Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column 06-16-2020

Dear Reader,

A reminder, there are two ways to win at the book club this week and two fun, bird-themed kitchen towels waiting to be delivered to (two) lucky book club readers.

First, look at the photos I've posted. My daughter sent me pictures of what she discovered in her backyard. Guess what kind of baby birds are pictured, and you'll be entered in one of this week's giveaways.

Second, share a bird story with me and you'll be entered in this week's second giveaway. Email: [email protected]

Please Welcome Today's Guest Author...

Allison Montclair grew up devouring hand-me-down Agatha Christie paperbacks and James Bond movies. As a result of this deplorable upbringing, Montclair became addicted to tales of crime, intrigue, and espionage. She now spends her spare time poking through the corners, nooks, and crannies of history, searching for the odd mysterious bits and transforming them into novels of her own. Allison's new mystery, set in 1946 London, is "A Royal Affair."

Zoos in War and Plague

I am a zoo lover, as is my spouse. So much so that we spent the first two days of our honeymoon visiting the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park. [How we spent our nights is none of your business!] I have been following the plight of zoos during the pandemic, and find myself comparing their current crisis to that of the London Zoo during World War Two, which I've been researching for my own work.

Zoos may not leap immediately to mind when one thinks of essential services, but they are. They bring the world's diversity to us for education and study. They preserve the endangered while allowing us to study how to bring them back from the brink of extinction.

And in WWII, they provided much-needed morale to their equally endangered human hosts. The London Zoo stayed open despite the Blitz, despite rationing, despite the exodus from the city. Pretty young women were recruited to become guides, their smiling, uniformed ranks captured on camera and sent around the country to cheer it up. Rota the lion, who lived in a suburban house in Middlesex until the advent of meat rationing forced his owners to donate him, was "given" by the Zoo to Prime Minister Winston Churchill to celebrate Allied victories in North Africa. Churchill gleefully fed Rota steaks while British Pathe newsreel cameras cranked away, turning the creature into a symbol of British might.

The Zoo suffered during the war as well. Wayward bombs destroyed various animal houses. A more somber effect was the decision, anticipating the effects of the bombing, to put to death all the poisonous inhabitants, lest they be unleashed on an unsuspecting populace. That these should have been killed but not the predators of the mammal family who would be more likely to attack humans I personally attribute to the perceived public fears of the crawly versus the furry.

Once the war had ended, the Zoo faced the problem of replenishing its population. One interesting source of renewal: Demobilised soldiers returning from every part of the globe; from deserts, from jungles and from islands. Many brought back living souvenirs, and when confronted with the needs of the Zoo, or the desires of their families, creatures plucked from their war-torn habitats were given a new home where they could be on display. [In my mind, this was accompanied by the frenzied shrieks of "I'm not 'aving that 'orrid thing in my 'ouse!"]

Our zoos today face drastic drops in revenue from being closed to visitors. They keep going nevertheless, feeding and caring for their denizens. Don't omit them from your charity. They are essential.

-- Allison Montclair

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

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

THE HOUSE OF LONG AGO by Steve Berry & M. J. Rose

The time has come for Cassiopeia Vitt to sell her ancestral home. It sits on a Spanish bluff, by the Mediterranean, and bears the name Casa de Hace Mucho Tiempo, The House of Long Ago. Inside her family home Cassiopeia revisits memories of her rebellious adolescence and now regretful days when she often found herself estranged from her parents. She also revisits her father's private art collection. Each of the fifteen paintings is a masterpiece, together representing an investment in the ten of millions of euros--which she intends to donate to museums. But when an art expert declares all the paintings fake and suggests her father may have been involved with something illegal, Cassiopeia embarks on a quest to find answers.

Go to: AUTHORBUZZ click on THE HOUSE OF LONG AGO to read more and to email authors Steve Berry & M.J. Rose, you'll get a reply.

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

Dear Reader Column 06-15-2020

Dear Reader,

Can you solve the puzzle? Be sure to look at the photos I've posted today. My daughter sent me pictures of what she discovered in her backyard. Guess what kind of baby birds are pictured, and you'll be entered in one of this week's giveaways.

If you have a personal bird story encounter, please share it with me and you'll be entered in this week's second giveaway. (Feel free to enter both.) There are two fun, bird-themed kitchen towels waiting to be delivered to (two) lucky book club readers.

There's magic happening right now in my backyard. I've been fortunate to have numerous birds visit me this year. It's amazing to watch them build their nests, their houses are small, yet there's plenty of room. After a little courting, soon I'm hearing soft "I'm hungry" chirps that always make me smile. I've been watching Mama close up, with my binoculars as she tends to her young and I was even fortunate to see a small baby bird taking flight for the first time. What a miracle.

Yes indeed, I'm one lucky woman--there's life and love and magic, right in my own backyard.

Have fun solving this week's puzzle.

Share a bird story with me and you'll be entered in this week's second giveaway. Email: [email protected]

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

Chirp, chirp,

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

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

GILDED DREAMS (Fiction) by Donna Russo Morin

I wrote this book with the distinct intent to publish it in the year that marks the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment which gave American women the legal right to vote. I wrote it with the hope that come August 18, 2020, every American woman will celebrate it as a day of great achievement in women's history...in American history. I wrote it with the hope that we will never forget what these women suffered so that we may have a voice. And with the hope that we will always be grateful.

Go to: AUTHORBUZZ click on GILDED DREAMS to read more and to email author Donna Russo Morin, you'll get a reply.

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

Dear Reader Column 06-12-2020

Dear Reader,

I was feeling pretty sad and disappointed a few weeks ago and when I mentioned it to a friend she matter-of-factly said, "Okay, and why is that a problem?"

Her rationale was that most people tend to walk around thinking that they should feel happy and cheerful every day, and if they aren't, they see it as a failure. But it's not. Because that's just the way life is. Up and down, happy and sad.

She sold me on her theory and I decided to stop resisting and give myself permission to feel sad and disappointed. And you know what, it took some of the pressure off--almost immediately, because I didn't need to "fix" the way that I felt anymore. I could just "feel" whatever came my way.

My usual routine, when I'm not feeling great, is to work hard at pretending that I'm happy. This method definitely hasn't proved to be successful in the past. Because if I turn away from what I'm feeling, I'm just postponing a hurt that I'll end up having to deal with later. And the tricky part about later, is that my sad and disappointed feelings then show up as anger. I turn into one angry, irritated Suzanne, and by then I can't explain why.

It's a messy job--working through crummy feelings, walking through the mud and muck, but it's a necessary journey. Having a lousy day? Hey, grab your boots, and let's walk together. I'll be happy to show you the way.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

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

Dear Reader Column 06-11-2020

Dear Reader,

Since my grandchildren can't come to visit me right now, because of the virus, I've been baking a different dessert every Friday and delivering it to their front door--then I ring the bell and head back to my car.

Last week's ring-and-dash dessert, The Chocolate Ice Cream Cake Roll, was a hit! To see step-by-step photos of how to make it, including the recipe and smiling grandchildren devouring the ice cream cake, click here. 

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

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

With so many new books out every week, we promise this title deserves your attention:

(Fiction) STORIES THAT BIND US by Susie Finkbeiner

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

Dear Reader Column 06-10-2020

Dear Reader,

Four leaf clovers, wisteria, ivy, waving the white flag and snakes! Oh my....

"Good morning! I am a gardener too, who chooses not to put any chemicals on my yard. My theory is if I spread enough grass seed, someday the grass will win. It's working a bit in the backyard. While walking my dog in the 'wild' field a block from my house, I stopped in my tracks as I looked down--and big as life there was a four-leaf clover! I sang 'I'm looking over a four-leaf clover, and it's looking over me' and started to lean down to pick it. I stopped myself, and wondered if little girls today watch out for four-leaf clovers, or is that just an old lady, grandma-taught-me thing? I keep meaning to look for it again, and kind of hope it made another little girl smile and maybe sing!" -- Sharon B.

"Good morning Suzanne, in my yard I have a few battles that I decided to just wave the white flag. The first is wisteria--it grows faster than a person can keep up with but it does have beautiful blooms so I surrendered.

The second is ivy taking over the lawn and we've come to a compromise. My gardener keeps the ivy off my house and we've determined a line in the lawn that can't be crossed although my fingers are crossed on that one. Where the ivy took over the pathway to the side of my house gets mowed though to maintain the path, so I can walk safely and not worry about snakes--yikes! Good luck with your clover - perhaps you'll find some four-leaf ones."--Jo

(Suzanne replies:) Jo, your email reminded me of a humorous column I wrote about the black snakes in my yard...

I don't mind sharing my space with creatures, because I realize they're probably thinking they're the ones that are tolerating me. But the big black snake--the "bigger around than a garden hose" snake, the one that's been hanging around my house lately--we have to come to some sort of an agreement, because he's scaring the bejeebers out of me.

As far as I know, black snakes are harmless. (Usually I want to hear from you if you know something I don't, but not this time. Please don't write and tell me I'm wrong--I think I'd rather be in the dark about what this snake likes to eat.)

Black snakes, at least the one that likes to sun himself on my porch, are docile. He doesn't rattle and he doesn't rise up and hiss at me. We haven't discussed it, but I get the impression that I make him just as nervous as he makes me. There's plenty of sun to go around, so I don't understand why all of sudden this snake wants to sunbathe on my back porch.

Once you nearly step on a snake, then everything that moves, means snake. But after a couple of days with no snake on the steps, I forgot about him--until today, when I went out the back door, stepped down, and put my foot right beside his head. Snake and Suzanne, side-by-side on the same step, he side-winded off, insulted that I'd almost tromped on him--and I was screaming.

There's always a reason for everything and since I've seen some little baby black snakes around lately, maybe this is really a mother snake in desperate need of a few minutes away from her demanding children. Maybe she's searching for a day at the spa--a little sun, and a little snake cocktail, topped off with one of those fancy umbrellas.

I raised four children and heaven knows, I can relate.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

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

Dear Reader Column 06-09-2020

Dear Reader,

Every Tuesday we are treated to a guest author visiting the book club. Today I'd like to introduce author Margaux DeRoux. Born in Juneau, Alaska, before turning to fiction she was a waitress, a teacher, and a marketer. Margaux now lives in California with her husband and daughter.

Please leave her a message at Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/DeRouxMargaux/

Two weeks after selling my first novel, I learned I was expecting my first child. Both events felt like miracles: what I'd always wanted, but feared to even hope for. Yet the miraculous had occurred, and soon I found myself revising my book for publication, while my body underwent its own transformation.

Suddenly, my world revolved around two deadlines.

In the beginning, I'll admit that I felt like a clumsy explorer: venturing into uncharted territories, armed only with instinct and determination. Fortunately, help soon came to my rescue. An amazing doula materialized, equipped with answers to all my questions (and lots of reassurance). Likewise, my editor quickly became my greatest ally, cheering me on--and keeping me on track. To this day, I still jokingly refer to her as my "book doula."

Yet the greatest surprise was how little each act of creation seemed like it belonged to me. Writers often talk about "the muse:" that benevolent, mercurial force, who comes bearing gifts of inspiration. As I revised, I often got the impression that the book had a mind of its own. Characters made choices and spoke words that were entirely unexpected, even to me. On the best days, I had a sense of being merely a vessel that the story was using to come alive. In the same way, I was wholly unprepared for how assuredly my body--and my baby--would assume all control, laughing at any plans my mind had the audacity to make. From my body: "Oh, you thought you'd accomplish that list of to-do's? No, you'll sit on the couch and fall asleep instead." And from my baby: "Oh, you wanted to sleep? Sorry, it's time to practice kicking!"

In the end, I realized all I could do was surrender.

A few weeks after I gave birth, I submitted my final manuscript--and now, just as my daughter is taking her first tentative steps, my book will finally be published. As I write this, my small family is sheltering in place, while outside our door, nature tumbles headlong into spring. I watch my daughter toddle around the room, clutching her favorite doll. I glance out the window, see yellow roses blooming and bougainvillea cascading over the neighbor's fence, and I marvel at life's incredible, unstoppable will to create.

-- Margaux Deroux
Please leave a message for me at Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/DeRouxMargaux/

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

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

Dear Reader Column 06-08-2020

Dear Reader,

It's here! Clover is blooming and it's spreading like wildfire through my flower gardens, a cliche to be sure, but one that's never been more true. Clover isn't an easy guest to get rid of. The feed and weed man who services my yard, says unfortunately to get rid of it, you'd have to use some pretty heavy duty chemicals, which could result in a long list of side effects

I can see the TV commercial now...

"Pretty flower gardens, but tired of clover invading your penta and pansies? Ask your gardener about CloverRest. Sprinkle CloverRest on your flower gardens tonight and you'll see visible results in 5 to 10 days. CloverRest is clinically proven and offers a money-back guarantee that you'll never have to yank clover out of your flower garden again. Try CloverRest today."

(Tiny impossible to read print in the crawl.) "Possible side effects: squirrels packing-up and putting 'For Sale' signs in their nests, butterflies fluttering over to your neighbors' yards, red boils on your hands and holes in the soles of your shoes, earthworms holding pickets signs 'Unfair Gardening Practices.' If you experience brown grass, dead penta, pansies and every other flower in your garden is shriveling up, say a prayer and call your gardener immediately."

So I've decided to write a different prescription--it's all in how you look at things. (Besides I'm losing the battle.)

The clover in my flower gardens, they're not really ugly, invasive weeds. After taking a second look, I've discovered they're really dainty, exquisite, little green annuals--actually kissing cousins to miniature pansies--and they're kind enough to show up in my yard two or three times a year.

I am so blessed--it's all in how you look at it..

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

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

STORIES THAT BIND US (Fiction) by Susie Finkbeiner

Stories are powerful. Wouldn't you agree? They have the power to encourage, enlighten, entertain, and edify. This is precisely what I hoped to explore as I wrote Stories my new novel. I hope you'll join Betty and Hugo in 1963 Mid-Michigan as they grow together through the telling of stories.

Go to: AUTHORBUZZ click on STORIES THAT BIND US to read more and to email author Susie Finkbeiner, you'll get a reply.

Dear Reader Column 06-05-2020

Dear Reader,

It can't be a coincidence.

My husband and I have five cats: Barry, Mama, Natie, Claire and Cooper, and it never fails, when they're urping up a hairball, it's one, two, three urps before they get that thing dislodged. While my husband was cleaning up the latest urp yesterday (my husband and I divide up household duties--urping is on his list), it got me thinking about what else comes in threes?

Three bears (Mama, Papa and Baby Bear) and the beds that were too hard, too soft and just right. Three blind mice, rock-paper-scissors; location, location, location; blood, sweat and tears; a three ring circus; the Three Stooges; three piece suits, always three sneezes in a row; on your mark, get set, go! And of course, third time's a charm, but on the other hand, three strikes--you're out! So there are plenty of folks who are looking over their shoulders, because they believe bad things do happen in threes. It's "The Rule of Three."

But then there's the other "Rule of Three." The (Latin--"omne trium perfectum") principle suggests things that come in threes tend to be more humorous, satisfying and effective, than any other number of things. Maybe? Unless you're a cat. Three urps to remove a hairball is definitely satisfying and effective. But humorous?

I don't think Barry Mama, Natie, Claire, or Cooper would agree and neither does my husband as he's cleaning it up...

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

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

Dear Reader Column 06-04-2020

Dear Suzanne,

A reader's email that came to my rescue...

"Suzanne, I feel compelled to write to you today. I have been reading your posts for a long time, and have always enjoyed your wittiness and charm. Today I was moved to tears by your post on the simple question you ask yourself every day: 'What is my assignment?' The way your story unraveled and came to the end, with you gifting your quilt to a stranger just sparked my heart. I literally felt a spark in my heart and in my mind say, 'Your assignment is kindness.' You of course infuse this in all your writing and I just want to tell you, I see you and I appreciate you. I sew quilts for fun too, and now more than ever, I want to continue to be kind. Thank you for the spark and the great reading recommendations over the years. Fondest regards," -- Irene O.

(Suzanne responds:) Thank you so much Irene, for writing to me. Your email was what I needed to read to get myself back on track today. My daily meditation, "What is my assignment?"--it's been very difficult to hear the answer these past few days, because of my overwhelming feeling of sadness. The world around me feels out of control and I'm having trouble processing the things I read. But the words in your email 'I literally felt a spark in my heart and in my mind say, your assignment is kindness.' has reminded me that when I don't know how or where to begin...to find my way back home I need to keep asking, "What is my assignment today?" And then follow through.

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 KEY TO EVERYTHING by Valerie Fraser Luesse

(NonFiction) THE 24-HOUR SOUP KITCHEN: Soul-Stirring Lessons in Gastrophilanthropy by Stephen Henderson

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

 

Dear Reader Column 06-03-2020

Dear Reader,

Questions and answers. It's a little bit of this-and-that in today's column. I always really appreciate hearing from you.

"Hi Suzanne, love your stories about your bubble machine. I have purchased three and they don't last. What brand do you recommend? Thanks so much!" -- Cheryl

(Suzanne replies:) The Chauvet B-250 Bubble Machine is a workhorse that will run for years. My machine runs every day, seven or eight hours a day and I've been turning on a bubble machine in front of my house for eight years now. I have three machines. One for use, one being cleaned and one just-in-case, because this girl can't be without her bubble machine. I've never had any success with battery operated bubble machines. After running them for a few minutes, they foam up and the bubbles stop flowing. I've probably tried every electric bubble machine on the market, and the Chauvet B-250, is in my opinion, is the absolute winner! The bubble machine has a guarantee, too. I had trouble with a machine years ago, it didn't last as long as it should and the company immediately sent me a new one. No hassles. Many folks, here in Sarasota, have asked me what kind of machine I use, and they've purchased one for themselves. I guess I could be a spokesperson for the company! Yes indeed, it's the best, absolute best, bubble machine!

"Suzanne, I would be interested to know what annuals you plant. Are they the same bedding plants we use in Zone 5 or are they a heat tolerant type? This year I am planting Berry Grape sunpatiens, monarda, scabiosa and mirabilis. I also throw out some seeds for cosmos, poppies and portulaca. Most of my plants are a shade of purple, offset with white alyssum.

Your column is one of my favorites. I'm always a week or two behind, as I don't like to read one day at a time. I wait for all five days and read them all at once." -- Barb

(Suzanne replies:) When my husband and I first moved to Sarasota, Florida (Zone 9), I was clueless about what plants would grow here. And then there was the even more puzzling question, "What is an annual in Florida?" In Wisconsin, where we were from originally, an annual meant my plants would be okay once the frost passed in the spring; petunias, gerbera daisies, sunflowers, geraniums, almost any colorful annual would shine through the summer into fall, but after the first frost they'd all disappear.

In my garden an annual grows all year long. When it starts looking "woody" and tired, I cut the stems way back, and I get another growing cycle from them. My favorite go-to plants are pentas. They come in a variety of colors and are inexpensive. The last time I went to the nursery I bought coreopsis, Salvia Sally, vinca and lantana, but the only reason I remember those names is because I still have the empty containers in my carriage house (I live in a 1925 home). My flower gardens are filled with happy, blooming flowers, but truthfully when someone asks me, "What's the name of that plant?" I haven't a clue. I do pay attention to whether a plant likes full sun, shade or a bit of both, and I fertilize with an organic mix. It works wonders, but if I fertilize all of the plants at once, my yard smells like cattle ranch for a couple of days. Happy plants! But pee-ew!

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

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