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AUTHORBUZZ: Click here to discover new books,
"meet" the authors and enter to win.
Dear Reader,
My task today is to introduce our guest author, Erika Swyler. I just have to start by sharing the ABOUT ME paragraph Erika submitted. She had me laughing at the very first line.
ABOUT ME...
Erika Swyler Erika Swyler holds a useless degree in Experimental Theater and English Literature. Born and raised on Long Island's north shore, Erika learned to swim before she could walk, and happily spent all of her allowance at traveling carnivals. She collects odd jobs and hobbies, from baking and photography to bookbinding and calligraphy. Erika lives on Long Island, NY, with her husband and a petulant rabbit. The Book of Speculation, one of last year's hottest books (now available in paperback), is Erika's first novel, and is rooted in her love of circus, carnivals, and small seaside towns. She can beat nearly anyone at Whac-A-Mole.
In the spirit of fun Erika Swyler is giving away "several" copies of The Book of Speculation. Email: erikaswylerwrites@gmail.com
Please welcome author Erika Swyler...
Getting to know people can be a binary game. Chocolate or vanilla? Dog person or cat person? Sometimes I fall into one category or the other, but mostly I'm option three. Chocolate or vanilla? Pistachio. Dogs or cats? Rabbits.
The pistachio thing? It's a great flavor. More people should be on board with it. Put a little pistachio in your day.
The rabbit thing? It started early. I don't remember a day of being alive when I didn't want a pet rabbit. I woke each morning with a single desire: to get my hands on a rabbit. My strategy was targeted whining, which while brilliantly executed, proved ineffective. My parents' response was to send me to my room and dock my allowance. Not only was I sad and lacking a rabbit, I was sad, lacking a rabbit and broke. It was about responsibility. My mother knew what I did not, getting a pet for a child is really getting a pet for the parent, and she was done cleaning up after little animals.
I was twenty-one--an adult--when my mother gifted me a rabbit. Biscuit was white but her ears, feet, nose, and tail were soft gray. If there are twenty kinds of perfection, she was all twenty plus three. But I had no idea what to do with a rabbit other than to want one terribly. For days I stared at Biscuit as though she might reveal my exact purpose in life. She did not. She just wanted hay and banana treats. But we learned. I learned that my job as a human was to wait hand and foot on this tiny beast, who would be disgusted with me no matter what I did. She learned that occasionally socializing with the human resulted in treats.
There's something wonderful about having another little being around, one who knows you are ridiculous. Cats? They cope well enough without me. Dogs? They love just a little too much for me to trust them. But rabbits, oh. Winning the trust of a prey animal is difficult, but worth it. Rabbits are grumpy old men from the day they're born. They're your Great Aunt Mabel who has had it with everything. Rabbits need you. And they love you, in own their time and in their own way, which isn't a bad way to be. And when rabbits yawn, it proves that the world is made for laughing.
In a game of cats and dogs, I remain forever rabbits.
I love hearing from readers. Feel free to drop me a line at erikaswylerwrites@gmail.com.
--Erika Swyler
Also email Erika, erikaswylerwrites@gmail.com for a chance to win a copy of The Book of Speculation.
* I hope you enjoyed reading today's guest column. If you're one of the winners, or your entry is an honorable mention in this year's Write a DearReader contest, it will be featured as a guest column. Cash prizes, rules and deadlines, along with last year's winning entries, read all about them at: http://www.dearreader.com/contest2016/index.html
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
AUTHORBUZZ: WALLFLOWER BLOOMING (Fiction) by Amy Rivers
Ever have that one friend or relative that pulls you into doing things you might never have done yourself? That's Val's problem. When her cousin Gwen decides to run for mayor against the towns' biggest political bully, Val reluctantly agrees to help. Her carefully crafted world is injected with political chaos and unexpected romance, leading Val to reconsider her life choices and all the things she's held as true.
Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on WALLFLOWER BLOOMING to read more and to email author Amy Rivers, you'll get a reply.
KIDS BUZZ: This week, loads of book fun and buzz for middle graders and teens. Meet new authors--send an email, ask a question and they will reply. Plus enter to win a free copy of TRUTH OR DARE by Barbara Dee and GOING GEEK by Charlotte Huang. For a chance to win, say hello to the authors and more, go to: http://www.authorbuzz.com/kidsbuzz
* This month's Penguin Classics book is PERCHANCE TO DREAM: Selected Stories, by Charles Beaumont. Start reading now and don't forget to enter the drawing for your chance to win a Penguin tote bag: http://www.supportlibrary.com/bc/v.cfm?L=drclassqqxqZ1AFE3FA745F&c=CLASSICS
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