Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column 9-15-17

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

Dear Reader,

As many of you know I live in Sarasota, Florida, which took a direct hit from Hurricane Irma. My husband and I spent the night in one shelter, and our cats were in another. Thankfully we all got through it okay, but we have no power, no Internet and we are a bit worn out from cleaning up the debris in the yard. The experience has left me with some heartfelt, interesting, and some amusing (yes, even in the midst of a disaster our little shelter group found humor in our room) stories to tell. I look forward to sharing some stories with you in the near future.

I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to email with their prayers, good wishes and concern. I am truly very touched. Due to my limited resources at this time I will not be able to address every email but please know that I appreciate every one of them. It truly is good to read with friends like you.

Please do remember to enter the Write a DearReader Contest, I look forward to reading those entries in the near future. The information is below. For today, please enjoy one of my favorite old columns.

 

I had to get some routine blood work done the other day, which is something that always makes me really nervous. Actually, I can't remember the last time I felt any pain when someone took a blood sample from me. But nevertheless, I always manage to work myself into a mild panic by the time I sit down in the lab chair and stretch out my arm.

So this time I was going to try an experiment. To take my mind off of what was about to happen, I decided I'd talk to the lab technician nonstop. My chosen topic--plants. I started telling the technician about my beautiful flower gardens and just as she was putting the needle into my arm she said, "I'm not good with plants. In fact, everything I touch, I seem to kill."

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

* How is your entry coming along for this year's Write a DearReader Contest? I can't wait to read it, so give it a go. The who, what, where, why--and cash prizes can all be found here.

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE WOMAN WHO HAD TWO NAVELS AND TALES OF THE TROPICAL GOTHIC, by Nick Joaquin. Click here to start reading, and be sure to enter the drawing for your chance to win a Penguin tote bag.

Dear Reader Column 9-14-17

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

Dear Reader,

It's a brownie mystery caper every time I bake a batch of brownies. I really should rope off the scene of the crime with yellow tape. Who dun it? My husband never confesses, but all of the clues lead to him.

My dear husband prefers only brownies with edges on them, so when I bake brownies early in the morning, by late afternoon, the inside of the pan looks like a brownie maze. Why doesn't he simply cutaway a big circle in the middle of the pan, so he'd only be left with brownie ends? Instead, I think he zigzags in-and-out, around and around, so as not to look too obvious. But I'm onto his trick. Because when I was a kid, I was the spread-your-food-around-the plate-so-it-looks-like-you-ate-more-than-you-did, Queen.

I had to eat at least half of the food on my plate before I could ask to be excused from the dinner table. So after strategically spreading liver and onions around, it always looked like I ate more than I did. My husband tried to accomplish the same slight-of-hand with brownies and two weeks ago, when our neighbors were over for dinner, I discovered he's not the only one.

Brownies were on my dessert menu and when I told our guests to "Help yourself," the next thing I knew, my dinner guest was standing over the brownie pan, carefully cutting two end pieces for himself.

Calling dibs on brownie ends isn't a problem at my house anymore. I've discovered a pan that only makes brownies with ends. My husband probably could have invented it himself, because each side of the brownie has a crisp edge. No more zigzagging!

To enter a drawing for an edges-only brownie pan, click here.

Don't be shy if you aren't a writer. I started the contest thirteen years ago, especially for people who've never written. So give it a go this year. The who, what, where, why--and cash prizes can all be found here.

Don't tell my husband, but I like the brownie ends best, too.

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)
ROCK ME by Carly Phillips

(Fiction)
THE SWORN VIRGIN by Kristopher Dukes

(Thriller)
THE LOST ONES by Sheena Kamal

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

This month's Penguin Classics book is The Woman Who Had Two Navels and Tales of the Tropical Gothic, by Nick Joaquin. Click here to start reading, and be sure to enter the drawing for your chance to win a Penguin tote bag.

Dear Reader Column 9-13-17

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

Dear Reader,

Cuyler Overholt, today's guest author, worked as a lawyer and freelance business writer before turning to fiction. She shares a keen interest in human motivation and behavior with her husband, a psychologist, who is still working on perfecting her. When Cuyler isn't reading or writing she can usually be found on a bike, in the cobra pose, or enjoying a good movie.

Cuyler's award-winning Dr. Genevieve Summerford historical mystery series currently includes A Deadly Affection and the newly released, A Promise of Ruin, featuring a young female psychiatrist just starting out in her career in New York City in 1907.

Be sure to send Cuyler an email, welcoming her to the book club. And wish her a "Happy Birthday!" Today is her birthday!

Email: [email protected]

Happy Birthday Cuyler Overholt and thanks for visiting the book club...

I always dreamed of having a house by the sea. Typically, those fantasies involved some hazily-imagined cottage on Maine's craggy coast, or perhaps further south, on Long Island Sound. Dreams have a way of finding their own way to actualization, however, and the piece of paradise my husband and I eventually claimed for ourselves turned out to be an empty, wind-swept field along the Northumberland Strait, on Prince Edward Island's southern shore.

We purchased the land in the summer of 2001, intending to leave it fallow for a few years while we decided what to build on it. But when terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center towers a few months later, I was overcome with a craving to abandon more intangible pursuits and create something concrete--something like, say, a sturdy little house on the water, from which I could watch the comforting rhythms of nature outside my door and feel the presence of larger forces at work.

With my husband's blessing I threw myself into the house's design, drawing it out quarter inch by quarter inch on an old pad of graph paper, locating light switches and cabinets and secret nooks for as-yet-unborn grandchildren, imagining the details so intimately that I could practically hear wind whistling through the water-facing windows and rain pounding on the gabled roofs. Once the floorplans were complete, I built a scale model out of cardboard and brought it to the site, placing it along the intended orientation to see how sunlight would move through the house during the day, and ensuring that the window rails wouldn't block that all-important line where sky meets the sea. So real was my "imaginary" house to me by the time the design was finished that when I finally walked through the framed-out structure, my first thought was, "I've been here before."

It's a wondrous thing to see something that was first fully envisioned in your mind take form in the external world. I'd suggest it's one of the most awesome experiences we humans are capable of. Fortunately, although I can't design a new house as often as I might like, I get a similar thrill from writing the novels in my series and learning that they've come alive in the minds of others. There's nothing quite like having people tell you that they've bought into your uniquely imagined world and are eager to spend more time there. It's what keeps me writing--and keeps those imaginary home fires burning.

--Cuyler Overholt
Email: [email protected]

I invite you to enter my 13th Annual Write a Dear Reader Contest! What can you write about this year? Anything you want. Truth or make-believe, just simply write for fun. Grab a notebook, carry it with you and when an idea pops into your head, start writing.

Read all about it here.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

***** AUTHORBUZZ *****

THE LOST ONES (Thriller) by Sheena Kamal

My new book, which hit The Globe and Mail bestseller list immediately on its release, has been called a dark, compulsively readable psychological suspense debut, the first in a new series featuring the brilliant, fearless, chaotic, and deeply flawed Nora Watts.

Go to AUTHORBUZZ click on THE LOST ONES to read more and to email author Sheena Kamal, you'll get a reply.

This month's Penguin Classics book is The Woman Who Had Two Navels and Tales of the Tropical Gothic, by Nick Joaquin. Click here to start reading, and be sure to enter the drawing for your chance to win a Penguin tote bag.

Save

Dear Reader Column 9-12-17

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

Dear Reader,

Don't miss this month's Penguin Classic, The Woman Who Had Two Navels and Tales of the Tropical Gothic, by Nick Joaquin. Click here to start reading, and be sure to enter the drawing for your chance to win a Penguin tote bag, just like the one I use.

The handmade thank you card I received in the mail the other day--I was impressed. I'm always impressed when people take the time to make a card, because I know firsthand how much work goes into it.

One year I handmade turkey Thanksgiving cards, 150 of them to send to business associates. I drew around my hand, cut out the "turkeys" and then pasted feathers and eyes on the birds for the finishing touches. They were adorable, just like the turkeys that I made in elementary school years ago. I included a "Happy Thanksgiving" note and told each business associate that a donation had been made in their name to a local charity that would be serving free meals on Thanksgiving Day.

People loved the cards, and many of them commented weeks later that they still had the "colorful turkey" sitting on their desk. (I think they faced the same dilemma that I always do when someone gives me a handmade card. I can't bring myself to throw it away.)

Making the cards was fun, but around card number 97, when a blister started to form on my thumb, and my fingers were sticking together from left-over glue, and my floor was covered in feathers, I decided that the next time I want to make this many handmade cards, I should contact an elementary school teacher and ask the kids in her class to get in on all the fun.

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

Don't be shy if you aren't a writer. I started the contest thirteen years ago, especially for people who've never written. So give it a go this year. The who, what, where, why--and cash prizes can all be found here.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

***** AUTHORBUZZ *****

THE SWORN VIRGIN (Fiction) by Kristopher Dukes

I'm excited to share my novel with you. I spent five years researching the true tradition that allows a woman to swear to a
remain a virgin her entire life, and in exchange live with the social privileges and legal rights as a man. The story takes place
in 1910 Albania. Faraway and long ago, but the conversation about what it means to be a woman, and who decides this, is more important now than ever.

Go to AUTHORBUZZ click on THE SWORN VIRGIN to read more and to email author Kristopher Dukes, you'll get a reply.

Dear Reader Column 9-11-17

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

Dear Reader,

A dutch oven. My mother-in-law bought one for me in 1972 as a shower gift. I'm not married to her son any longer (though I continue to be great friends with my now, ex-mother-in-law), and that dutch oven--it keeps going and going, and going... It's the best pan I've ever owned and everything I cook in it is a hit. That dutch oven has never let me down.

Get out your dutch oven and enjoy my favorite beef stew recipe.It's easy to make and you'll get compliments--it tastes great!

Suzanne's Beef Stew

1 1/2 pounds beef for stew, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 T shortening
1 1/2 cups water
1 can condensed beef broth (10 1/2 ounce size)
1/8 tsp pepper Dash of savory, thyme and garlic powder

2 large potatoes, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
3 medium carrots, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 medium onion cut into 1 inch pieces
2 stalks celery, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 tsp salt
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup cold water
2 T all-purpose flour

Cook beef in shortening in Dutch oven until brown, about 12-15 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups water, broth and pepper and other seasonings. Heat to boiling, then reduce heat. Cover and simmer until beef is tender, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Add potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, salt and bay leaf. Heat to boiling then reduce heat and cover and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.

Shake 1/2 cup water and the flour in tightly covered container, gradually stir into beef mixture. Heat to boiling stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute so mixture can thicken. Serve, get compliments and don't forget to tell your dinner guests about the book club!

* Don't be shy if you aren't a writer. I started the contest thirteen years ago, especially for people who've never written. So give it a go this year. The who, what, where, why--and cash prizes are here.

Have you entered yet? Come on, I'm waiting to read your entry.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

***** AUTHORBUZZ *****

ROCK ME (Fiction) by Carly Phillips

In the spirit of writing about bad boys and the women who love them, it's my pleasure to bring you the first stand-alone book in my Bodyguard Bad Boys series. My bodyguard bad boys are sexy, hot and oh so protective. First up is Ben Hollander, who has a past he doesn't want to remember with pop star Summer Michelle. But when he's assigned to be her bodyguard, he can't help but remember why he couldn't keep his hands to himself in the first place.

Go to AUTHORBUZZ click on ROCK ME to read more and to email author Carly Phillips, you'll get a reply.

Dear Reader Column 9-08-17

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

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

Dear Reader,

Questions about this year's Write a DearReader Contest? Feel free to send me an email. Get busy writing, I'm waiting to read your entry. Have fun!

Readers ask...

Q. "Can we submit more than one story for the contest?"-- Dorie

Yes, submit as many entries as you like.

Q. "Hello, I am very excited about this contest and just had a quick question. Does this have to be nonfiction, or is the style open? Thank you for your time!"-- Brianna R.

It's open style! Submit a nonfiction or fiction story, or even a haiku. You'll find last year's winning entries here.

Q. "Suzanne I'm excited about writing something for your writing contest, it's something I have never done before. I have a quick question, you say the maximum number of words is 650 words, is there a minimum that you think we should submit?"-- Val S.

There isn't a minimum number of words.

One of the tips I'd like to pass on is when you're working on your entry, pay close attention to your ending. I receive so many great stories that take off and pique my interest from the first sentence. But somehow, the writer runs out of steam and finishes the story too abruptly. Write your entry, then walk away from it and re-read it the next day--and the tweaking it needs will be crystal clear.

So come on, start writing and please do enter this year's Write a DearReader Contest. Anyone can enter. Don't be shy if you aren't a writer. I started the contest thirteen years ago, especially for people who've never written. So give it a go this year. The who, what, where, why--and cash prizes can all be found here.

* Congratulations to Paula T. the winner of my Wacky Giveaway drawing for a Smiling Pumpkin Mug.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

Dear Reader Column 9-07-17

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

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

Dear Reader,

It was amazing, truly amazing! I never would've imagined that bubbles would make the front page of the Herald Tribune Sunday newspaper here in Sarasota. Billy Cox, a staff reporter stopped by my house, and said that one of the Herald Tribune readers called him about the Bubble Lady and the bubble machine that runs in front of her house every day. Billy wanted to do a story; I wasn't so sure. But he assured me that people needed some good news these days, some fun news, and bubbles always make people smile.

So in last Sunday's edition, the front page headline read, "The Smile Machine" and my picture and story underneath. All day long cars were driving by, slowing down in front of my driveway, a window rolled down and I'd hear, "Hello, Bubble Lady. Love you and loved the article." One car parked across my driveway, three women got out and asked if I'd pose in their selfie.

It was a reaffirming day, about what a difference a "smile machine" can make. I was very moved when I read one mother's comment online after the story...

"Suzanne, I am so grateful to get a glimpse into the life of the person that has brightened my heart on so many occasions. My son died in February after two years battling leukemia. He was nine. When he and his brother were quite small, we'd often play a game--we'd drive with the windows down, and hang bubble wands out into the breeze, counting how many strangers we could make smile. The first time I drove by your house and noticed the bubbles was about ten weeks after my boy died. You have no idea the sense of joy you brought to me. I didn't question where the bubbles came from, I just gave huge thanks for such a vivid memory. After sharing the experience, so many others told me about you, and your bubble house, and the joy you've brought to them, too. This is such a great kind of news story. A real piece of what makes Sarasota special. Thank you Herald Tribune, and thank you, Suzanne. I'm forever grateful to you."

If you'd like to read the article, click here.

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)
THE PLAGUE DIARIES by Ronlyn Domingue

(Fiction)
SURVIVING CYRIL by Ramsey Hootman

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

Dear Reader Column 9-06-17

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

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

Dear Reader,

Today's guest author not only writes a delightful column, she also is a testimonial to why you should enter this year's Write a DearReader Contest. So give it a go this year. The who, what, where, why--and cash prizes can all be found here.

Please welcome today's New York Times bestselling author Tosca Lee to the book club. She is giving away 10 copies of her latest novel, Firstborn to readers, so be sure to drop her a line. Email: [email protected]

Her book The Progeny is now in development for TV. A notorious night-owl, Tosca loves watching TV, eating bacon, playing video games and football with her kids, and sending cheesy texts to her husband. You can find Tosca at ToscaLee.com, on social media, or hanging around the snack table.

Thanks Tosca for visiting the book club...

The first time I ever blurted out the words "I want to write a novel" I was home for spring break my freshman year in college (this is 1989 for those counting). I was telling my dad how I loved that a great book was like a roller coaster with its ups and downs, twists and turns. And then I blurted it out: I want to write a novel.

That day, my dad made me a deal: he'd pay me what I would have made working as a bank teller that summer, if I spent the summer writing that novel and treated it like a job.

It was a no brainer. (I was a horrible bank teller!) So I set to research, gathered my notes and that summer I set to work.

Two days in, I thought, "Wow, this is really hard!" I had no clue what I was doing. But I wrote through it, powered by a dream of seeing my books on a shelf one day, of afternoons spent on the phone with my agent or editor.

The dream didn't go much further than that. Neither did that manuscript, which is in a crate somewhere in my basement like a skeleton.

28 years later as I finish my 11th to-be-published novel, the dream is different. I still want to build roller coasters, but the reason has changed. Because I've lost track of the readers who have told me, sometimes through tears, how important novels have been during trying times in their lives: during a difficult marriage, while caring for an ailing parent, in the midst of illness, recovery, or psychological challenges. When they couldn't work, felt alone, or otherwise simply needed to escape, if only an hour at a time.

That was me, once, struggling through my first marriage. Dealing with OCD and anxiety. Needing to slip into someone else's skin, if only for a while.

Today I don't consider myself a novelist so much as a purveyor of healthy escape--even if only from boredom. It's a job I am humbly thankful to every reader for, every single day. Because I do it with the belief that we read--and write--not just to set real life aside for a time, make sense of the world, or to have fun (a pursuit I take seriously) but to know, ultimately, that we are not alone.

You may not know me, you may not have read my books. But I'm thinking of you today, as I work at my desk. And I am grateful.

--Tosca Lee
Email: [email protected] say hello, and enter to win one of 10 copies of her latest release, Firstborn.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

Dear Reader Column 9-05-17

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

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

Dear Reader,

Someone always wins the giveaways at the book club. Be sure to enter today's wacky giveaway. And thanks so much for taking the time to write. Reading emails from readers makes my day. I really appreciate it.

"Hello Suzanne, thank you so much! I was the winner of the Children's Charade Game. My husband and I and our six grandkids (ages 2-10), have had so much fun playing the game. Even the younger ones can look at the picture and play. It has brought us lots of laughter. Our family enjoys playing games and this is a keeper! I love reading your column and have read quite a few of the books that have been suggested. I look forward to your emails every day. Thank you for all that you do for the book club! Thank you again for the game! Have a wonderful day. It is so good to read with friends."-- Kristal B.

"Oh Suzanne! Thank you ever so much for making me a winner! I love your wise words that you impart throughout the week in your emails. I feel like you are a good friend that I get to catch up with every day. What you do is a gift as much as the book I will receive. Thank you. And again, thank you!"-- Jennifer G. Technical Services Manager Rolling Hills Consolidated Library

"I love being a part of your book club. Not so much about the introduction of new titles, though as a book reviewer, I am an avid reader, but because of your column. I live in England but I still feel apart of your community. So thank you and keep going. Regards,"-- Francine P.

Giving is as much fun as receiving, so today I'm doing another giveaway. Enter today's Wacky Giveaway drawing for a Smiling Pumpkin Mug. It's open mouth is a perfect spot to hold your donut or biscotti. Click here to enter.

And be sure to enter this year's Write a DearReader Contest. Anyone can enter. Don't be shy if you aren't a writer. I started the contest thirteen years ago, especially for people who've never written. So give it a go this year. The who, what, where, why--and cash prizes can all be found here.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

***** AUTHORBUZZ *****

SURVIVING CYRIL (Fiction) by Nikki Hootman

When Robin Matheson's husband is killed in Afghanistan, her three-year-old latches on to her husband's best friend, Cyril--a
500-pound hacker who didn't even bother to attend the funeral. Cyril is obnoxious, but Robin is forced to acknowledge he's the one person who truly understands the magnitude of her loss. He also knows far more about her husband's death than he's been letting on.

Go to AUTHORBUZZ click on SURVIVING CYRIL to read more and to email author Nikki Hootman, you'll get a reply.

Dear Reader Column 9-04-17

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

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

Dear Reader,

In honor of Labor Day, I'm not laboring today. My column will return tomorrow.

But after you finish eating grilled hot dogs, burgers and brats, how about starting to work on your entry for this year's Write a DearReader Contest? Prizes, guidelines, how to enter and even last year's winning entries are here.

Enjoy your day.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

***** AUTHORBUZZ *****

SURVIVING CYRIL (Fiction) by Ramsey Hootman

When Robin Matheson's husband is killed in Afghanistan, her three-year-old latches on to her husband's best friend, Cyril--a
500-pound hacker who didn't even bother to attend the funeral. Cyril is obnoxious, but Robin is forced to acknowledge he's the one person who truly understands the magnitude of her loss. He also knows far more about her husband's death than he's been letting on.

Go to AUTHORBUZZ click on SURVIVING CYRIL to read more and to email author Ramsey Hootman, you'll get a reply.