Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column 10-17-18

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

Book club readers were inspired, by recent columns, to tell their stories....

"Suzanne, I volunteer at one of our local hospitals, knitting baby hats. I only go into the office once a month to drop off the hats. Today, I walked in just before the office closed. It was a rare occasion when many of the day volunteers were getting ready to leave and the evening volunteers were gathered together at the same time. When I walked in, I heard the tail end of a conversation, '. . . but I will wear a wrinkled blouse!' I said 'Are you sharing ironing war stories?' They asked 'What is the most unusual thing I iron faithfully?' I didn't have to even think about it, as I iron my husband's cotton boxers every week. He will even wait by the ironing board and slip on a pair warm off the iron! I didn't get to hear any of their answers because they erupted into laughter and said that my story won hands down. As I was leaving, I got to thinking about this encounter and I am worried that next spring at our volunteer banquet, I won't be recognized for the number of baby hats I knitted this year, but, my face will appear on the overhead with 'She irons her husband's boxer shorts, as he waits by the iron board.' Oh well, I have about five months for them to forget, or prepare my husband. Happy ironing and reading! You delight me everyday with your musings!" -- Leslie R

"Suzanne, your 'undies' column was funny, but I bet I can top it...

I'm in my 50s now, but I still remember a day back in eighth grade when I went to Catholic school, and my class was walking across the school parking lot, to go to a funeral mass for a classmate's family member--when OOPS! What do you think decided to release its grip of static electricity and fall out the bottom of my uniform skirt? Yup, you guessed it. A nice, bright, white pair of undies fresh from the laundry. I don't think I've ever grabbed something up and shoved it in my pocket so quickly in my life. There was some snickering [from the other kids], but under the somber circumstances it was kept low key, thankfully. Still it was pretty mortifying at the time--now it's pretty funny. (Well, not the funeral mass part. I'm so glad it didn't happen then. Yikes!) Thanks for my laugh of the day!" -- Kim S.

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

Warmest regards,

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

Dear Reader Column 10-16-18

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

Today's guest, USA Today bestselling author, Nancy Naigle writes small-town love stories and women's fiction. In 2018 two of her novels, Christmas Joy and Hope at Christmas, became Hallmark Original Movies.

Nancy devotes her time to writing, horseback riding, and the occasional spa day with friends. A native of Virginia Beach, she now calls North Carolina home. Her latest novel, Dear Santa, releases today. A holiday romance, where the owner of a quaint Christmas shop, in a reclaimed lighthouse on the coast, is fighting to keep her business alive when big, bad Christmas Galore moves into town, and is shaking up more than her business. The initial attraction is hard to deny, but it's going to take some special Christmas magic to make these two see things in a new light.

Please welcome author Nancy Naigle. Drop her a line and say hello. Nancy loves to hear from readers. Email nancy@nancynaigle.com

Credit: @thehallremark on Instagram

Hey y'all. Nancy Naigle here from the beautiful state of North Carolina. Fall is my favorite time of year from a weather standpoint, but boy if it isn't the craziest month of to-do's vying for attention!

I recently saw a picture of a snowman made of two pumpkins on the bottom and a jack-o'-lantern as the head. He was wearing a Santa hat.

The only thing that would make that picture more perfect would be a pile of candy wrappers scattered at the bottom, because I'm pretty sure I'm not the only reader with a stash of the "good candy" already open in a drawer--in September--safe from everyone but me. Research shows the average family spends $47 on candy for Halloween. That has to equate to at least one extra trip back to the store. Two, maybe? The last of which has to be the less appealing stuff so it won't disappear again. Right?

And if teensy candy bars, candy corn, and sweet tarts aren't making us more hyper than normal, there's the Halloween pumpkin and costume decisions. Something innovative, warm enough to not have to wear a coat, but who wants to be cold? Suddenly we realize it isn't even sweater weather consistently except for football Friday's and Halloween lands on a Wednesday this year. It'll be dark so early. Those short days are torture.

Oh, but wait, did you see the post? Mmmhmmm, the one about ## shopping days left? Some people have practically finished their shopping, while my gift list is still rather blank. (gulp) I haven't even planned my Thanksgiving menu yet, and I auto-clicked on three new Christmas book releases this week because this is when they come out. I need to read!

Priorities, people!

And then the Hallmark Countdown to Christmas advertisement comes on. It's beginning! Hooray. Oh no? Something orange is reflecting on the screen, only to notice the leaves have changed and I didn't even notice. When did that happen? Probably while I was at the store buying more candy.

Time is flying by because October has become an interesting blend of Summer-Fall-Thanksgiving-Christmas-Y'all all mushed together at the ratio of 4:1. I'm already behind! You too? I knew we were kindred spirits.

Here's some advice. Make a little "me time" every single day. There's time. Make it happen. You'll recoup that fifteen or thirty minutes triple-fold. Trust me.

If you're not able to get out and see the beauty happening near your home, then sign up to receive pretty fall foliage snapshots via email in the Fall Color Report from Asheville, NC to get your fix.

Go ahead and promise yourself a fifteen-minute sanity check each day. Because by-golly we're all going to need it.

Care to share your plans, adventures, crafts or advice to get it all done? I'd love to hear all about it at nancy@nancynaigle.com. *scoots the bowl of Halloween candy. Take three. They're small.

--Nancy Naigle
nancy@nancynaigle.com

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

 Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

 

Dear Reader Column 10-15-18

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

(Suzanne is reading the Write a DearReader Contest entries. Today's column is one of her most memorable embarrassing moments. Enjoy.)

"You can't write about that," my husband told me after yesterday's embarrassing situation at the doctor. But I assured him I couldn't possibly be the first woman who'd reached for her wallet, but instead grabbed a hold of her underwear.

Frequently my book bag doubles as a purse. Big and roomy, it's perfect for carrying books and writing journals, but not so user-friendly when I'm trying to find my itty-bitty wallet, so I can pay my insurance co-pay. It's a black hole inside my book bag. When I need something I just dive in and start feeling around. Yesterday I realized I was "feeling" for a wallet, but when this silky material met up with my fingertips, curiosity got the best of me and my underwear was half out of the bag before I realized what was happening.

Whoops, quickly stuff that "find" back in! Probably not something I needed to share with the receptionist. Granted they were nice undies, actually one of my best pair. But to my knowledge the doctor didn't work on a barter system and anyway, I don't think she and I even wear the same size. So I kept digging for my wallet, eventually finished my transaction, then returned to my seat in the waiting room and started sorting through my memory bank--how the heck did my underwear end up in my book bag?

Underwear, book bag? Underwear, book bag? Oh, now I remembered. When I decided to sort my underwear drawer the other day--out with the old, go shopping for new, I needed a place to temporarily put the "keepers," ah, there's always a logical reason.

Adrenaline still pumping, my eyes darted around the waiting room. 'If these people only knew I was carrying an extra pair.' A harmless, exciting flirt with possible disaster for this 64-year-old woman...so I kept packing my extra undies the rest of the day.

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

* Congratulations to the winner of the animal note cards, Terry B.

 Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

** AUTHORBUZZ **

INKED NIGHTS (Fiction) by Carrie Ann Ryan

This book was far different than what I'd thought it would be. When I first met Derek back in 2014 in the first of the Montgomery Ink series, I thought I knew his past. It turns out, my own life found itself mirroring that story far too much and I changed what Derek had once been into who he needed to be for myself and for him. Yet what Olivia and Derek share is exactly what I needed. And what I think Montgomery Ink needed.

Go to: AUTHORBUZZ click on INKED NIGHTS to read more and to email author Carrie Ann Ryan, you'll get a reply.

Dear Reader Column 10-12-18

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

My husband and I stopped going to the movie theater because we always seemed to get stuck sitting next to talkers, but we've finally found a partial solution. Now we climb up to the very back row of the theater. When we sit there the odds are usually more in our favor of experiencing a noise-free movie. But after our last movie outing, I'm beginning to think that only the "strange" people sit in the very back row. (I know, I'm sitting there now too, so what does that say about me?)

My husband and I had the back row to ourselves except for one person way, way, down at the other end--until "he" came in.

He was headed our way carrying a huge pillow covered with a white pillowcase and I thought to myself, "there's a strange one," but then I figured he probably had a bad back--so great for him. Here's a guy who's so self-confident that he can carry a queen sized bed pillow with him to the movies.

Wrong. He was a strange one all right. Before this guy sat down--only two seats away from me--he just stood there, holding this huge pillowcase, surveying the theatre with a look in his eyes that was making me very uncomfortable.

What was really in that pillowcase? I was dying to ask and I almost did, but the next thing I knew it was show-and-tell-time. First he pulled out the queen sized bed pillow, then a jacket and the last item was a pair of industrial looking gray and red headphones, the kind you see airport workers wearing outdoors.

When he finally sat down, he put the pillow behind his back, the headphones on his head, and then started rummaging through the zippered pockets of his jacket, pulling out an assortment of snacks.

I felt a little more at ease after seeing what was in the pillowcase, but now my biggest problem was trying not to laugh. This guy looked ridiculous in the huge headphones. (These were not something special for someone who was hard of hearing--they were airport noise-reduction headphones.) It was clear that this was his solution to people talking at the movies. I applaud him for his creativity, but really--I think his headphones "were" the cause of people talking at the movie. I grabbed my paper and pencil out of my purse, I knew I'd be telling you about this one.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

Dear Reader Column 10-11-18

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

I spent this past Saturday watching old movies and shredding with my new shredder. Eighteen pieces of paper is the maximum my shredder can chew up in one bite and I had four big boxes of paper that needed to be destroyed. I'm usually a "shred-as-I-go girl," but three months ago when I didn't open a piece of direct mail from a Catholic supply store--just slid it into the shredder--instantly I heard a screeching metal grinding sound and my shredder hasn't moved one tooth since. The free St. Joseph medal tucked away inside the direct mail piece brought my shredder to its knees.

Let me back up a bit. Truthfully I have no idea which patron saint medal was inside. (Now I know how rumors get started.) I'm not of the Catholic faith, but I guess I've been referring to it as a St. Joseph medal because he's the Saint I'm the most familiar with. Years ago my husband and I decided to move to Florida even though we hadn't sold our home in Wisconsin and when there was still no sale after one year (a new development had been built nearby which hindered selling) the real estate agent called and announced it was time to "Bury the Saint!"

Clueless, everyone but me seemed to be aware of the practice of tipping a St. Joseph statue upside down and burying him in the backyard of a house you're trying to sell. So tip and bury into the ground St. Joseph went, and a couple of months later I did sell the house. Not to take any credit away from St. Joseph, but I also did some extra fix-ups on the house, too.

I've never asked a realtor but I do wonder, 'Why they don't just plant St. Joseph in the back yard immediately after they plant the For Sale sign in the front?' But then again, especially in today's housing market, I imagine St. Joseph must be exhausted so anyone with social graces would only call on him in an emergency.

* Congratulations to Deborah D., the winner of the hilarious black and white cow's head mask.

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 deserve your attention:

(Fiction)
FIVE YEARS GONE by Marie Force

(Fiction)
FROMAGE A TROIS by Victoria Brownlee

(NonFiction)
SHE READ TO US IN THE LATE AFTERNOONS by Kathleen Hill

(Fiction)
LOVE SINCERELY YOURS and by Meghan Quinn and Sara Ney

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

Dear Reader Column 10-10-18

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

There was a blue gift bag sitting at the end of my driveway, right next to the bubble machine I turn on every day. Inside the bag was a huge bottle of premium bubbles (the really good kind), a greeting card with a Superman logo peeking through the front of it, and a gift card (for buying bubbles). Inside the Superman themed card was this note...

"People like you, who naturally go above and beyond, make this world a better place for all of us. Thank You So Much--For All the Bubbles! -- Bob the Biker"

Little things make the biggest difference in life. Maybe not big right away, because sometimes a little thing needs time to travel from one person to the next. But a simple, little "Thank you," from one person to another is all it takes, and soon those grateful words are traveling down the road, around the corner, and over to the next town, one person to another, with no end in sight.

Thank you notes are words of inspiration that I tuck away to re-visit on a day I need reassurance that I'm on the right path, or when I'm sending a thank you note to someone and I need help finding words to say to express my feelings. When I reread thank you notes they take me back to the child-like feelings of the joy and fun I felt the first time around. Oh, if we could only all say thank you with the unedited thoughts and words of a child.

A handwritten, homemade card is one of my keepsakes...

"Hello, my name is Atussa. I just want to thank you for making me happy every time I pass by your house. I just wanted to thank you because you make me very happy. I love how you make people happy. We bought a big bottle of bubbles for you as a present. I hope you have fun with the bubbles. Have a happy bubble life. From, Atussa"

Say thanks or encourage someone, "just because." Enter to win delightfully cute animal note cards. They're one of my favorites.

** Who are the winners of this year's Write a DearReader Contest? I don't know yet, I'm still reading entries. The winners will be announced the week of November 5th. Thank you to everyone who entered.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

** AUTHORBUZZ **

SHE READ TO US IN THE LATE AFTERNOONS: A Life in Novels (NonFiction) by Kathleen Hill

Have you ever found that a memory is all bound up with a novel you were reading at the time? That's how it was for me when I remembered a seventh grade music class and a boy whose life would soon be interrupted by tragedy. My memoir is about moments like these when novels were so mixed up with 'real life' I could scarcely separate them. Maybe you, a reader, have memories like these yourself.

Go to: AUTHORBUZZ click on SHE READ TO US IN THE LATE AFTERNOONS to read more and to email author Kathleen Hill, you'll get a reply.

Dear Reader Column 10-09-18

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

Dear Reader,

By day Shontell Brewer works as a classroom teacher, and on her weekends she's a spokeswoman and advocate for the steadily growing anti-trafficking movement in the nation. A wife for over twenty years, Shontell and her husband are raising five kids and together the family runs a monthly outreach in their home--a come as you are dinner called Taco Tuesday. Shontell encourages parents to never attempt this parenting thing alone. Be real and avoid getting caught up in the comparison game of parenting.

"Sometimes we get caught up in how we appear to be mothering. From experience, we know that what we see is not always what is actually happening. We develop a mold we think the world deems acceptable, and we try to force our family into it. We go through an awful lot to appear upstanding, and probably not blatantly but somewhere deep inside, we hope people notice," (Missionary Mom, 2018).

A blogger at 'Nonsense At Its Finest' Shontell's new book is titled Missionary Mom and she's giving five copies away to readers. Email: ShontellBrewer@Gmail.com

Please welcome author Shontell Brewer...

I spent ten minutes at the bottom of my driveway talking to the guy laying cement for my neighbor. Turns out we went to college together. He's a dad to two boys and works with cement. I'm a mama to five; I homeschool and raise kids who might one day change the world. We caught up with each other with my youngest daughter at my knee. She was nearly three with her wild baby curls swaying in the wind and her thumb in her mouth.

People often have a hard time defining irony, but I think this story can help. As we wrapped up the successes we were experiencing in our lives, I noticed a fuzzy dirt colored orb floating toward our small crowd of three. It bobbed and weaved for a minute, and although it doesn't seem to make sense, this frizzy flying creature seemed to stutter toward us weaving left and right before it landed right atop my three-year-old's head. It appeared to be a bird, but only sort of. I mean, it probably started as a bird and was now to a level of deranged that it was hard to tell.

Here is where the irony sets in. We ran away. Both of us. My college friend and I both hit the pavement as this bird attempted what can only be described as flying away with my tiny child. She never stopped sucking her thumb, probably because, since I was running away, it was her last source of comfort. She screamed through her thumb, her eyes bulging-judging me harshly for semi-bragging about my parenting in one minute and then basically securing award for worst parent the next. Irony.

I came back for her eventually. After my responsible friend ran back to her and shooed the bird away pulling her to safety. I remembered I was her mother and grabbed her into my arms to comfort her. Time must have moved very slowly for her in that moment, because she acted as if weeks had passed since a bird attempted to abscond with her in his tiny talons. She leaned into my shoulder and mumbled, "Remember when a bird landed on my head and you ran away and didn't save me?" I do. I do remember that. She's gone on to repeat this question a hundred times, at least ten of those throughout that same day.

To my defense, parenting is a process. There is no manual, and I am not sure what it would say about birds anyway.

-- Shontell Brewer

Email Shontell, say "Hello" and when you do, you'll automatically be entered to win a copy of her parenting book, Missionary Mom. Email: ShontellBrewer@Gmail.com

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

** AUTHORBUZZ **

FROMAGE A TROIS (Fiction) by Victoria Brownlee

Join Ella, who, in a haze of heartbreak after splitting up with the man she thought she was going to marry, makes the only decision that seems rational and buys a one-way ticket to Paris. Follow along as she struggles to grasp the nuances of French culture and finds herself caught in a love triangle with two men who inhabit opposite ends of the Paris food scene, getting wined and dined by one, and embarking on a challenge to try every type of French fromage with the other.

Go to: AUTHORBUZZ click on FROMAGE A TROIS to read more and to email author Victoria Brownlee, you'll get a reply.

Dear Reader Column 10-08-18

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

Dear Reader,

Let's get right to it because I'm busy reading entries for this year's Write A DearReader Contest. Are you busy writing? Today is the absolute, last day, deadline for you to send me your entry. Midnight is the magic hour (in whatever time zone you're in). Here's the skinny on the rules, and cash prizes....click here.

Today's also the last day to enter my fun Halloween inspired giveaway, a hilarious cow's head mask, in black and white. (It covers your entire head.) My daughter bought it for my husband, as a joke gift on his birthday, and now he wants to share the joke with someone else--just in time for Halloween. To enter the giveaway, click here.

I'm waiting to read your entry in my 14th Annual Write a DearReader Contest. You can do it!

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

Warmest regards,

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

** AUTHORBUZZ **

FIVE YEARS GONE (Fiction) by Marie Force

I'm so excited to tell you about my new standalone contemporary romance. About eighteen months ago, the idea for this book hit me in a tidal wave of thoughts--a man deployed to hunt down the world's most wanted terrorist, the girlfriend he left behind--five long years ago. I wanted to write his girlfriend, Ava's story, how she decides she can't wait any longer, and what happens when she decides to start over and take another chance on love.

Go to: AUTHORBUZZ click on FIVE YEARS GONE to read more and to email author Marie Force, you'll get a reply.

Dear Reader Column 10-05-18

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,

Be sure to enter today's fun giveaway. Thanks for taking the time to email. I really do love hearing from readers.

Reader Emails...

"Suzanne, I was working in my yard this afternoon when the mail lady delivered our mail. She took a box to the front porch and bounced over to me to say I had gotten a package in the mail. I thought, 'Oh, sure, my husband gets packages all the time, it is probably his.' Since we have unisex names, people get us confused for each other. Anyway, I was so shocked and surprised when I saw the package was for me! Then of course, I couldn't figure out what I would be getting from Amazon/ Whole Foods. I took it in the house and showed my husband I got a package, he asked if it was really addressed to me! Men...I can't wait to use the Microwave Egg Boiler and see just how easy the eggs are to peel. Thank you so much. Although we have never met, I do feel like you're a great friend." -- Leslie R.

"Dear Suzanne, I received my book and am thoroughly enjoying it. I have not won a contest since Thanksgiving of '65! I entered a 'Win a Turkey Contest!' There were seven in my family and that fall was hard on my parents. I did win the turkey and Mom was so happy! Now I won a book from your bookshelf all these years later. I feel as happy as that Thanksgiving so many years ago. Thank you again." -- Kat C.

"Love reading with you every morning--huge cup of coffee and off to open your column, to begin my day. I have given the book club address to several friends and everyone loves it too. I'm constantly amazed how you come up with a new topic to write about every day, five days a week, 52 weeks a year. My grandson Michael recently said, 'Granny, Your friend Suzanne is totally awesome.' He's been reading your columns to encourage us to write something for the contest." -- Val C.

The deadline is almost here, only four more days to enter the Write a DearReader Contest. All the information you need is here.

Today's fun Halloween inspired giveaway, a cow's head mask, in black and white. (It covers your entire head.) Our daughter got it for my husband, as a joke gift on his birthday, and now he wants to share the joke with someone else--just in time for Halloween. To enter the giveaway, click here.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

KIDS BUZZ: For kids ages 9-12: THE JOURNAL OF ANGELA ASHBY by Liana Gardner explores the themes of power and consequences, bullying, divorce, friendship, and how fulfilling selfish desires may not be what you want in the long run. For a chance to win a free copy and learn more, see http://www.authorbuzz.com/kidsbuzz.

Dear Reader Column 10-04-18

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,

Nudge, nudge, stories are everywhere. Start writing your entry for this year's Write a DearReader Contest. For all the info, click here.

Remember there are two new twists this year. You can collaborate with a writing partner, and if your entry is chosen as a First Place ($200), Second Place ($100), or Third Place ($50) winner, we will donate a 50% matching gift to your library in your name. There are only five days left. The deadline is Monday, October 8th.

"It's better to be sad than happy. Too much happiness isn't good for anyone."

Years ago, I heard a woman say those words and they've stuck with me. Not because I thought what she said was profound. In fact, at the time, I thought the woman needed serious help. But then a few years later, a friend of mine received some devastating news, and as I was searching for words that might comfort her, I caught a glimpse of what that woman long ago might have been trying to convey.

Happiness is a wonderful thing and I definitely want my share. But if I'm really honest about it, the times in my life that have made me the person I am today, have come from sadness. Finding the words to say to a friend who's going to have to shut down her business, or writing a note to someone whose younger sister died from cancer, that kind of "knowing," that kind of understanding, comes from the sadness I've experienced in my life.

People don't need someone's understanding when they're happy and celebrating. It's when it feels like their life is falling apart and they don't know where to turn, that's when they need someone's empathy. Unless I have cried, unless I have given up, and found my way back, I would never begin to understand.

"It's better to be sad than happy."

Yes, I finally understand the woman's sentiments. No doubt about it, there's a purpose for both. So next time I won't chase away sadness; I might need it someday.

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 deserve your attention:

(Fantasy)
KILL THE QUEEN by Jennifer Estep

(Mystery)
GLITTER BOMB by Laura Childs

(Paranormal)
UNCHAINED by Helen Hardt

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