Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column 10-31-16

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

Dear Reader,

When I was a kid it was a standing joke of my parents that no matter where we visited, a restaurant, JC Penney's, a friend's house or a grocery store, I always had to "check out" the bathrooms before we left. Hey, if you've got to go, you've got to go. What did my parents think I was doing in there, just peeking in to have a look-see?

I admit nature probably calls to me more frequently than most, but in my defense, I drink a lot of water. I do have a history of being up close and personal with bathrooms though, cleaning them at my dad's DX gas station was one of my first paying jobs. So you know that sign on the wall that reads, "Let management know if this bathroom isn't clean." Well--I do.

On one of my trips to Manhattan, to visit publishers, I even interviewed a bathroom attendant. It wasn't a planned interview. I was having dinner at a wonderful restaurant, nature called, and the first thing I saw when I opened the bathroom door was an attendant sitting in a chair. Frankly bathroom attendants make me squirm. They create issues that have nothing to do with why I went into the bathroom. I don't mind giving an attendant a dollar for handing me a towel, but I'd give her five, if she'd just leave the room while I attended to business.

To make matters worse, the restaurant's bathroom was the size of a glorified closet. I'm not exaggerating here, the attendant had to physically stand up and move aside, so I could open the stall door. It was just too much for me knowing that right outside the door, she was listening to my every move--and I got stage fright.

So what did I do instead? I went into reporter status, and started interviewing the bathroom attendant. I was determined not to leave the room without being productive. Surprisingly, she enjoyed her job, had been doing it for three years, and the tips were extremely good. She wouldn't share any bathroom stories though (customer/attendant privileged information), and I'm sorry to say that I neglected to ask the most baffling question of all, "When does a bathroom attendant go to the bathroom, and who hands her the towel?"

* Today is the last day to enter this month's Chocolate Chip Cookie giveaway. To see past satisfied winners, and enter, go to: http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/cookie-10-25-16.html

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

AUTHORBUZZ: DRAGON FEVER (Fiction) by Donna Grant

Do you dream of having a dragon of your own? Then come meet the sexy Highlander Dragon Kings. Rachel Marek is intent to expose the Dragon Kings to the world--until she meets suave, daring Asher. As the truth is revealed to her, she finds she's fallen for him. Now only Asher can save her from an enemy out to destroy them both.

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on DRAGON FEVER to read more and to email author Donna Grant, you'll get a reply.

Dear Reader Column 10-28-16

Dear Reader,

I love to bake for readers and it's that time again. If you'd like to receive some of my homemade chocolate chip cookies, be sure to enter today's drawing.

I send the cookies--2nd Day Air--to your front door. So if you're not home during the day, be sure to use your office address, when you enter the drawing, because cookies have been known to disappear. I've even had a squirrel steal a reader's cookies off of their doorstep.

Or you could ask a neighbor, who works from a home office (like I do), if they would be willing to receive your overnight package. But "mums-the-word" about what's inside the box, or your neighbor may claim the package never arrived!

To enter the Chocolate Chip Cookie giveaway and to see past satisfied winners, go to:
http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/cookie-10-25-16.html

I'm ready to bake for you! It would be my pleasure. So enter today. Have a wonderful weekend.

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

I've got my apron on,
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

Dear Reader Column 10-27-16

Dear Reader,

'What will people think?' It used to be the first question I asked myself when I sat down to write about something very personal. But not anymore. Because when I want to be really honest, I need to get to the place inside of me that's vulnerable. It can be scary, but I've discovered that giving a little bit of myself is worth the risk, because readers give the nicest, most meaningful gifts back.

I receive hundreds of emails from readers and authors. The email I'm sharing today from author Kerry Egan, took my breath away and brought me to tears. Actually reading it made me weep.

Kerry took a risk, a huge risk, and wrote about what was in her heart, and then you--the readers at this wonderful book club--gave her the most meaningful gift in return.

From my Email Box:

"Hi Suzanne, my name is Kerry Egan. Almost 12 years ago, you shared my book Fumbling with your readers in your book club. I wanted to reach out to you, to tell you a story and to finally and properly thank you.

You see, I still have every single one of the reader response emails you sent me 12 years ago from the book club. I've kept them in a special folder. They've probably each been read a thousand times. You gave me such a gift with those email responses, such a gift you never could have known.

Twelve years ago, when my first book came out, I was deep in the darkest hours of postpartum psychosis. I was suicidal and/or catatonic most days. I barely survived that year. And what saved me were the people who reached out to me, to say they had read my book, and that it had helped them. I remember clearly thinking, on those suicidal days, that if something I had done or written had helped another person, maybe I should not kill myself. Maybe I still had a place on this earth. It happened, with almost eerie consistency, that on the worst days, the days I stood at the top of the staircase and tried to discern whether throwing myself down them would be enough to kill me, that I got a message from some person thanking me for helping them. Little could they know they had just saved my life.

From you Suzanne and your book club, I got hundreds of messages. They were a lifeline, a raft. I would read them over and over as my son gurgled in my lap, as I fought off the overwhelming urge to die, as I tried to somehow latch into reality again from the terror of Psychosis. So thank you. From the very bottom of my heart. Thank you for saving my life. I wish you the very best with the book club. It, and you, and your readers will always hold a very special place in my heart.

Love,
Kerry Egan
Email: [email protected]

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

(Kerry has a new book, On Living, and I've invited her to be a guest author at the book club in the near future.)

 

Dear Reader Column 10-26-16

Dear Reader,

Last week was a fun, Wacky Giveaway Week at the book club.

Alisha wasn't the winner of the BINGO game, but she did experience the magic of BINGO after reading my column.

"Suzanne, my daughter's birthday party was Saturday evening. She is 17, and I told her that we were going to play Bingo (after reading your emails). She just laughed. Well, it was the hit of the party! I had a basket of prizes, and everyone looked them over and decided right away what they wanted, and then the competition was fierce to win that Dollar Store loot! Everybody enjoyed it so much, and we have now decided to start Family Fun Night as well. Thank you for the wonderful idea!"--Alisha

Congratulations to last week's Wacky Giveaway Winners:

Carol K., was the winner of MerryMakers, Pete the Cat, and His Four Groovy Buttons Hand Puppet.

Jo B., now owns the S'Quarrels: The Game of Absolute Nuts.

Natalie J., won the BINGO game.

Linda C. will be filling cupcake liners with her new Cake Batter Dispenser.

Today I'm ready to bake. Are you ready to eat some of my famous Chocolate Chip Cookies? Enter this week's Chocolate Chip Cookie Giveaway today. If you've never entered, now's the time. My cookies are mighty good--I'm not kidding! To see smiling faces, dunking and munching my chocolate chip cookies and to enter this week's drawing, go to: http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/cookie-10-25-16.html

I hope you're one of the cookie winners.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

Dear Reader Column 10-25-16

Dear Reader,

Today's guest author's latest book, Les Parisiennes how the women of Paris lived, loved and died under the Nazi Occupation is a blend of interviews and diaries and letters. I'm pleased to introduce author Anne Sebba, and her thoughts "On Grandmothers."

Please send Anne an email and welcome her to the book clubs:
[email protected]

On Grandmothers

By Anne Sebba

By the time I knew my grandmother she was in her seventies, large with arthritic hands, unfashionable clothes and interested only in cooking and gardening. I knew vaguely about her glamorous past; that as Lily Black she had been a popular musical hall singer and dancer, famous for her beauty, her voice and her long red pre-Raphaelite hair. So beautiful in fact that she first earned a living when she left school at 14 as an artist's model. I have admired the results on Liverpool Town Hall ceiling, where she is seen in several revealing poses, semi-clothed. But she married at 21 and gave up this other life so completely that it was almost never mentioned. I was too young to ask her about it, let alone to probe. But one story all the family knew was that when she started to appear at Covent Garden in pantomime she trod the boards with the then unknown Charlie Chaplin who, she always told us, proposed to her, but she turned him down. 'No prospects!' she said, 'The whole idea was to marry someone who would help you get off the stage and live a different sort of secure life'.

I write about her exploits occasionally, whenever I discover something about her glorious five years on the stage or find a song that was written especially for her. But nothing can make up for her telling me herself what it was like at just sixteen to be travelling around the country, earning your own living. I never asked.

Now I am a grandmother myself I have started wondering how do my four young grandchildren see me? No doubt as a crazy person who goes tearing all around the world talking about her books! My five year old granddaughter is excited when she spots my latest book in a shop--after all it is dedicated to my grandchildren partly because I hope they all grow up with a love of history and a sense of being part of a very long chain. But also because I owe much of my latest book to other grandchildren prodding their grandmothers not to die without telling their story of living with the enemy, a story until now they had kept to themselves often feeling the world was not interested. How wrong could they be!

--Anne Sebba

Email Anne and say hello, [email protected]

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

Dear Reader Column 10-24-16

Dear Reader,

I'm a work in progress, constantly trying to make myself a better person. So when am I going to get it right? Probably never.

I like to think I have made improvements in my personality, and tweaked my day-to-day thinking, so it's more positive than negative. And I've experienced a run of days, weeks, sometimes even a few months when I'm feeling, 'Yes, I've finally got it together.' But then I wake up the next morning and everything seems to be jumbled and unclear again. Things about myself, that made me feel good the day before, suddenly they've turned on me. I see these traits through new eyes, and I realize I'm facing some of the same set of personality flaws I set out to correct a long time ago.

The picture I paint in my mind is one of a losing battle, but then I acknowledge that's not reality either. The truth is, at least for me, I'll always be a work in progress. So I've decided to stop looking at starting over again as a failure, but instead be thankful I have the opportunity to begin again, any time, any morning I choose.

* Congratulations to the winners of Sell with a Story by Guest Author Paul Smith: Franisz G., Marlys F., Dorie F. and Willie L.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

Dear Reader Column 10-21-16

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

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

Dear Reader,

It's one of my favorite gadgets in the kitchen. Pour the batter into the dispenser, squeeze the handle and plop, plop, plop, easy-peasy, no mess, and your cupcake liners are filled and ready to bake. I absolutely love my cupcake batter dispenser.

A cupcake batter dispenser may not be wacky, but it's still fun to use.

Have some fun. Enter today's fun Cake Batter Dispenser giveaway, To enter, go to: http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/giveaway.html

And one of my favorite, easy-peasy cake or cupcake recipes is a Chocolate Mayo Cake. Enjoy!

2 cups unsifted flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa (or 1/3 unsweetened cocoa and 1/3 sweetened cocoa)
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 2/3 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup mayonnaise
1 1/3 cups water

Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside. In another bowl, beat at high speed for 3 minutes the sugar, eggs and vanilla, occasionally scraping bowl or until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; beat in mayonnaise. Add flour mixture in 4 additions alternately with water, beginning and ending with flour. Pour into 24 cupcake liners (in cupcake pans), each 3/4 full.

Bake at 350 degrees, check after 18 minutes. Bake until center of cupcake springs back when you touch it, or stick a toothpick in the center of a cupcake and if it comes out clean, the cupcakes are done. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

Have some fun. Enter today's fun Cake Batter Dispenser giveaway, To enter, 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: Boo! This week, Halloween book fun and buzz for young readers. Meet new authors--send an email, ask a question and they will reply. Plus enter to win a free copy of PEEP AND EGG: I'M NOT TRICK OR TREATING by Laura Gehl; and GRACIE MEETS A GHOST by Keiko Sena. For a chance to win, say hello to the authors and more, see http://www.authorbuzz.com/kidsbuzz.

Dear Reader Column 10-20-16

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

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

Dear Reader,

There's a quaint toy store, downtown on Main Street, here in Sarasota. It's a step back in time. The clerk behind the register is always playing with a toy when you walk through the door. Helicopters may be flying overtop of your head, or thingamajigs (no hyphens in that word) are twirling bopping up and down on the counter. If you don't know how something works, "Here, let me show you," and the clerk demonstrates. See it in action before you buy, and if it can make a grown man smile like a little boy, for sure my grandchildren will love it.

The take-me-back-in-time toy store is what inspired me to buy my first Bingo game, and I'd have to say it's changed our family. To my surprise, my grandsons, Paul and James, had never played Bingo before; they had no idea what the game was about. And I had no idea my daughter-in-law was such an entertaining Bingo caller. "Bee is the best! And three is the rest! B-3. Watch those cards people!"

When you call out "Bingo!" yes, you win a prize, so my husband and I are always on the lookout for crazy-interesting Bingo prizes. That Bingo game, complete with an old fashioned Bingo cage is definitely the best $19.99 I've ever spent. Candy hearts with sayings on them are our Bingo markers at our Valentine dinner, and after Easter dinner, wrapped candy kisses mark our cards, which can be a problem for some of the players in my family. (You can't ever win if you keep eating the Bingo markers off of your card.)

BINGO--of course today's wacky, fun giveaway is a Bingo game. Practice your Bingo calling skills and enter today's giveaway. Go ahead enter. Have some fun! Enter: http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/giveaway.html

* Congratulations to the winners of The Reason by Guest Author William Sirls: Alice B., Jessica C., Lori L., Shelia B., Mary T., Patricia C., Susan B., Heidi S., Jane B. and Kathleen G.

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 deserves your attention:

(NonFiction)
LES PARISIENNES by Anne Sebba

(NonFiction)
MORE TALES FROM SUBURBIA: Yes, It Gets Even Crazier by Brandi Haas

(Fiction)
HELLO, MY LOVE by Evy Journey

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

Dear Reader Column 10-19-16

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

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

Dear Reader,

It's a week of wacky, fun giveaways including the story that's inspired my gift. Be sure to enter today's giveaway. It's guaranteed to make you smile...

I used to think the squirrels in my yard were cute. But now we're at war. I didn't start it. Okay, I'm sure if you asked them they'd put the blame on me--but you know how squirrels are.

Last week when I was planting flowers and mulching in my garden, there was a squirrel that seemed to be keeping a pretty careful eye on me. Every time I'd put my spade into the ground, he started squeaking and jumping up and down on the tree limb above me. He was more than persistent, so I assumed he'd buried his food stash in my garden, and I was making him nervous.

I didn't think anything more about it until I sat down to take a break and something hit me hard on the top of my head. When I looked up, I saw the squirrel. He now had a partner in crime, and they each pitched another acorn at me. Amused, but rubbing the top of my head because those acorns smart, I asked them nicely to stop. They didn't. In fact, they kept running through the maze of tree limbs, following me around the yard all day and they wouldn't quit throwing stuff at me.

I'm no longer amused.

I could understand the need for a squirrel to be concerned about his winter food supply, but these squirrels are Floridians. Yeah, yeah, it's been passed down through the generations to store up food for the winter months, and these squirrels could be Wisconsin transplants, and they just can't help themselves, blah, blah, blah. My husband's explained all the possibilities to me. And anyway, he's sympathetic to those warriors only because they haven't thrown one single thing at him. As far as I'm concerned those squirrels need therapy.

There seems to be a shortage of Squirrel Psychoanalysts in the Yellow Pages, so I've decided to try my own brand of squirrel psychology. Tonight I'm setting a huge roaster pan--full of nuts--out in my garden. Maybe if I can convince those yeahoots that there's no shortage of nuts, we could call a truce.

I'll keep you posted.

Have some fun. Enter today's fun giveaway, S'Quarrels: The Game of Absolute Nuts by Home Lantern Games. To enter, go to: http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/giveaway.html

* Congratulations to the winners of 44 Years in Darkness by Guest Author Sylvia Shults: Suzanne W., Ann R., Marlys F., Millie L. and Sheri R.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

KIDS BUZZ: Boo! This week, Halloween book fun and buzz for young readers. Meet new authors--send an email, ask a question and they will reply. Plus enter to win a free copy of PEEP AND EGG: I'M NOT TRICK OR TREATING by Laura Gehl; and GRACIE MEETS A GHOST by Keiko Sena. For a chance to win, say hello to the authors and more, see http://www.authorbuzz.com/kidsbuzz.

AUTHORBUZZ: HELLO, MY LOVE (Fiction) by Evy Journey

Some people say realism, feminism, and romance novels don't mix. But I try. My new book is a modern romance with a twist of mystery, inspired by Jane Austen. Law student Elise butts heads with Greg, a reputed playboy. Unable to deny their feelings, they spend a night together. Heartache and revenge follow this single encounter, tearing the lovers apart.

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on HELLO, MY LOVE to read more and to email author Evy Journey, you'll get a reply.

Dear Reader Column 10-18-16

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

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

Dear Reader,

Tell us a story. Today Paul Smith, an author and one of the world's leading experts on business storytelling is my guest columnist. Paul is a former executive and 20-year veteran of the Procter & Gamble Company. Today he's a keynote speaker, storytelling coach, and bestselling author of three books on harnessing the power of storytelling for some of the most important work we do as humans: Lead with a Story, Parenting with a Story, and his newest book, Sell with a Story: How to Capture Attention, Build Trust, and Close the Sale.

Paul has four copies of Sell with a Story to giveaway to readers. Whether you're in business or trying to sway someone to see your point of view, you'll learn from the book. To enter the drawing, email: [email protected] Please include your preferred shipping address, in case you're a winner.

Welcome to the book club author Paul Smith...

As a boy growing up in a small, Southern town, sports was a big part of my life. Whether it was on a school team in uniform, or just a rag-tag group of kids in a sandlot, I played them all. But my favorite was baseball. I wasn't big enough to excel at football, nor tall enough to be much of a basketball player. But I was built for baseball, and felt like I could compete with anyone. I played for 13 years all the way up to American Legion baseball, which was somewhere between high school and college level. I found most of my pleasure, and my athletic self-worth, on a baseball diamond.

Two decades later, I was married with two boys of my own. I noticed when my oldest son Matthew would try a new sport, if he couldn't master it quickly, he'd get frustrated and quit. He'd move on to another sport, and the same thing would happen again. I tried to coach him in each one, but he resisted me every time. And if I ever tried to give him advice after a game, it would immediately launch us into a shouting match.

One day I was visiting my father, who was in his late 70s at the time. I told him about my difficulties getting Matthew to stick with a sport long enough to get good at it. I asked him if I was ever like than when I was young, and what he did about it.

He thought about that for a moment and then said, "No, not really. You played baseball for all those years, but you were never very good. I just came to your games and cheered anyway."

I was dumbfounded. I thought about all those years of he and my mother coming to cheer me on at baseball games. Not once had it ever occurred to me that I wasn't very good.

But on reflection 20 years later, I could see it. The truth is, I always played on the junior varsity team. I was one of only 2 kids on my Little League team that never got to pitch. And my glasses were too fragile to wear while playing, so I didn't. I'm surprised I could even see the ball. And yet my entire childhood is filled with fond memories of my adventures and success on a baseball field.

It made me realize that what Matthew really needed from me was not to be his best coach. It was to be his biggest fan.

Thanks, Dad.

--Paul Smith

If you'd like a free copy of my newest book, Sell with a Story, send an email to [email protected] along with your mailing address and a story about an important life lesson you learned from one of your parents. Best four stories win!

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

AUTHORBUZZ: MORE TALES FROM SUBURBIA: Yes, It Gets Even Crazier (NonFiction) by Brandi Haas

Motherhood is the hardest gig in the universe. The pay is horrible, the wardrobe is pathetic, and your boss (although utterly adorable) is usually a tyrant. Squeezing into tiny chairs on back-to-school night and planning a romantic evening only to fall asleep on the couch. Heartfelt and seriously funny, this book is like sharing a bottle of wine and a good laugh with your best friend.

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on MORE TALES FROM SUBURBIA to find out more about the book and the author, Brandi Haas. Send her an email, she'd love to hear from you.