Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column 04-29-16

KIDSBUZZ: Click here to discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win.

Dear Reader,

Why do I "feel the need"? I don't know.

Personally I think I'm normal but people tell me it's a bizarre Midwestern thing. Yes, I live in Florida, but I'm a Madison, Wisconsin transplant--who grew up in Cuba City, Wisconsin. (My mother's passed on, but would never forgive me if I didn't plug her hometown.)

Perhaps it's a bit bizarre, but I seem to feel the need to tack a complete confession on the back-end of almost every yes and no I pronounce. I grew up that way. No one ever stopped me mid-sentence, furiously waving their hands and yelling "TMI!" (Too Much Information).

Nope, when you ask this original Wisconsin gal, "Can you meet me at four o'clock tomorrow?" instead of merely replying, "Four o'clock won't work for me. How about two instead?" I get this itchin' need, and obligation really, to venture on with the in-depth details. Like the other day--thank heavens I caught myself before I said the words--but I almost told someone, "Sorry, I can't meet you at four tomorrow, because I'm getting a bikini wax." The need to explain is so ingrained in my psyche that I literally had to bite my tongue while I processed other possible excuses through my brain.

Thanks heavens it's not my job to answer a business phone.

If a caller asked, "Is Andrew in the office today?"

I just might reply, "No, his father had surgery today. Andrew should be back tomorrow, unless his dad has complications. You know my aunt had to stay two extra days in the hospital because the pain killers made her constipated, and they wouldn't let her go home until things started 'moving.'"

Okay, so maybe that last part is TMI.

* It's Cookie Giveaway time! Enter my famous Chocolate Chip Cookie Giveaway. I bake homemade cookies for readers, and they taste divine. To see smiling faces from last month's giveaway and to enter this month's drawing, go to, http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/cookie-04-19-16.html

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

KIDS BUZZ: Loads of book fun and buzz for kids and teens. Meet new authors--send an email, ask a question and they will reply. Plus enter to win a free copy of BRIGHT BLAZE OF MAGIC by Jennifer Estep; and the National Book Award winning novel CHALLENGER DEEP by Neal Shusterman. For a chance to win, say hello to the authors and more, see http://www.authorbuzz.com/kidsbuzz.

 

 

 

 

Dear Reader Column 04-28-16

KIDSBUZZ: Click here to discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win.

Dear Reader,

It may be a bit presumptuous, but around the holidays, including my birthday, I send an email out to family members who usually buy me a gift. I do believe in the saying that, "the older someone gets, the harder it is to buy a gift for them." The first time I drafted an email with a list of suggestions, I felt extremely awkward hitting the send key, and I'm not sure what the reaction was on the receiver's end, but I do know that I got things I really wanted for my birthday. So that's the plan again for this year.

Putting together a list of "wishes" for my upcoming birthday (one of them is potholders--which screams I'm really getting old), has inspired me to give gifts. It is better to give than receive.

So today you can enter my famous Chocolate Chip Cookie Giveaway. I bake homemade cookies for readers, and they taste divine. To see smiling faces from last month's giveaway and to enter this month's drawing, http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/cookie-04-19-16.html

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

 

 

Dear Reader Column 04-27-16

KIDSBUZZ: Click here to discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win.

Dear Reader,

A caterpillar baby shower, or would it be a Monarch baby shower? Either way, Jennifer, a reader at the book club, came up with a cute idea for a party. And you're right Jennifer, I love crazy party ideas.

*If you missed the column about the Monarch Caterpillar chrysalis and waiting for the butterfly to appear, you'll find it at: http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/butterfly.html

Jennifer wrote...

"Suzanne, the caterpillar and chrysalis photos are awesome! Looking at the pictures made me think of a caterpillar cake that I recently saw in a food magazine that looked 'Just Like!' a Monarch Caterpillar. That led me to thinking about how much you like to throw parties. You should have a Caterpillar 'shower' while you are waiting for your butterfly to hatch.

The recipe I saw was using a bundt pan and any cake recipe you want. It was decorated with authentic looking different colored frostings that were heated to make a little drizzly to crisscross the body. I am sure you will be able to find a recipe if you Google it, but I am adding one here for your ease. Thank you so much for your columns!
I love reading with friends!"--Jennifer G.

Jennifer's Caterpillar Cake

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (16 ounce) package vanilla or colored frosting

Prepare cake according to package instructions and bake in a Bundt pan. Cool and invert onto cutting board. Cut a piece of cardboard large enough to accommodate two Bundt pans. Cover with aluminum foil. Carefully cut the cake in half and place on cardboard in an "S" shape. Decorate with colored icing, candies, etc.

Or, if you'd like to make a butterfly cake, I'm giving away a butterfly shaped cake pan.

Enter the Butterfly Cake Pan Drawing, go to:
http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/giveaway.html

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

KIDS BUZZ: Loads of book fun and buzz for kids and teens. Meet new authors--send an email, ask a question and they will reply. Plus enter to win a free copy of BRIGHT BLAZE OF MAGIC by Jennifer Estep; and the National Book Award winning novel CHALLENGER DEEP by Neal Shusterman. For a chance to win, say hello to the authors and more, see http://www.authorbuzz.com/kidsbuzz.

 

 

 

 

Dear Reader Column 04-26-16

KIDSBUZZ: Click here to discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win.

Dear Reader,

Imagine yourself lounging in a chair outdoors underneath the shade of an old oak tree, the sun is shining, a light breeze passes by, the birds are singing, a glass of lemonade is by your side, now all you need is a summer romance book to read. Not to worry, today's guest author, Kara Isaac, has 10 copies of her debut book, Close To You waiting to send to book club readers. Be sure to enter her book drawing and please do welcome her to the book club, too. Email: [email protected]

Kara Isaac, lives in Wellington, New Zealand. Her debut romantic comedy, Close To You, is about a disillusioned academic-turned-tour-guide and an entrepreneur who knows nothing about Tolkien who fall in love on a Tolkien themed tour of New Zealand. When she's not working her day job as a public servant, chasing around a ninja preschooler and his feisty toddler sister, she spends her time writing horribly bad first drafts and wishing you could get Double Stuf Oreos in New Zealand.

Kara loves to hear from readers and will answer with a reply. You can contact her at: [email protected]

Welcome to the book club, Kara Isaac...

"Travel princess," my then fiance muttered as I sulked our way through Sydney airport to our flight. The crime that had been committed against me? I had been allocated a middle seat near the back of the plane.

As I made my way onboard muttering about being stuck near the toilets I realized something. Once having a diplomatic passport appeared to have ruined me for international travel for life.

There was a time, in a world that feels another lifetime ago, that I worked for a senior politician. It's true what they tell you. A career that involves international travel is not a glamorous one. There was the time I flew from New Zealand to Russia. Auckland-Los Angeles-London-Munich-St. Petersburg. It was always going to be an endeavor that tested even the most seasoned traveller's long-haul travel limits but it reached a new level of awful when I had to do it with the stomach flu. There's nothing quite like having to scrape yourself off the bathroom floor to face down thirty-six hours of planes and airports.

There was the trip I staffed while five months pregnant and over an entire seven course meal the only thing I could eat was the bread roll. Or the one with a delegation of middle-aged men who thought my role was to fetch their dry cleaning. That one also included a hazy 2am phone call during which I apparently gave my husband permission to buy a house that I didn't like (thankfully, his offer failed!).

But there were also the I-can't-believe-this-is-happening parts.

The rest of the world sees transiting through LAX as akin to one of the nine circles of Dantes' hell. I have very fond memories of LAX because it was the first time in my life I was escorted anywhere by a group of burly men carrying very large guns. In London Heathrow, I experienced being whisked off the plane via a separate tunnel and driven across the runway with planes taking off and landing above the car. I know what flying halfway around the world in the front end of the plane is like. I've been suited up in an orange space-like suit like an extra on Armageddon to be helicoptered out to a deep sea oil rig. Years later, I am still Olympic caliber when it comes to filling in customs, immigration and biosecurity forms.

"Mummy sing wheels on the bus, again. AGAIN!" My one year old issued the edict through a spray of half-chewed crackers during our last flight while using my lap as a trampoline. The middle seat at the back of the plane suddenly looked very appealing.

--Kara Isaac

Email Kara, [email protected]

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

 

 

Dear Reader Column 04-25-16

KIDSBUZZ: Click here to discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win.


Dear Reader,

When I don't want to spend money, then I don't go in the store, because browsing can lead to new shoes I didn't know I needed. But who would've dreamed that walking through a pet store could be just as tempting? Headed for the cat food aisle, I walked by a cage and heard a familiar high pitched "screech, screech." I bent down, and staring back at me was a multi-colored guinea pig, just like the one we used to own.

Pets quickly become one of the family in our house, even guinea pigs. When my husband and I were raising our children, we had a spacious, sunny kitchen and there was always a cage off to the corner, with a soft, loveable guinea pig inside. "Screech, screech," the pig would know when we were peeling fresh vegetables and he'd holler (loudly) for his share of the scraps. To this day, whenever I'm peeling fresh vegetables, part of me misses "Pig."

Pig would go outside on good weather days. He'd stay close to the foundation of the house and hide in the bushes. It was an every other day ritual, until one day when a huge hawk spotted lunch. I got Pig before the hawk, but that ended Pig's roaming days. Instead, I'd put him outside in his cage. But it just wasn't the same for me; maybe it wasn't the same for Pig either? I missed looking out the window and watching Pig enjoying the outdoors. I imagine Pig missed feeling the warm grass underneath his bottom and the opportunity to occasionally nibble on a dandelion. And even though Pig might have been thinking, 'I bet I could outrun that hawk,' my motherly instinct knew better.

Over the years, when our children were growing up, we had several 'Pigs' because even though we gave each one tender loving care, after four years we'd have to say good-bye. "Guinea pigs don't have a long life span," I remember explaining to a friend one day when I had to cancel our lunch because 'Pig' died the night before.

Sometimes people feel awkward when they mention their pet is sick or has passed away, because the concern in their voice sounds as if they are talking about one of their children. But in a way, they are, even when they're remembering a guinea pig...."screech, screech."

The next time I need to buy cat food, I'll take a different route, maybe down the bird aisle. No melancholy memories there.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

 

 

Dear Reader Column 04-22-16

AUTHORBUZZ: Click here to discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win.

 
Dear Reader,

Emails from readers. I love to hear from you. Thanks for writing...

"Dear Suzanne, thanks so much for sharing the pictures of your beautiful garden. I hope you aren't too busy that you have the time to just sit and enjoy the serenity you have created. I have to say I'm jealous! Thanks for all the great books you've shared. I've enjoyed many of them."--MaryAnn

"Suzanne, thank you for sharing the photos of the flowers in your garden. I am recovering from two snowstorms over the past three days, that left three feet of snow on top of everything that had started growing. Thankfully nothing was blooming so they will recover, but this time of year I need to see spring photos and so your flowers brightened my day."--Jay

"Hi Suzanne, what a gorgeous array.... I hurried out to my blah balcony this morning after I saw your beautiful garden, and decided it was time to get this place in order and beautiful. You inspired me!"--Sarah D.

"Love your colorful garden! Enjoy your column. So grateful to my bff who introduced me to it before she unexpectedly died from complications after emergency surgery two years ago. Used to share chuckles over your various stories. Miss her so--she was my soul mate. Thank you for the humor and wisdom and daily living that you share with us all."--Joan T.

"Suzanne, once again you've started my day with a beautiful picture that makes things perfect: 'lovely, little, bright yellow flowers looked so beautiful against the lush dark green grass...' When I was a very little girl, dandelions were my very favorite flower...and you know what? They still are ! But when I learned pioneer immigrants to this land, arriving on the Mayflower, gently packed them into the herb gardens of our pioneer foremothers, I really wished others could see them through my eyes...not 'weeds' at all, but herbs with astonishing nutrient value. It is so good to read with friends."--Judie H.

If you missed the flower garden photos go to:
http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/flowers040816.html

and chrysalis photos (see the magic of nature), go to:
http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/butterfly.html

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

AUTHORBUZZ: SPY GIRL (Fiction) by Jillian Dodd

My latest book is about a 21-year-old highly trained covert agent with a tragic past who receives her first mission: to protect the handsome prince of the glitzy country Montrovia, uncover the plot to assassinate him, and eliminate the threat. This is my 15th novel and it was so amazing for me to be able to write in my favorite genre!
This book has action, intrigue, and some fun romance.

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on SPY GIRL to read more and to email author Jillian Dodd, you'll get a reply.

Dear Reader Column 04-21-16

AUTHORBUZZ: Click here to discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win.

Dear Reader,

The bright yellow, black, and white caterpillar was attached with a thin, white, silk strand and it was hanging down from the decorative border fence surrounding one of my flower gardens. I was doing yard work around the fence, and I was concerned the caterpillar might get hurt, so I tried to persuade him to move out of the way. I held a milkweed leaf underneath him and tried to coax him onto it, so I could move him to a safer place. But he wouldn't have it.

I didn't want to touch the caterpillar or gently knock him off the fence, because I was concerned I might hurt him. So I left him alone and went to work in another part of my flower garden. An hour later, when I went back to check on him, that caterpillar had been busy, because he was cocooned and the green chrysalis (a hardened protective case made by the caterpillar) was hanging down from the fence. I was spellbound! Obviously in another world, because I started having a conversation with the "cocooned" caterpillar.

"Just how did you get wrapped up so quickly? I can't believe you're in there. Can you hear me?" No answer, so I figured he was napping after all that work.

I know caterpillars have been doing their "thing" in my garden for years, because this isn't the first chrysalis I've seen. In the past, they were dried up and empty, so obviously the magic happened days before. Even though he obviously doesn't need my help, I've put up a little barrier around this chrysalis, so it isn't disturbed, because I feel like I'm pacing in the waiting room--waiting to hear the news.

"Is it a boy or a girl? Is everything there? Six legs and two antennae?"

So in the meantime, I'm an anxious gardener-in-waiting. Waiting 10 to 14 days for a Monarch butterfly to appear. I'm so excited!

To see the caterpillar and the chrysalis, go to: http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/butterfly.html.

* Whoops! Yesterday's guest author, Chris Nickson had a typo in his email address. He'd still love to hear from you, so please take a moment and send him a quick email. You can reach him at, [email protected].

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

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

(Fiction)
REMEMBER MY BEAUTIES by Lynne Hugo

(Fiction)
HIDDEN INK by Carrie Ann Ryan

(Fiction)
THE DARK LADY'S MASK by Mary Sharratt

(Fiction)
SPY GIRL by Jillian Dodd

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

 

 

 

 

Dear Reader Column 04-20-16

AUTHORBUZZ: Click here to discover new books,
"meet" the authors and enter to win.

Dear Reader,

Today's guest author, Chris Nickson, shares a secret with us. His latest release Skin Like Silver is the third Victorian crime novel to feature Inspector Tom Harper of Leeds Police.

Enjoy the guest column and please do welcome Chris to our book club.
Email: [email protected]

Welcome author Chris Nickson...

My Secret Writing Life

I write novels, and love every second of it--even the frustrating ones. But I have another writing life, as a music journalist. It might seem like an odd thing, mixing historical crime with sounds from around the globe, but somehow it works.

I received my first record player for my 13th birthday, and from that point music became a passion. I listened to it, read everything about it in the music press, and soon became a (not very good) bass player. But I didn't start writing about music until I moved to the US. A few things in the late '70s and early '80s when I lived in Cincinnati, but I began in earnest in the '90s, after I'd been in Seattle for a few years.

It was the perfect time and place for music: with grunge at the height of its popularity all eyes were on the city. But my focus was elsewhere, on music that was out of the mainstream and less popular; the byways rather than the highways. I was lucky--and a bit ambitious. I parlayed some work in a local magazine, The Rocket, into a career that saw me (among other things) as a regular music reviewer on NPR's All Things Considered for several years.

I loved it. I still do, although these days the journalism takes up less of my time. But--and here's the secret part--it also led me to the dark side, writing quickie unauthorized biographies. By the time I stopped, I'd penned around 30 of them, everyone from Mariah Carey to Brad Pitt, David Duchovny to Ozzy Osbourne. Many appeared under my name, but for a few I became Anna Louise Golden, a chance to explore my feminine side!

Do I regret it? Not at all. Between that and the journalism I couldn't have asked for a better writing apprenticeship. Along the way I've learned how to (hopefully) get everything down correctly the first time, to write quickly, to ask questions, and deliver manuscripts on time.

Some might see it as hack work; maybe it is. But at the time, with a young child and a mortgage to pay, I was more bothered about earning money than art. The upside is that it's served me well ever since, and given me confidence as a writer I might never have gained otherwise.

But shhh, don't tell anyone, okay? It's our secret.

--Chris Nickson

Email Chris and say hello, [email protected]

More About Chris

I was born and raised in Leeds, England, the setting for many of my novels. I lived in the US for 30 years before moving back to the UK in 2005. After trying life in a few places around England, I'm now happily settled once again in Leeds, less than a mile from where I grew up, and writing historical crime fiction and music journalism. Skin Like Silver is the third Victorian crime novel to feature Inspector Tom Harper of Leeds Police.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

AUTHORBUZZ: THE DARK LADY'S MASK (Fiction) by Mary Sharratt

Are you ready to be swept away? Shakespeare in Love meets Shakespeare's Sister in this new novel, the story of Aemilia Bassano Lanier, England's first professional woman poet, and her collaboration and love affair with William Shakespeare.

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on THE DARK LADY'S MASK by Mary Sharratt to read more and to email author Mary Sharratt, you'll get a reply.

Dear Reader Column 04-19-16

AUTHORBUZZ: Click here to discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win.

Dear Reader,

It's all in how you look at it...

I'm driving to the supermarket and the man driving the car in front of me, he's going so slow, it's driving me crazy. You'd think he was in a funeral procession. But when I think about it, okay, perhaps someone close to him did just die, and getting to the supermarket, well, he's just not in a hurry. Eventually he'll get there.

Or maybe Abby, his cat, is very ill and he knows that sometime tomorrow he's going to have to take Abby to the vet and say goodbye to her. Suddenly I feel much differently about the guy driving the car in front of me. Or possibly the man in the car in front of me is on his way to his granddaughter's birthday party. Grandpa's bringing the cake, the cake is on the front seat belted in for protection, but he doesn't want the cake to slide around or Alley's name might get smished in the frosting on top of the cake.

It's all in how you look at something...

"Suzanne, your [gardening] column this morning reminded me of something that happened 45 years ago. When I was driving my mother, to what was going to be my home in a few months, I stopped the car right in the middle of the street and pointing to a house said, 'Oh look how beautiful they are, I want those at my house.'

My mother couldn't imagine what I was looking at; I explained what caught my eye were the scores of little, yellow flowers sprinkled throughout the large front lawn. Mom explained that those were weeds, and to please not tell anyone what I thought, so as not to be embarrassed. But to this day, I still think those lovely, little, bright yellow flowers looked so beautiful against the lush dark green grass. Once again, you have brought back a wonderful memory."
--Jo, a reader at the book club

Yes, things are all in how you look at them...

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

AUTHORBUZZ: HIDDEN INK (Fiction) by Carrie Ann Ryan

Hailey and Sloane's story has been a long time coming. Not only have I been wanting to write them for years, but they've been aching for each other for far longer. Their secrets made me reach for the tissues, but I believe in the HEA and I know Hailey and Sloane are finally ready for theirs. Happy reading and I can't wait for you to take a chance on the Montgomerys.

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on HIDDEN INK to find out more about the book and the author, Carrie Ann Ryan. Send her an email, she'd love to hear from you.

Dear Reader Column 04-18-16

AUTHORBUZZ: Click here to discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win.



Dear Reader,

Lovely emails from book club readers and lovely flowers from my garden. An inspiring way to start the new week.

Emails...

"Hello Suzanne, I have not stopped smiling since yesterday morning. The responses from your site to my [guest column at the book club] have been so incredibly delightful, I just keep pulling them up to read them again and again. What a fabulous following you have. Thank you for including me in your [book club] and for giving me two days of happiness. Keep on keeping on with the joy you are bringing to the world...Suzanne."

Suzanne Redfearn
Author of Hush Little Baby and No Ordinary Life

"Hi Suzanne, I am an avid reader and I am up late every night because I just need to finish one more chapter. I prefer to hold a book in my hands instead of reading books on my Kindle DX or my iPad. My iPad is always close by and when your email arrives in my inbox around 10:00 p.m. I put my book down and see what you have to say. I like your news and often share what you have written with my husband. Thank you sharing your interest in books."--Linda W.

"Thank you for doing what you do. I look forward to reading your column every day with the same excitement I had as a kid waiting for the newspaper to arrive each morning. You always remind this busy bee mom to 'Stop and smell the roses.'"--Sathiya M.

My garden photos are so captivating you just might be able to 'stop and smell the roses' today. Take a tour of some of the flowers that are blooming right now in my garden. Go to: http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/flowers040816.html.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

AUTHORBUZZ: REMEMBER MY BEAUTIES (Fiction) by Lynne Hugo

Have you ever loved an animal? More than family? Jewel's father, a trainer, loved his horses that much. Now she thinks she might, too. The horses are easier to love than her parents, husband, daughter, or step-children. And Jewel hates her brother with good reason. Sometimes you wouldn't guess what saves a family from lies, drugs, and the scars of a whole tattered history.

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on REMEMBER MY BEAUTIES to read more and to email author Lynne Hugo, you'll get a reply.