

Fine, said my sister. Let's go to Budapest instead.

We went to Budapest and forgot about Yugoslavia for a few days, but when we came back through Vienna on our way to Munich, we encountered something extraordinary: refugees. One guy shared our compartment. He was our age, a mournful American, carrying a suitcase instead of a backpack. He'd come to spend the summer making love with his gorgeous Serbian girlfriend--he showed us a photograph--and didn't know what to do with himself. We gave him some bread and Nutella and told him about the hostel in Munich. We'd sleep with a hundred other people in a big tent, and it cost only a few Deutschemarks a night, plus breakfast.

For a few days, the mournful American hung out with us. But we were a poor substitute for a gorgeous Serbian girlfriend, and eventually he slunk back to Vienna and an earlier flight home.

I've often wondered what happened to that guy, and especially what happened to his girlfriend. Did they ever see each other again? Did she even survive? If war had been averted, would they have married and had gorgeous multilingual kids?

That's what happens when war first breaks out, an overnight metamorphosis, converting vacationers into refugees, changing the course of history in both profound ways and mundane. A hundred years ago, thousands of tourists were unceremoniously dumped from European trains, as the timetables of mobilization catapulted into service. My husband's great-grandmother was one of those tourists, and if she hadn't lost her suitcase in the resulting confusion, I might never have written The Secret Life of Violet Grant. A minor alteration to history, maybe, but isn't that what writers do best? Reimagine the minute into the significant.

--Beatriz Williams

Send me your story of travel serendipity to [email protected], and my publisher, G.P. Putnam's Sons, will select FIVE winners to receive beautiful finished copies of The Secret Life of Violet Grant.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

AUTHORBUZZ: HERE AND AGAIN (Fiction) by Nicole R. Dickson

In this story, I found a character--an Iraq War widow living on a farm. I found a Civil War soldier marching through that same land long ago. There is a space between here and now and there and then. In that space, these two find their way home from the chaos of war--separate yet together.

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on HERE AND AGAIN to read more and to email author Nicole R. Dickson, you'll get a reply.

KIDSBUZZ: Meet new authors--send an email, ask a question and they will reply. Plus enter to win a free copy of TIGER or ELEPHANT by Suzi Eszterhas; MISTER BUD WEARS THE CONE by Carter Goodrich; PANSY IN PARIS by Cynthia Bardes; or THE PICARESQUE OF PURPLE by Beth Fine. For a chance to win, say hello to the authors, and more, see http://www.authorbuzz.com/kidsbuzz.

 

 

 

Dear Reader Column 06-10-14

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


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

Dear Reader,

I'm surrounded. Behind me, on the other side of the window, huge scraps of my roof are falling into a big refuse container. Footsteps above me, four men are walking around on the roof and one of them must have a crow bar, because there's a constant scraping sound that's beginning to resemble fifty fingernails sliding down the front of a chalkboard.

I've had to strategically place buckets around the inside of my house for weeks now. It is true, when it rains, it pours. My roof sprung five leaks simultaneously at 3 a.m. in the morning, three weeks ago. So I was glad to see the roofing crew pull into my driveway yesterday, but today, the noise is getting frightening. If Chicken Little were here, I could vouch for him. He's right. Yes, the sky is falling and I think part of it just landed in my kitchen. What the heck was that? Every few minutes, I hop out of my chair to check. Even my cats are hiding under the bed.

Steam is puffing out of an orange machine in the driveway--and I don't think it's cooking ribs--five pickup trucks surrounding my house, ladders and cords hanging down everywhere, and bits of black tar flying through the air.

I should be thrilled about getting a new roof--no more 3 a.m. leaks. But in reality, getting a new roof is about as exciting as getting a new septic system. Thousands of dollars spent and nothing to show for it, at least nothing you can brag about and show off to your friends.

Unless, I have a roof party--now there's an idea. My historical home has a flat roof, so it would be perfect. I can see it now. Two ladders leading up to the party, tables covered with white linen, my good china, fresh flowers, the moon shining, and my satellite radio playing music in the background.

You're Invited...

New Roof! Let's Party!

Dress: Casual roof attire, climbing shoes suggested.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

AUTHORBUZZ: THE POOR MAN'S GUIDE TO SUICIDE (Fiction) by Andrew Armacost

Wesley is a twice-divorced prison guard who persuades a prisoner to strangle him for ten thousand dollars--if he can find the money. A bold black comedy about a non-custodial father who loses his will to live--and fights to get it back.

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on THE POOR MAN'S GUIDE TO SUICIDE to find out more about the book and the author, Andrew Armacost. Send him an email, he'd love to hear from you.

Dear Reader Column 06-06-14

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


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

Dear Reader,

My one and only resolution for 2014 is to look for the "funny" this year. Book club readers Hui and Lynn have graciously sent one of their personal stories. Can you add a story to my "looking for the funny" quest? I'd love to hear from you, too.

(In response to my oven repairman column. If you missed it, go to: http://dearreader.typepad.com/dear/2014/05/dear-reader-column-05-29-14.html)

"Hello Suzanne, thank you so much for sharing your life. Your column about the [oven] repairman saved me as a humorist at my Toastmasters Club's meeting today. I retold your story to my 15 fellow club members, and received a huge laugh from everyone when mentioning the 80 percent accuracy rule. Love your column and keep up with the good work!"--Hui

(In response to my column about mistaking my husband's slipper for our cat. If you missed it, go to: http://dearreader.typepad.com/dear/2014/06/dear-reader-column-06-05-14.html)

"Suzanne, I swear we must be twin sisters with different mothers! I was laughing out loud as I read your column this morning [about thinking your husband's slipper was your cat]. We just have to meet someday. I could see myself doing the same dang thing. I read your column to my husband. He laughed and said I should share my 'drug' story with you. I am in denial about it. Suffice to say I was taking some sleep medication, and he claims I did some funny and strange things.... I think HE was hallucinating--a long-standing disagreement between us. It boils down to the fact that I was taking the medication and he was hallucinating--we just leave it at that."

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

AUTHORBUZZ: LETTING GO INTO PERFECT LOVE: Discovering the Extraordinary after Abuse (NonFiction) by Gwendolyn M Plano

Have you struggled to make sense of life's challenges? As different as our circumstances might be, we all search for love. Deep sorrows were part of my life but then the miraculous occurred--opening my heart to awe and to healing.

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on LETTING GO INTO PERFECT LOVE to read more and to email author Gwendolyn M Plano, you'll get a reply.

Dear Reader Column 06-05-14

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


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

Dear Reader,

"Looking for the funny" in life, was my one and only New Year's Resolution for 2014. I started out on a roll. Everywhere I looked I found situations and things that lifted my spirits and made me laugh. But then I hit a rough spot, a long no-funny dry spell. Sick with a wing-dinger of a cold and bronchitis for 24 days, then a pinched nerve in my neck and face sent me to the Emergency Room at four in the morning, funny was nowhere to be found--until the doctor gave me a shot of morphine to stop the horrific pain--then for a while everything looked funny.

I've discovered in my quest to "look for the funny" that I don't have to look far. I provide my own material. I'm pretty good at amusing myself, because I do a lot of stupid things--especially when I'm not wearing my glasses. Up in the middle of the night on my way to the bathroom, I stopped a minute and bent over to pet Barry, our tuxedo cat. He's such a sweetie-boy. Pat, pat, a good little rub underneath his chin and especially around his whiskers. He loves a good rub around his whiskers, then I snuggle and whisper, "I love you Barry." Only to discover on my way back to bed, when I trip over "Barry," that I was petting and talking to my husband's slipper. In my defense, my husband wears a size 13 shoe (so it's about the same size as Barry), and his slipper feels soft and furry. The whiskers? I have no idea...

Can you add a story to my "looking for the funny" quest? I'd love to hear from you.

Warmest regards,
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

AUTHORBUZZ: With so many new books out every week, we promise these titles deserve your attention:

(Fiction)
A PLACE IN HIS HEART by Rebecca DeMarino

(Fiction)
A WOMAN OF FORTUNE by Kellie Coates Gilbert

(Thriller)
THE BOY IN THE WOODS by Carter Wilson

(NonFiction)
LETTING GO INTO PERFECT LOVE: Discovering the Extraordinary after
Abuse by Gwendolyn M Plano

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

Dear Reader Column 06-04-14

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


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

Dear Reader,

The first time I met my husband, I had a cast on one leg, and my other leg was covered in an ace bandage from my ankle to my knee. Apparently I made a lasting first impression, because we've been married 36 years. Today's guest author, Pamela Moses, writes about how she met her husband. You'll love her column and don't miss reading her debut book, The Appetites of Girls you'll enjoy it, too.

Please send Pamela an email welcoming her to the book club. And enter the drawing for an ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) of The Appetites of Girls. The details are at the end of today's column. Welcome, Pamela Moses...

COURAGE THROUGH WRITING

I met my husband through a note I slipped under his front door. (We lived in the same brownstone in New York City, and he occupied the apartment directly above mine.) It was a casual note that a mutual acquaintance had encouraged me to leave, an invitation to a gathering in the neighborhood, but my husband--perhaps intuiting some future significance--saved the note and still has it today. Every now and then one of us digs it out of the drawer where it is kept in order to reread the words that were the first step in bringing us together, but also--in my case--to wonder at my own boldness. I was not in the habit of leaving notes under the doors of strange men!

Perhaps it is fitting, though, that my first connection to my husband came through what I had written. Since childhood, writing has been the means through which I have expressed what I would not or could not otherwise. As a girl in school, I found I was able to write stories of characters whose vulnerabilities, whose emotions, whose secret dreams were mine, the topics changing as I grew older but often still divulging parts of myself that otherwise remained hidden.

When I was a teen, the father of a boy in my group of friends passed away suddenly. We were in an awkward stage of life, awkward with each other. Face to face I had no adequate way to tell my friend how sorry I was, but in a letter I was able to convey my profound sympathy. And through the years, I have continued to rely on written words as friends and family members marry, have children, experience losses and career changes and moves. Somehow with a pen in hand or a keyboard at my fingertips, I can communicate my thoughts more clearly, more completely, and also with greater courage.

I began writing The Appetites of Girls when my children were very young, working during their naps and after they had been tucked into bed at night. The process was a long and, at times, challenging one, but I love the creative work of writing and, perhaps more importantly, the outlet it gives me through which to relate what matters to me most. The message of The Appetites of Girls--shared through the stories of Ruth, Opal, Francesca, and Setsu--is one I deeply believe: we may be knocked down by life's circumstances or by our own misguided choices, but the truest part of each of us is the part that is strong, strong enough to overcome what has damaged us, strong enough to be whole and to claim our dreams.

--Pamela Moses

Pamela's publisher, G. P. Putnam's Sons, is giving away five ARCs of The Appetites of Girls. To enter the drawing, send Pamela an email. She'd like to hear about something you wrote that allowed you to express yourself in a way that spoken words could not. Email:
[email protected]. She's a first-time author anxious to hear from you.

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

Warmest regards,
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

AUTHORBUZZ: THE BOY IN THE WOODS (Thriller) by Carter Wilson

How far would you go to keep your greatest secret from those you love? This is what Tommy Devereaux must decide in my new thriller THE BOY IN THE WOODS, a story about a childhood murder that comes back to haunt a best-selling author.

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on THE BOY IN THE WOODS to read more and to email author Carter Wilson, you'll get a reply.

Dear Reader Column 06-03-14

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


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

 

Dear Reader,

I sleep on the left side of the bed, but the other night my husband and I switched sides. When I woke up in the morning, I felt like I'd spent the night in a plush hotel. It amazed me how a simple little shift in my routine produced such a big change in the way I felt. So I wondered, what would happen if I switched some other things around?

There's a place for everything in my house, but perhaps some things have been in the same place for too long? Same old, same old, gets boring. So I'm shaking things up a bit and I've been rearranging the furniture. The antique two-drawer dresser--one drawer holds my socks, the other shorts and pants--it's always been in my bedroom, "where it belongs," but not anymore. Now my dresser is sitting against the wall in my dining room. I blushed when I first thought about moving my dresser into the living room, but really, what's the big deal?

The stuffed chair and ottoman that were next to the window in my living room, I plopped them down in the middle of the kitchen underneath the sky light. A stuffed chair and ottoman in the middle of the kitchen means I can put my feet up and relax, while I'm waiting for the chocolate chip cookies that I mixed-up for book club readers to finish baking. (I may even have to get dressed up for occasion.) I know it all sounds a bit insane, and eventually my furniture will make its way back to the "proper" rooms, but right now the change is inspiring. Because when life gets too familiar, I stop looking for new possibilities.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

AUTHORBUZZ: A WOMAN OF FORTUNE (Fiction) by Kellie Coates Gilbert

A Texas socialite's privileged world crashes when her charming cattle broker husband is arrested for fraud. Suddenly she's facing attorneys, a media frenzy, and a trail of broken hearts. Betrayed and humiliated, Claire must start over against incredible odds to save her family--and discover a life worth living.

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on A WOMAN OF FORTUNE to find out more about the book and the author, Kellie Coates Gilbert. Send her an email, she'd love to hear from you.

Dear Reader Column 06-02-14

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


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

Dear Reader,

'Who knew?' Ann wondered, but now she knows--they're magical.

I'm smiling just from reading her email...

"Hi Suzanne,

My Chauvet B-250 [the bubble machine like yours] arrived yesterday! I turned it on while gardening in the front yard today, and couldn't believe the reaction from EVERYONE who drove or walked by.

Who knew bubbles could put a smile on so many faces?

Well, actually, you did. It's going to be a great summer!

Thanks so much!"

Ann Swedish
Youth Services Librarian
Middle Country Public Library

Bubbles! Who knew that kids, moms, dads, grandmas and grandpas, joggers, the Tuesday morning trash pickup workers, and even a big burly-looking guy would all be twirling around with their arms in the air on my front sidewalk, in the midst of my bubbles.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

AUTHORBUZZ: A PLACE IN HIS HEART (Fiction) by Rebecca DeMarino

A Puritan widower marries an Anglican maiden, but cannot give her the one thing she desires: to be his true love. Mary's world is upended when Barnabas Horton decides to leave the sad memories of England behind for a new beginning in the wilds of Long Island. Two tender hearts, an ocean to cross, a leap of faith.

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on A PLACE IN HIS HEART to read more and to email author Rebecca DeMarino, you'll get a reply.