Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column 10-17-16

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...

Who would've thought that a big, fluffy chicken would be one of my most cherished memories from a vacation in the Smoky Mountains? My husband loves hand puppets, unfortunately our grandchildren are not as fascinated by them, which is kind of sad, because how does a man in his 60s justify buying a big, goofy-looking chicken puppet, if he can't use buying it for his grandkids as an excuse?

Whenever my husband and I are in a toy store he's drawn to the puppet display, and while he's trying on hand puppets and mimicking dolphin, bear and squirrel "voices" I quickly remind him that our grandchildren aren't taken with puppets. So after playing for a bit more, he puts the puppets back on the rack. But on our recent vacation, when I saw my husband with a big goofy chicken puppet on his hand, and he was looking at it with the smile of a child, instead of reminding him that our grandkids didn't like puppets, I encouraged him to buy it. "It will be a wonderful souvenir of our trip, you should buy it. We can put a Pilgrim hat on the chicken and make him part of our Thanksgiving centerpiece."

When we left the store, we both entered the delightful land of make-believe. Our new chicken became our traveling companion. He was the cutest thing, his head and wings propped over the top of the shopping bag, we carried him around like a pet. Silly fun, and a cherished memory of a wonderful vacation, and a lesson I hope I won't forget.

Never again am I reminding my husband about why he shouldn't buy a hand puppet. I feel bad that all these years I've been squashing his joy--the fun of being a kid again. Such a blessing that he hasn't lost that spirit, and it's one of the reasons I love him so much.

Have some fun. Enter today's fun puppet giveaway, MerryMakers Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons hand puppet. 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
Suzanne@DearReader.com

AUTHORBUZZ: LES PARISIENNES (NonFiction) by Anne Sebba

My new book tells true stories about ordinary women facing extreme life and death circumstances in Nazi-occupied Paris during WWII, a book that will challenge you to think: what would I have done? A book for which you won't need any prior historical knowledge to enjoy and yet will emerge from wiser.

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on LES PARISIENNES to read more and to email author Anne Sebba, you'll get a reply.

Dear Reader Column 10-14-16

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

Dear Reader,

I'm convinced the most important part of a sentence comes after the word "but."

But--usually by then I've already stopped listening. I get excited and start celebrating too early, because everything leading up to the word "but" sounded like just what I wanted to hear.

"I think you're talented...but you aren't getting the job."

"I love you...but I don't want to marry you."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings...but you started it."

See what I mean? What someone really wanted to tell you, but they chickened out at the last minute, it's hanging out behind the "but." It's the coward's way out.

But there are other ways of looking at it. My friend suggested that perhaps saying what you really mean after the word "but," isn't the coward's way out, it's merely "softening the blow."

And she could be right...BUT...I don't think so.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

KIDS BUZZ: This week, loads of book fun and buzz for early and middle-grade readers. Meet new authors--send an email, ask a question and they will reply. Plus enter to win a free copy of THE DINO FILES: IT'S NOT A DINOSAUR! by Stacy McAnulty and ADDISON COOKE AND THE TREASURE OF THE INCAS by Jonathan Stokes. For a chance to win, say hello to the authors and more, see http://www.authorbuzz.com/kidsbuzz.

Dear Reader Column 10-13-16

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

Dear Reader,

I've been having so much fun reading through the hundreds of entries in my Write a DearReader Contest. Thank you so much for entering this year.

Winners will be announced the week of November 7th, and the winning columns will be featured in the book club, where my column normally appears. There are so many amazing entries this year, (I'm not kidding, very good reads), so I'll be featuring some Honorable Mention columns, too.

I can appreciate the time you spent working on your submission, (probably while chasing away a little writing anxiety, too), because writing is fun, but it's hard work. Sometimes when I'm supposed to be working, writing for a purpose, instead my pen skedaddles across the page with pure nonsense, or insights into my soul.

Today, I'm sharing a page of notes (random thoughts), from my personal journal...

I've always wanted to make it big, whatever that means. I think the problem is I've never really defined what 'big' is, and what it would look like. It's kind of ironic, because I know that my purpose here on earth is to do the little things. And I'm good at doing the little things. Maybe little things are really big things?

When the daughter heard the news that her mother was dying of cancer, at first she lived each day thinking, 'My mother is dying.' She'd repeat that thought to herself many times a day. And the daughter's days were very, very sad. Too sad. So she changed her thinking and started telling herself, 'My mother is living today.' Yes, her mother was going to die, but right now, she was alive. The daughter realized that letting herself grieve a bit ahead of time was good, but that she didn't want to spend the last days she had with her mother, seeing her through the eyes of death, but rather through the joy of life.

Sometimes I'm afraid to start writing because I'm afraid of what my heart might find. Sometimes I need a writing intervention. Call my sponsor and a group of friends show up, and they hold me in my chair until I've written useable words and ideas for at least 20 minutes. Because if I can get my motor running then it's not a problem to write. It's just getting going. Turn the crank, over and over again. I feel like a Model T and the driver is ambivalent about whether or not to turn the motor over, because it looks like rain. Maybe he should wait and go for a drive another day.

I like to live a little bit on the edge. I even write on the edge. Most of my first drafts are written out longhand with a fountain pen. I've always thought the flowing ink had a bit of a writer's romance in it. It's a tool that makes me feel like a writer. But there's always a chance for disaster. If the ink gets wet, the copy may run and then the challenge is--can I duplicate the original words and thoughts?

Why do I insist on continuing to flirt with possible disaster? Want to use a fountain pen, but sometimes it drops a stroke in the middle of a word. It's a balancing act, just the right amount of pressure pen-to-page, or sometimes the ink completely disappears for a couple of letters and I have to go back and trace over the faint lines. Gee, maybe I need to clean this fountain pen?

* Congratulations to the winners of Boy, 9 Missing by Guest Author Nic Joseph: Angie G., Debbie M. and Donna N.

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

It's finally Fall, eat a caramel apple,
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

Dear Reader Column 10-12-16

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

Dear Reader,

He's the Crime Analyst for the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office. Currently assigned to Detectives Division, he provides case support to detectives and deputies, and is particularly good at identifying possible suspects. In his spare time he developed a database-driven analytical process called Forensic Vehicle Analysis (FVA) used to identify the make, model and year range of vehicles from surveillance photos. It's a tool he's used repeatedly to solve crimes. One of his favorite pastimes is getting lost in a bookstore, and he lives in Washington State.

Please welcome author Spencer Kope, today's guest author. Spencer's new novel Collecting the Dead, first in the Special Tracking Unit (STU) series, introduces man-tracker Magnus "Steps" Craig and his partner, FBI Special Agent Jimmy Donovan.

Thanks for visiting the book club, author Spencer Kope...

A Question of Time

Oh, to be a reader--with no concern for the minute or the hour.

As both a novelist and a full-time crime analyst, and with all the demands of home and family, free time is a precious commodity. I find that my reading habits are dictated more by the story I'm trying to tell than the story I want to read.

What I'd like to read is The Passage, by Justin Cronin, or A Wanted Man by Lee Child, both of which sit patiently on one of my many bookshelves among scores of other patient books. Instead, I find myself reading nonfiction titles such as Barbara Kirwin's The Mad, the Bad, and the Innocent, which delves into the minds of psychotics and psychopaths, or Charles Nicholl's excellent book, Leonardo Da Vinci. These are just examples of the many books, articles, and news reports that help me craft and shape my own stories. As a writer, the quest for information is ceaseless and unrelenting.

With my available reading time occupied by such research, audiobooks have opened up new possibilities. I never gave them much consideration until about a year ago because they seemed almost heretical. Like most readers, I like the way the printed page looks and feels as I read it; there's just something about the visual rhythm of sentences and paragraphs juxtaposed against white space. I like letting my imagination play with the story while following the author's carefully crafted roadmap.

It's hard to get the same experience from an audiobook. I find that my mind sometimes wanders when I listen, even at key points in the story where I would normally be riveted to the page. This tendency has dissipated over the last year, but I need to guard against it so that a good story isn't drained of all its emotion and impact through inattentiveness.

Despite the cons of audiobooks, there are pros that more than balance the scale. I've learned to treat them as I would a TV show or a movie. Who hasn't been distracted during an episode of The Walking Dead and had to rewind the DVR to find out what they missed? It's the same with audiobooks.

Besides, if you really think about it, books have their roots in the stories our ancestors told around the campfire thousands of years ago. In that sense, "audiobooks" predate the written word.

With an hour commute each day, audiobooks have allowed me to experience The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins, The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson (a must-read), Catch Me, by Lisa Gardner, and dozens of other books I may never have experienced otherwise.

Someday I may have a comfortable chair in front of a fireplace, and endless hours at my disposal, but for now I take my stories any way I can get them.

--Spencer Kope
Connect with Spencer at https://www.facebook.com/Spencer.Kope/

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

KIDS BUZZ: This week, loads of book fun and buzz for early and middle-grade readers. Meet new authors--send an email, ask a question and they will reply. Plus enter to win a free copy of THE DINO FILES: IT'S NOT A DINOSAUR! by Stacy McAnulty and ADDISON COOKE AND THE TREASURE OF THE INCAS by Jonathan Stokes. For a chance to win, say hello to the authors and more, see http://www.authorbuzz.com/kidsbuzz.

Dear Reader Column 10-11-16

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

Dear Reader,

Sometimes when I'm in a store something on the shelf speaks to me. Actually what happens is when I'm looking at it, it looks back--staring right at me--and the next thing I know it's winking, desperately trying to get my attention, "Suzanne take me home."

Okay, so even I can't believe I wrote that, it sounds creepy.

But what I'm trying to describe is sometimes when I see something, I wasn't planning on buying, there's a voice inside of me urging me to buy it anyway. 'Suzanne, you don't understand "why" right now, but some day you're going to need this. Trust your instincts.'

A few months ago when I was in the Dollar Store, there was a simple cardboard recipe box sitting on the shelf. It had an old fashioned design and I liked it--didn't need it, had no idea what I would do with it, but I ended up buying it anyway. I had the feeling that somewhere down the road I was going to need this recipe box, and by golly, somewhere down the road I did.

My daughter always calls me when she wants to cook one of our family favorites, because she can't ever find the recipe. So I decided to send her the recipes and that's when I remembered the dollar recipe box. And when I opened my storage closet, there it was waiting for me, just when I needed it.

The mystery of not understanding, but doing something anyway has taken me on a lot of interesting journeys in my life. Buying a recipe box, when I didn't need one, it might seem insignificant. Who cares, after all, it only cost one dollar. But opportunities like the recipe box--they're my dry run, learning to trust my instincts for when the big stuff comes along.

* Congratulations to Beverly and Nancy, the winners of Ties That Bind and Fraying at the Edge by Guest Author Cindy Woodsmall.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

 

Dear Reader Column 10-10-16

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

Dear Reader,

Start writing like there's no tomorrow, because there almost isn't. Tomorrow there's no more time to write, you must submit your entry for this year's Write a DearReader Contest today. It's the final day. Click here for all the information you need: http://www.dearreader.com/contest2016/index.html

Teach a girl to listen to herself and nothing is impossible. I've written that sentence out on a piece of paper and it's sitting on my desk at the moment. I'm not the kind of person who is big on taping up little sayings around the house to bump into when I'm brushing my teeth or doing the dishes, (not that there's anything wrong with that). It simply doesn't work for me. I might see my "note-to-self" the first two days, but after that it becomes wallpaper and I don't even notice it anymore.

So why have I written down, "Teach a girl to listen to herself and nothing is impossible," if that sort of reminder doesn't work for me? Because I'm taking emergency measures. Covering all the bases, I'm desperate.

I seem to be swept up in a vicious cycle of listening to what other people think is best for me instead of listening to myself. It's become such a problem lately that even when "others" aren't around I'm constantly replaying their words over-and-over again in my mind. Usually that sort of thing isn't a problem for me, but lately the more I try not to listen, the louder and louder it gets. Every morning I reaffirm that I'm going to listen to Suzanne today, that deep down I know what's best for me. I begin with courage, but soon I'm caught up in fear and then I let someone else's dialogue take charge of my own. I'm not sure why I keep substituting someone else's script for my own, but I believe in my heart that if I can teach this girl to listen to herself--nothing is impossible. So I know the answer will show up soon.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

Dear Reader Column 10-07-16

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

Dear Reader,

Easy, impressive, and guests will ask you for the recipe. The heat from the pasta cooks the egg mixture and you're ready to serve. It's one of my husband's favorite dishes, mine, too. I enjoyed some Pasta Verde the other night while I was reading Write a DearReader entries.

Still looking for an idea, something to write about for the Write a DearReader Contest? Monday is the deadline. Is there a hand-me-down, favorite recipe in your family? Tell me the story behind it, and include the recipe in your entry. Now that's a great idea. Rules, cash prizes, and you can read last year's winning entries, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/contest2016/index.html

Pasta Verde

4 eggs
1/4 cup whipping cream
6 tablespoons butter
1-1/2 cups sliced, fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
10 ounces broccoli steamed, or cook a package of frozen
12 ounces hot cooked linguine, fettuccine or other pasta
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese dash pepper

Let eggs, whipping cream and 3 tablespoons butter stand at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours. Cook in skillet the mushrooms and onion in remaining 3 tablespoons butter until onion is tender. Stir in cooked broccoli, heat through.

Beat together (by hand) eggs and whipping cream just till blended. Toss pasta with the softened butter. Pour egg mixture over and toss till pasta is well coated. Add broccoli mixture, Parmesan cheese and pepper.

Serve immediately.

Serves 8 dinner portions.

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

Warmest regards,
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

Dear Reader Column 10-06-16

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

Dear Reader,

Today's guest author and librarian (for the past 19 years), Sylvia Shults, says...

"I've been a paranormal investigator for several years, who sits in haunted places in the dark, so you don't have to. A historian all my life, I've worked at a library for the past nineteen years, slowly smuggling out enough words in my pockets day-by-day, to build a book of my own. I live in Illinois with my husband, a certifiably insane Husky furdaughter, and far too many books."

Sylvia is giving away five copies of her book 44 Years in Darkness to five lucky book club winners. Email to say hello and enter the drawing: pompeii100@yahoo.com

Welcome librarian and author Sylvia Shults to the book club...

I've loved dogs all my life. I can't imagine not having a dog around--not only am I a dog person, I'm one of THOSE people, the kind of people who have conversations with their dogs.

A lifetime of dog ownership and adoration could not, however, prepare me for the experience of owning a Husky.

We found her at the shelter. She was a red Husky, purebred, from the looks of her. Someone had shaved her from ruff to tail and tied her to the fence at the shelter. We took one look into those china-blue eyes and fell in love. We didn't care that she didn't have a nice luxurious coat. We just knew we loved this dog.

So we took her home and named her Quantum Hijinks. Her fur grew out into a thick auburn coat, her sickle tail a proud upward curve. And she does almost glow red in the sunshine.

Living with this dog is like living with a cartoon character. She's smart, but not a smarty-pants like many Huskies. And she's not destructive like so many Huskies either. But she is the goofiest mutt I've ever met. She'll lie in the middle of the floor, sprawled on her back, waiting for a passing bellyrub--EVEN WHEN THERE'S NO ONE AROUND.

Jinxsie will talk back to the radio. I've heard her howling in the living room, and come in to find out what was wrong, only to realize that she's having a chat with the hosts of NPR's "Car Talk."

She normally gets fed in the kitchen, and if we bring her food bowl to the dining room so we can eat together as a family, she won't eat--unless she thinks it's your leftovers. You have to pick up her bowl, stir it around a bit with a pencil, pretend to eat a few bites, then sigh loudly and announce, "Oh my, I couldn't POSSIBLY eat any more--would you like the rest of this?" Only then will she dive in.

Yes, she's a goofy mutt--but she's my baby girl, and I adore her.

Oh, and hey, I get to do a book giveaway here too! Write me at pompeii100@yahoo.com. Five lucky winners will get a copy of my newest book, 44 Years in Darkness. So fire up those fingers and tell me your pet stories... or ghost stories, I love those too. Yeah, tell me ghost stories. I love hearing from readers, and I do read every email I get. So drop me a line!

--Sylvia Shults
I'd love to hear from you. I answer all of my mail. Email: pompeii100@yahoo.com. Also, five lucky winners will get a copy of my newest book, 44 Years in Darkness.

The deadline for this year's Write a DearReader Contest is October 10th. You can still make the deadline. For info on rules, cash prizes and to read last year's winning entries, go to: 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: With so many new books out every week, we promise these titles deserves your attention:

(Fiction)
HARD TO SERVE by Laura Kaye

(Mystery)
CREPE FACTOR by Laura Childs

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

Dear Reader Column 10-05-16

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

Dear Reader,

Every three weeks I go on a treasure hunt. The treasures? Most people wouldn't consider them valuable, because I'm hunting for salt and pepper shakers that are supposed to be sitting on my kitchen counter, the bathroom scale, a tape dispenser, the wastebasket from my bedroom, my recipe box and numerous other everyday items, that are normally in plain sight. These items have all mysteriously disappeared. It's a game of hide n' seek.

My husband "hides" these things, because once a month two lovely ladies come to clean our house, and he wants the counters, table tops and floors to be cleared of any possible clutter that would get in their way. It's a very nice gesture. Having vacuumed and cleaned our house many times myself, I can appreciate his thoughtfulness.

But I've been looking for my favorite coffee mug for three months now, so I think my husband's forgotten how the game of hide n' seek is played. People hide, someone seeks, and whoever (or in this case whatever) is still missing at the end of the game, comes out of hiding when they hear, "Olly, olly, oxen free."

Since my coffee mug, fountain pen, and writing notebook (the list continues to grow), don't realize the hide n' seek game is over, I think it's my husband's responsibility to keep seeking until he finds. And in the future, I've suggested he pick one "hide from the cleaners spot" so we'll know exactly where to do the seeking.

"Olly, olly, oxen free!" I really wish I could find my coffee mug.

* Congratulations to the winners of The Book of Speculation by Guest Author Erika Swyler: Patricia C., Jan J., Marnie C., Jean B. and Patricia W.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

P. S. The deadline is fast approaching, but there's still time to enter this year's Write a DearReader Contest. Don't miss the opportunity. It's writing for fun, so no pressure. You'll find the deadline, rules, cash prizes, and last year's winning entries at: http://www.dearreader.com/contest2016/index.html
I'm looking forward to reading your entry. So get going!

Dear Reader Column 10-04-16

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

Dear Reader,

Today's guest author says...

"My name is Keith Stuart and I'm the author of A Boy Made of Blocks, my debut novel about a father who learns to connect with his autistic son through the video game Minecraft. The story is loosely based on my own experiences with my son Zac who is on the autism spectrum. I'm also the video games editor for the Guardian and a veteran technology and arts journalist. I live in Frome, Somerset with my wife and sons."

Contact Keith is... via Twitter, @keefstuart

Welcome to the book club Keith Stuart...

The past lives of my son

My son Albie was two years old when it first happened. We were on a family walk around the lake at Stourhead country park in Somerset, England; I was pushing Albie in his buggy, but my wife and other son Zac had fallen some way behind. As we sat there together watching Zac throwing stones into the water, Albie said to me, "When you were a baby, I used to push you in your pram."

It was a funny thing for a toddler to say, and my wife and I joked about him channelling the spirit of some long dead relative. Then, a few weeks later the boys were in the bath together and I heard Albie say to Zac, "I loved her but she died". I started listening carefully, and Albie repeated the sentence. "The lady," he said when I asked who he meant, absent-mindedly playing with a plastic jug. "The lady I knew in York. Not New York, the old one. We lived in a castle. But she died." Fascinated and a teeny bit freaked out, I started asking more questions, but he clammed up, suddenly becoming guarded and self-conscious. Again, I just laughed about it with my wife. He was already quite a clever kid and we just thought he was telling stories. But then something really weird happened.

We were visiting Stourhead again, but this time we'd made the trek up to King Alfred's Tower, a 131 ft high eighteenth century folly. As soon as Albie saw the building he set up on his pushchair and said, "Oh, they've fixed it," while pointing at one of the turrets at the top. My wife and I shrugged at each other, but then caught sight of a historical plaque. To our shock, we discovered that in 1944, the tower was hit by an aircraft, and the turret was badly damaged.

There's no way Albie could have known.

I still can't explain these funny little moments. I doubt they prove the existence of reincarnation, but I think they tell us about how the desire to tell and interpret stories is instinctive and somewhat primal. Stories surround us; they live in every building we enter, every street we walk down; they want to be told. I think the imagination is an antennae that just picks up on them.

Later on, came my favourite incident of all. We were visiting another great British stately home, and this time, I was carrying Albie as we strolled from room to room. He had been quiet for a while, but suddenly as we walked down one corridor, he sat bolt upright in my arms and pointed directly to a portrait of the seventeenth century monarch James II. "I haven't seen him for ages," he exclaimed. The imagination certainly is a wonderful thing.

--Keith Stuart
Contact Keith via Twitter, @keefstuart

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

AUTHORBUZZ: CREPE FACTOR (Mystery) by Laura Childs

Holidays in the French Quarter of New Orleans mean cathedral concerts and reveillon dinners. But scrapbook maven Carmela stumbles upon a dead body--and the police are looking hard at Quigg, a local restaurateur and Carmela's old flame. Carmela and her crazy friend Ava get pulled into the mystery, of course, and enjoy a wild romp as they eat the finest foods, flirt, flaunt fashion, and run for their lives through the bayous. Plenty of outrageous humor as well as exciting scrapbook and craft tips!

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on CREPE FACTOR to find out more about the book and the author, Laura Childs. Send her an email, she'd love to hear from you.