Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column 05-17-18

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Dear Reader,

It's that time of year again. Love is in the air--literally.

Twenty-six years ago, when my husband and I moved from Madison, Wisconsin to Sarasota, Florida, bugs were one of my biggest concerns. I envisioned creepy crawlers that had grown to B-movie proportions, "The Killer-Bugs That Ate Sarasota."

But other than an alligator taking a dip in my neighbor's swimming pool, lizards scurrying back and forth across the sidewalk, and occasional black snakes (which are harmless), the two most annoying natives are invisible biting flies--appropriately called no-see-ums--and love bugs.

Twice a year it's mating season for love bugs. Thousands of females emerge from their larvae and are looking for an acceptable male suitor and when they find one, they latch on to each other in mid-air, but instead of rolling over and going to sleep afterwards, the two lovers fall to the ground in the heat of passion. Frequently they fall into the path of a moving vehicle. Splat, splat. (What a price to pay for love.)

My windshield, everybody else's windshield, and sometimes the entire front-end of every single car in Sarasota is covered with a sticky adhesive-like love bug mess. Superglue should be so strong. And the worst part is, if the aftermath doesn't get cleaned off immediately, the love bug leftovers will eat right through the paint on your car.

Yes, at this very moment love is in the air, hanging in the trees, attached to storefront windows, on my car, and inside of my car--because even love bugs appreciate a little backseat romance!

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 this title deserves your attention:

(Fiction)
NEVER BE ALONE by Paige Dearth

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

* ICE, by Anna Kavan, is this month's Penguin Classics book. Enjoy a great Classics book and enter-to-win a Penguin tote bag. Click here to start reading. 

Dear Reader Column 05-16-18

AUTHORBUZZ: Click here to discover new books,
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Dear Reader,

My adventure with flour weevils inspired Dorie, a reader at the book club, to share a her own weevil-weaving story from long ago...

"Suzanne, when my husband died suddenly, I was left with seven animals to care for, and a house to sell. There wasn't anything in the world that didn't happen within a short time period. One of them was the invasion of bugs. I had bought a 20lb bag of dog kibble and it was sitting in the closet. Little did I know that it was home to about 10 million weevils. I came home one day and there was a trail of them, leading from the closet, out the door of the room and down the hall. All that was missing was the music as they paraded thru the house.

I had to pack up everything in the house and seal things. I had put six of the pets in a boarding place and just kept my little cat with me. When the exterminator came, the cat got scared and ran down to the basement, climbed up into the rafters and didn't come out until midnight. No exterminating that day.

Next day, I moved the cat to my parents' house and then was told the exterminator had been fired, as he got drunk that night after he left my house. Finally, someone came. I felt like I had gone thru the plagues of the Bible. At the same time, my mother fell and broke her hip; my paycheck did not come because a mistake had been made, the car broke down and several other things happened. I happen to hate bugs so that really was the last straw. I'm not really sure how I survived, but ever since then, I keep almost everything a bug would like, in the frig or the freezer. They may still be there, but I can't see them because they are frozen to death." -- Dorie

* Congratulations to Gene R., the winner of the colorful silicone baking cups.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

* ICE, by Anna Kavan, is this month's Penguin Classics book. Enjoy a great Classics book and enter-to-win a Penguin tote bag. Click here to start reading. 

Dear Reader Column 05-15-18

AUTHORBUZZ: Click here to discover new books,
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Dear Reader,

Today's guest author, Kathey Batey, is the creator of Divorce Support Anonymous and author of the Suddenly Single  series--book, workbook and journal. Kathey is a domestic mediator, and support group leader in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Kathey has five copies of Suddenly Single to giveaway to readers. To enter the drawing, email: Kathey.batey.3@gmail.com

Please welcome Kathey Batey...

The Rest of the Story

I use a lifeline illustration for the support groups I lead. The lifeline is the horizontal line which shows the beginning and the end, birth to death. It shows our childhood, our marriage and then for the groups I work with, there is a big dark splotch indicating divorce. It hurts to see it, we all grimace. But it is used to illustrate that beautiful unknown in the rest of the lifeline, the rest of your story.

That empty, not yet lived space on the lifeline is as frightening as it is beautiful. What's there? What could be there? What good decisions would get me there and make it so when the end comes, I would look back and say, "I have no regrets?" There are no scars there, there are no sins, no bad decisions, regrets, remorse or pain.

There is an openness to endless possibilities, dreams and life purposes found, no matter what the past has held. The lifeline is an honest look at your life to determine what you want... the rest of your story. How do finish the story purposefully with love, relationships and laughter? You look at where you want this life story to end.

An old woman appears in the doorway, white hair, shoulders bent fragile hands. She looks oddly familiar, and you think, 'Do I know her and I just can't remember?' As she approaches, you get this sense you do know her. She lifts her hands to take your hands and she squeezes them firmly. You feel a surprising instant connection. She leads you to the couch beside her, all the while watching her slow, short steps.

She lifts her head, leans forward, and looks directly into your eyes. Suddenly you feel the hair on the back of your neck stand up. By some strange supernatural phenomenon, you are staring at yourself at the end of your life. You have indeed grown old, and understand for the first time your mortality.

She holds your hand, stroking it as she speaks, "What do you want me to feel at this point of life?" She asked looking deeply into my eyes. Then she paused, looked down and then asked me the questions that would guide me the rest of my life. "What should I be the most proud of? What are you doing now to bring peace for yourself when you get here? Whom did I truly touch in my life? Whom did I love with all my heart? Who carries my message from here? How does my life stand with God now?"

-- Kathey Batey

Email Kathey, say 'hello' and you'll be entered in her drawing for a copy of her book, Suddenly Single. As always, please include your shipping information, it makes it so much easier for our guest authors if you include it in your entry email.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

* ICE, by Anna Kavan, is this month's Penguin Classics book. Enjoy a great Classics book and enter-to-win a Penguin tote bag. Click here to start reading. 

Dear Reader Column 05-14-18

AUTHORBUZZ: Click here to discover new books,
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Dear Reader,

A story with a happy ending and photos that will make you smile. It's a great way to start a Monday.

There was a tall chair next to a breakfast counter in the kitchen. Hadley, my five-year-old granddaughter, was inspired in her make-believe game, to be a superhero character, and she jumped off the chair, but miscalculated her landing and whack! She hit her head on the tile floor.

Hadley's vision was blurry, so her mom and dad loaded her in the car and headed for the ER. But on the way there, suddenly Hadley didn't recognize Mom and Dad, so when they saw Fire Station 12 on the way, they stopped and the paramedics put Hadley in an ambulance and rushed her to meet a helicopter which flew her to All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida.

It's a story with a very happy ending. Even the doctors were surprised the "superhero" didn't have a concussion, and soon Hadley was back to normal.

How do you say "Thank you" to folks who helped you in an emergency? In our family, we bake homemade chocolate chip cookies. Hadley, my husband and I delivered six dozen to Fire Station 12.

To see photos of our visit to Fire Station 12, click here.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

** AUTHORBUZZ **

NEVER BE ALONE by (Fiction) Paige Dearth

Young Joon's parents died tragically leaving her an orphan. Her new foster mother and brother subject her to cruel brutality until Joon realizes that homelessness is her only option. On the streets, Joon finds comfort with other homeless teenagers. However, there is a price to pay for safety on the streets. Joon's relentless determination eventually gives her a place in the world and the ability to make a difference.

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on NEVER BE ALONE to read more and to email author Paige Dearth, you'll get a reply.

* ICE, by Anna Kavan, is this month's Penguin Classics book. Enjoy a great Classics book and enter-to-win a Penguin tote bag. Click here to start reading. 

Dear Reader Column 05-11-18

KIDSBUZZ: Click here to discover new books,
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Dear Reader,

Mother's Day is Sunday and for most people it's an opportunity to tell their mother how much they love and appreciate her. But for some people the holiday creates a dilemma. Because love isn't always a guarantee between a mother and a daughter, at least it wasn't for my mother and me. We cared for each other, but I think it was more out of a sense of duty.

When my mother was still alive and Mother's Day was approaching, it was very difficult when I found myself standing in front of rows of greeting cards, agonizing over which Mother's Day card to buy. I couldn't bring myself to give my mother a card thanking her for her love and affection, or for how special she made me feel. But I also didn't want to send a generic "Happy Day" card that might suggest how I really felt about our relationship. I guess a daughter always holds out hope--who knows, maybe it was that way for my mother, too.

My mother's been gone for a number of years, yet still every Mother's Day since her passing, I wish we could try again.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

KIDS BUZZ: How do these blocks stack up? Gentle math concepts go down easy in CRASH! BOOM!: A MATH TALE, a fun and accessible story about math concepts as well as the ups and downs of creating something new and celebrating the joy and pride of success. For kids ages 2-5 by bestselling and award-winning Robie H. Harris. For a chance to win a free copy and learn more, see KIDSBUZZ.

* ICE, by Anna Kavan, is this month's Penguin Classics book. Enjoy a great Classics book and enter-to-win a Penguin tote bag. Click here to start reading. 

Dear Reader Column 05-10-18

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

Dear Reader,

When I was a kid, my mother believed in freezing clothes before they were ironed. Pillowcases, shirts, pants, underpants, they all needed to be pressed. So I was curious and last week I asked readers, "Do you still iron some of your clothes? Or have you donated your ironing board in favor of using the wrinkle release sprays?"

Emails from Readers: Iron, wrinkle release and some childhood memories.

"I am one of the few people I know that still irons. I have a full size ironing board and two small table top models. I actually have a third small one that is for my craft room. I have even been known to use starch! Ironing was one of my Saturday morning chores too, and I must have been good at it because my first paying job was at a dry cleaners. I find ironing relaxing and love seeing my clothes all nice and crisp. I don't want to make you jealous or anything, but I have even shown my husband how to iron a shirt in a pinch. I look forward to reading your columns each morning and have gotten so many books to put on my wish list! Thanks for getting my day going." -- Anne W.

"When I was first married I continued the practice I learned from my mother, freeze the clothes then iron them. However, as a young mother with a full-time job I sometimes put off that ironing until one day my husband opened the freezer and seeing a bag of clothes, said, 'Either iron them or eat them.' With that background you can imagine how badly wrinkled clothes, especially on other people in a professional setting, still annoy me. I would never let my family or myself out the door with wrinkles, even in our casual clothes. I still iron a few clothes, but I must admit my laziness has nudged me toward letting most slip through without seeing the iron. I'd rather be reading than ironing." -- Jan F.

"I only buy wash n' wear and there are no wrinkles there. The wrinkles I wish I could displace, are the ones that I have upon my face!" -- Dorie F.

"I would love to get rid of my ironing board! But I've tried those wrinkle-release sprays. They don't work. I try to buy only clothes that do not require ironing. But sometimes that's not possible. So I still have to iron now and then, especially in the summer, with so much cotton." -- Beth V.

"My father was a military man and my mother ironed everything--underwear included. Never heard of the freezer thing though. I was raised in the polyester 70's and then onto punk 80's. So I've been pretty anti-ironing. If I didn't sew I don't know that I would own an iron. That's all I ever use it for. I do keep yarn in the freezer sometimes." -- Heidi K.

"OMG Suzanne you are too funny. You just brought back some memories. As a kid I don't think my mother ever took the ironing board down that weighed a ton. She ironed everything every day even my father's underwear. She still irons but only a few things. As for me I threw out the ironing board and iron a few years ago. Give me that wrinkle release all of the time. I always hated ironing. Thanks for the smiles." -- Cheryl G.

"I still iron my clothes. I hate wrinkles and I don't think the sprays do as good of a job as a real iron does. I do not iron my sheets; however, I do iron my tablecloths, placemats, and napkins. I have my grandmother's wooden ironing board hanging on the wall in my dining room along with a collection of antique irons. I am glad I don't have to put coal in an iron to use it!" --Janet K.

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

Happy ironing,

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

* ICE, by Anna Kavan, is this month's Penguin Classics book. Enjoy a great Classics book and enter-to-win a Penguin tote bag. Click here to start reading. 

Dear Reader Column 05-09-18

KIDSBUZZ: Click here to discover new books,
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Dear Reader,

Please welcome Katherine Center to the book club. Katherine is the author of six bittersweet comic novels--including her newest, How to Walk Away and The Lost Husband that was recently optioned for a movie. Katherine holds degrees from Vassar College and the University of Houston's Creative Writing Program, and she lives in Texas with her husband and two sweet children.

Katherine loves to hear from readers. You can reach her at: Katherine@katherinecenter.com

When you say hello, she will also enter you in her giveaway. She had three copies of How to Walk Away for book club readers.

Katherine Center writes...

When my daughter was in the second grade, she had a bad day. I think a kid pushed her down in gym class, though the details of what happened, exactly, have faded for me. What I do remember is that my husband, who was a teacher at the same school, heard about it through the teacher grapevine, and sent an email to warn me before carpool.

"Rough day for our little critter," he wrote. "Maybe bring a treat to carpool?"

So I did. I brought her a mini-cupcake with pink icing and sprinkles. "There are mean kids in the world," I intended to say to her when I picked up my weeping child in the carpool line, "but there are also cupcakes."

But I never got a chance to say that. When I got to carpool, she wasn't weeping. She came skipping out of her classroom, cheery as ever.

Driving home, I asked her about it. I said, "I heard from Dad that you had a bad day."

Her mouth was full of cupcake. She frowned for a second like she'd forgotten. Then she remembered and nodded. "Oh. Yeah."

"Are you okay?" I asked.

She nodded again.

"You seem fine about it," I said, marveling.

One last nod, and then she finished off the cupcake.

"It's great that you're fine," I said. It was almost time to drop the subject. If she was okay now, I didn't want to make her un-okay. I decided to give her one more shot to talk about it if she needed to, and then let it go. "I just think if I'd had a day like that," I said, "I might be upset."

That's when she took a deep, wise, older-than- her-years breath, met my eyes in the rearview mirror and spoke words that I will never forget. She said, "Life is going to knock you down over and over. And the best thing you can do is learn to get back up."

Boom.

Out of the mouths of babes.

I wound up stealing that entire quote and putting it in the novel I was writing at the time. And then I realized it was the theme of the novel. And then I realized it might even possibly be the theme of my entire life.

Because that really is what I write about--and what I've been writing about all along: How we get back up. How we put ourselves back together. How we struggle, and cope, and find ways to savor the joys in life, even despite all the hardship. How we crack jokes, even when our hearts are breaking. How the bad things make the good things that much more important.

Because there are mean people, yes, always.

But there really are also cupcakes.

--Katherine Center

Win a copy of "How to Walk Away." Email Katherine to be entered in the drawing: Katherine@katherinecenter.com

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

KIDS BUZZ: How do these blocks stack up? Gentle math concepts go down easy in CRASH! BOOM!: A MATH TALE, a fun and accessible story about math concepts as well as the ups and downs of creating something new and celebrating the joy and pride of success. For kids ages 2-5 by bestselling and award-winning Robie H. Harris. For a chance to win a free copy and learn more, see KIDSBUZZ.

* ICE, by Anna Kavan, is this month's Penguin Classics book. Enjoy a great Classics book and enter-to-win a Penguin tote bag. Click here to start reading. 

Dear Reader Column 05-08-18

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

Dear Reader,

It's time for the May Penguin Classic. Click on the link to sample this month's timeless novel, ICE, by Anna Kavan. Click here to start reading. Don't forget to enter the drawing for a free Penguin tote bag.

Yesterday I shared my 'bugs in the batter' column, one of my all-time most popular pieces. Even after the buggy experience, this recipe is still one of my favorites because the batter keeps in the refrigerator for up to four weeks, so I can bake a few muffins every morning. Sometimes I add fresh blueberries--they are very good.

DOLLY MADISON MUFFINS

Mix together in large bowl:

4 eggs, beaten
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
5 teaspoons baking soda

Then add these two ingredients alternately:
5 cups flour
1 quart buttermilk

Then add 6 cups Raisin Bran cereal--the cheapest is okay.

Mix all the ingredients together. Let batter stand in refrigerator at least 24 hours before baking.

Bake 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven. Bake in cupcake pans.

Batter keeps for weeks in refrigerator. Use it as you need it.

* Don't forget to enter the drawing for a set of colorful silicone muffin cups, that you can use to make bug-less muffins, click here.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

* ICE, by Anna Kavan, is this month's Penguin Classics book. Enjoy a great Classics book and enter-to-win a Penguin tote bag. Click here to start reading.

Dear Reader Column 05-07-18

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

Dear Reader,

I haven't taken a poll, but it must be one of my most popular columns: "Bugs in Flour." If you type that phrase into Google, like people do every month, my old column from November 2004 still shows up on the list.

If you have bugs in your flour, or if you just need a good laugh, enjoy...

A sale isn't really a sale in Florida if the "Buy-one-get-one-free" is for flour or cereal. Not unless you're going to use a lot of it soon--real soon. I never had this pantry pest problem when I lived in Wisconsin, but if wheat products sit around in Florida for too long--even if they're in a Ziplock bag or a plastic container sealed tightly with a lid--little itty, bitty, black bugs hitchhike their way in and set up housekeeping.

Bran flakes with raisins seem to be one of their favorites--at least at my house. (I suppose even bugs have heard about the benefits of eating bran and staying "regular.")

Bran flakes is a staple in my husband's diet, too. He eats at least four bowls every day, and he doesn't like the idea of sharing them with insects--so we only buy small quantities. It had been months since I'd seen a flour weevil, but guess who showed up the other day when I was mixing up my muffin recipe?

I measured the sugar, eggs, cinnamon, flour, buttermilk and then stirred in the rest of the ingredients--including the bran flake cereal. A couple of final swirls with the spoon, and then I saw it--a bug--scurrying along the counter beside my mixing bowl. Oh no! There was another one, and another one, and when I looked down to survey the situation, there were bugs crawling up out of my muffin batter. Gross!

The bugs were frantic--running for their lives. It was a flour weevil 911 alert! The black critters were panicked, desperately trying to scale the inside wall of my mixing bowl, stopping periodically to shake the muffin batter off of their legs. (That buttermilk is sticky stuff.)

The batter was like quicksand, but the weevils were organizing, linking their little legs like a chain to safety from deep in the middle of the bowl. Some of them had even broken out the emergency landing equipment, their nose plugs and swim caps keeping them dry, while they backstroked to safety. Surely I was in the middle of a horror novel.

Obviously I had to throw the batter out, but I must admit that for a split second a couple of options ran through my frazzled mind: They're going to get baked at 350 degrees, so couldn't I just consider them protein? And don't people regularly eat things like this on reality television shows?

But I quickly came back to the real world, tossed the batter and the bowl--by now it had too many memories--and headed for the grocery store.

Of course I have a giveaway, but no worries, it's bug-free! Enter to win a set of colorful silicone muffin cups--that you can use to make bug-less muffins, click here.

Tomorrow I will share the recipe for the muffins I was trying to bake when the mayhem ensured. It's really very good!

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

* ICE, by Anna Kavan, is this month's Penguin Classics book. Enjoy a great Classics book and enter-to-win a Penguin tote bag. Click here to start reading and enter to win.

Dear Reader Column 05-04-18

AUTHORBUZZ: Click here to discover new books,
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Dear Reader,

What a great idea! I'm so excited when inspiration strikes. But when an idea for a column I'd like to write pops into my head, if I don't immediately jot it down, the idea gets lost in my "never-never."

There's a lot of super-duper ideas (I've always wanted to use the word super-duper in a column) tucked away in the never-never place in my mind. Unfortunately I rarely figure out the never-never combination, so my solution has been to carry a small notebook with me wherever I go.

But alas I've discovered that sometimes one solution leads to needing another solution. My house is filled with notebooks, but I can't remember where I put them. I do remember thinking as I tucked them away, 'This is a great place to store them. For sure I'll remember where they are.'

While I'm looking, let me share some ideas for columns I voiced into the 'Notes' section of my phone...

'Why did we stop doing this?' Make a list of things my husband and I used to enjoy doing, but who knows why we stopped.

We live in Sarasota, Florida. As my husband and I were driving over the Ringling Causeway Bridge, he commented, "People pay to come here on vacation. We should be a 'tourist' for a week. When's the last time we went to Siesta Key Beach?"

One of the first questions I used to ask someone when I met them was, "What do you do for a living?" But thinking about it the other day I realized when people reach a certain age, especially if they're retired, they don't even ask, "What was your profession 'before' you retired?" Who cares?

Double-dog-dare you. It's another word I love and I've always wanted to use in a column.

Things I think about in the middle of the night, that keep me from sleeping.

Be careful who you share your good news with. Some people feel the good stuff in life is limited. So they find it hard to be happy when someone else is celebrating. But there is plenty of good stuff for everyone. The supply isn't limited. In fact, I believe celebrating in someone else's good fortune, opens the door to my own.

I was inspired when Margarette, my hairdresser, told me she offered to go to a client's home (an 89-year-old woman) to do her hair, because it was getting difficult for the client to get to the salon. "After all we should help each other," my hairdresser said. And she's right.

The key to a deeper, healthier life, isn't knowing the meaning of life, it's building meaning into your life. (Which made me question myself. What brings meaning to my life?)

Being of service to others. It's a corny phrase in this day and age. Sounds like a left-out commandment. But service, making other people feel special, it's what I love doing. It's who I am. It's where I shine. The little niceties I do for others, they feed my soul. It's my assignment here on earth--to do the little things. Things that people could do without, but the little things, they change the way people feel.

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

Warmest regards,

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com