Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column 08-31-2020

Dear Reader,

Whenever I'm getting ready to say something I feel strongly about that emotionally touches me, I get all jumbled up inside. My body gets tense and I'm wishing for a quick dress rehearsal--some time to think it through--but there isn't any. And then to make things even more stressful, suddenly the words I'm about to say don't seem good enough.

Maybe I should play it safe and consider changing my words for some of the "how to-say-it" suggestions I've read about in books? The chapter heading: "Words Guaranteed to Make People Listen and Really Feel What You're Saying." But the fancy words, the clever phrases--they don't feel right to me. I'm really better at just being me.

The first couple of sentences I deliver may run-on a bit, because it takes a moment for me to get used to the "feel" of saying what's really on my mind. And that's okay. A little fumbling makes a person seem more approachable. I'm hoping my simple words will be enough to make a difference, because they come from my heart--they're for real.

Cutting loose with feelings, the stuff I swore I'd never tell another soul--it's scary. I get anxious, short of breath and the heat quickly rises up through my body. But for me, those are the go-ahead signs, the evidence that it's something I really need to say.

Find the voice inside of you and enter the 16th Annual Write a DearReader Contest. To get all the info, deadlines, cash prizes, how your library can get involved, read last year's winning entries, click here.

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

Warmest regards,

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

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

A KINGDOM OF FLESH AND FIRE (Fiction) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

This has been one of my all time favorite books to write as I've fallen so very much in love with these characters. So many things happen and change for Poppy and Hawke. Exploring their dynamics and character arcs has been so much fun. Nearly as much fun as seeing how many times Poppy threatens to stab Hawke...or actually succeeds in doing it. Full of action, epic battle scenes, romance and plot twists--you are in for a wild ride!

Go to: AUTHORBUZZ click on A KINGDOM OF FLESH AND FIRE to read more and to email author Jennifer L. Armentrout, you'll get a reply.

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

Dear Reader Column 08-28-2020

Dear Reader,

Have you sent me something to read yet? Have you sent in an entry for the 16th Annual Write a DearReader Contest? Every day I write a column for you to read, and lucky me, once a year I get to enjoy reading what you've written.

If you're first thought is, 'I'm not a writer,' set that aside, because if you don't think of yourself as a writer--that's a good thing. In fact, I created the contest for someone just like you. Anyone can enter, even a writer, my ongoing wish for the contest is to get every person writing.

I've been writing a daily column for many years and the columns that readers resonate with the most are the ones where I simply sit down and say what's on my mind, and in my heart. And that's what I'd like you to do, too.

If the blank screen looks overwhelming and scares the bejeebers out of you, do what I do sometimes to get "myself" out of the way. When I sit down to write and edit every thought I have, even before I start typing, I get so disgusted with myself, I finally wave my hands in the air and shout:

"Just say it...say it, say it...just say it!"

And that's when the magic begins, and it will for you, too.

Don't be shy, there's a story inside of you and I can't wait to read it. So get your hands in the air and announce to yourself, "Just say it, say it, say it!"

For rules, deadlines, prizes and to read last year's winning entries, click here.

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

Start writing,

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

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

KIDSBUZZ: Judge Juliette, by Laura Gehl--a "story of a young girl with a dream ... a refreshing addition" (School Library Journal) to talk about careers, is just right for kids ages 4-7. Check it out for your budding lawyer or judge! For a chance to win free copies, talk with the authors, and more, click here.

Dear Reader Column 08-27-2020

Dear Reader,

When I read the headline, "Kids Love Poke Cake!" I had no idea what the heck a poke cake was. But the word "poke" immediately made me think of our kids poking each other in the backseat of our car. (My husband and I raised four children.) Poke, poke, poke, one brother poking at another, and pretty soon, I'd hear, "Mom, Andy's poking me!"

"Andy stop poking your brother."

"Mom, he's still poking me."

Actually the definition of a poke cake is merely a cake that you poke holes in after baking. Grab a wooden spoon, turn it upside down, and poke, poke, poke, poke holes all over the top of the cake (On second thought, maybe the poke cake was invented by a mother who just returned from a long car ride with her children), and then fill in the holes with pudding, condensed milk or any of your favorite concoctions.

I've been making a dessert every weekend for my three grandchildren, who live here in Sarasota. This past weekend's treat was a Poke Cake. I made a chocolate cake from scratch (but you could use a box mix). Then, right after it came out of the oven, I used a wooden spoon and poked holes all over the top of the cake. Then I mixed one can (14 oz) of sweetened condensed milk and one cup semi-sweet chocolate chips together and microwaved them just until melted. Stir the mixture and then pour it over the top of the cake so the mixture goes into the holes of the cake. Set the cake on the counter until cool. Then cover the cake and put it in the refrigerator until it is cold.

Make a chocolate whipped cream topping to put on top while the cake is getting cold. Whip 2 cups of heavy whipping cream until it begins to stiffen. Then add 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons cocoa, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Spread the topping over the top of the cake. Then sprinkle mini chocolate chips over the top of the entire cake. (You can use any flavor of cake, or pudding to make this cake.)

My three grandchildren loved the poke cake. See photos of the cake and three delighted poke cake eaters, click here.

Tell me the story about a recent recipe you made, or a favorite hand-me-down recipe from your past. Enter this year's 16th Annual Write a DearReader Contest. You don't need to be a writer to enter. The contest is for writing fun. To read last year's winning entries and information about the rules and deadline, click here.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

AUTHORBUZZ: With so many new books out every week, we promise these titles deserve your attention:

(Fiction) DAWSON'S FALL by Roxana Robinson

(Fiction) BLOOD OF ZEUS by Meredith Wild & Angel Payne

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

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

 

Dear Reader Column 08-26-2020

Dear Reader,

Embarrassing situations make great story ideas for your entry in this year's Write a DearReader Contest. You don't have to be a writer to enter, in fact I started the contest 16 years ago hoping that anyone with a story would enter. To find out more about cash prizes, deadlines and to read last year's winning entries, click here.

What's the card my husband and I never leave home without?

Sea Tow.

Sea Tow is a "road assistance" type card for boaters. You pay them $179 a year and if your boat breaks down or if you run out of gas, you call them and they'll come to your assistance--no charge.

Well they had to come to our assistance so many times one year, that I thought we would be the first customers to be refused a renewal membership. At the least, I thought they'd put a stipulation in our agreement that we had to give them advance warning of when we were going boating, so they could have a rescue vessel standing by in the area.

Our problems started right away when we bought a used boat. The guy who sold it to us failed to mention the gas gauge didn't work. First time out, when I noticed the gas gauge was staying at the half-full mark for a long time, I voiced my concerns to my husband and son. But instead of making sure the gauge was working, they just started bragging about the great gas mileage the boat was getting. Minutes later, we started hearing the sputtering sound of an engine desperately trying to suck up its last few drops of life from the gas tank. That was our first call to Sea Tow.

We got the gas tank gauge fixed, along with several other repairs, so you'd think it would be safe to set sail. But on our next five boating attempts, we had to call Sea Tow each and every time. It was very embarrassing. No one wanted to be the one to make the call.

But I'm happy to report things are looking up. We've gone out in the boat for a few months now, and we haven't had to make one call to Sea Tow. I'm feeling more confident so I've been thinking about taking Sea Tow off speed dial...but on second thought...

(I wrote this column a years ago. Since then my husband bought another boat, with so many problems, it only made it into the water one time. And yes, we would have had to call Sea Tow, if we hadn't been so close to the marina. My husband has finally given up boating--thank heavens. One of these days I'll share another story with you, about when the coast guard had to rescue us. In the meantime, my husband is concentrating on playing the bass guitar.)

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

Start writing. I'm looking forward to reading your entry.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

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

KIDSBUZZ: Judge Juliette, by Laura Gehl--a "story of a young girl with a dream ... a refreshing addition" (School Library Journal) to talk about careers, is just right for kids ages 4-7. Check it out for your budding lawyer or judge! For a chance to win free copies, talk with the authors, and more, click here.

Dear Reader Column 08-25-2020

Dear Reader,

I'm always looking for the "funny." I'm featuring one of my favorite columns today, hopefully to inspire you to start writing and enter my 16th Annual Write a DearReader Contest. You'll find all the details here.

She's a good daughter, about my age, and every year right before summer officially begins in Florida she battens down the hatches on her 80-year-old (snowbird) father's waterfront condo. The first year she did the deed, everything looked secure, so she closed the door and they headed back to Indianapolis. But when she brought her dad back in the fall, it was apparent that someone had sublet their condo without permission.

"It was all new to me," the woman sitting next to me on the plane said, "but since you live in Florida, you probably know all about sewer rats, don't you?"

No, couldn't say that I'd ever had the privilege of meeting one, but I had the feeling I was going to hear all about them.

Apparently sewer rats aren't content with their underground decor, and why should they be when, in the summer, there are perfectly good condos going to waste? So they pack their bags and move in.

"Knock, knock."

"Who's there?"

It's a sewer rat knocking on your toilet seat.

Yep, rats swim up through the sewer pipes, lift the lid on your toilet seat, walk right into your vacant condo, and make themselves at home for the summer--first one out gets dibs on the master bedroom!

Sewer rats are no fools. While most of us are spending the six weeks before summer trying to get into shape so we look good in our swimsuits, sewer rats are working out with a personal trainer, building up their biceps, for the big push--on your toilet seat.

Actually when you think about it, sewer rats are performing a kind of public service. No need to pay a house sitter to watch your place over the summer, sewer rats will gladly house sit your condo for free.

Heck, they'll even water your plants if you leave your cable TV hooked up. And a little suggestion; it would be a nice gesture if you left some cheese as a thank you gift. Everybody likes to be appreciated--even sewer rats.

"But I fixed those sewer rats good the second year," my seatmate continued. "I researched it on the Internet. You fill up your toilet with antifreeze, strap duct tape around the rim of your toilet seat and then top it off with something heavy like bricks."

I could see it now--a kind of hot fudge sewer rat sundae challenge. If a sewer rat can hold his breath long enough to swim through the antifreeze, rip through the duct tape with those razor sharp incisors and heave-ho, push that lid open, it's paradise for the summer.

And I'd have to say if a sewer rat could make it through all that, I think he's earned his keep, don't you?

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.

BLOOD OF ZEUS (Fiction) by Meredith Wild & Angel Payne

Mysterious Kara Valari dodges the paparazzi and her famous family's dramas by hiding in the lecture halls of the college she's attending. Cursed with inexplicable strength and godlike stature, literature professor Maximus Kane knows all about darkness. Stars collide when Kara walks into his class. She's Hollywood royalty and forbidden fruit, and Maximus is sure she's the answer to everything.

Go to: AUTHORBUZZ click on BLOOD OF ZEUS to read more and to email authors Meredith Wild & Angel Payne, you'll get a reply.

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

Dear Reader Column 08-24-2020

Dear Reader,

Today's the day! The launch of the 16th Annual Write a DearReader Contest.

Don't start thinking to yourself, 'I'm not a writer.' Because I started the writing contest 16 years ago, for someone exactly like you. Everyone has at least a 650-word story inside of them (the maximum number of words allowed in an entry), and I'd love to read yours.

The Write a DearReader contest is all about writing for fun and you're allowed to collaborate with a friend, or spouse. Two people can work together on an entry. If your entry is chosen as a First Place ($200 cash prize), Second Place ($100), or Third Place ($50) winner, I will donate a 50% matching gift to your local library in your honor. And the winning entries will be featured in my daily column.

So get busy and start writing. Write about your grandmother's favorite recipe, tell me about your favorite or most obnoxious neighbor. What's the one word that would best describe you? What's your wish, but it hasn't come true yet? Write down the conversation you'd have with your cat or dog if they could talk.

Tell me about a perfect first date, or one that made you run the other way. Write about your favorite aunt, a bizarre and whimsical woman who vacuums her living room in the buff. Write about unusual words like 'poppysmic.' When does your passion shine? When do you pull up the covers and hide-out from fear? Serious, funny, embarrassing situations, thoughts about life, fiction, nonfiction, the topics are endless.

Does the thought of writing something that people will read give you the willies? Perfect. There's your topic--write about your fear of writing. But start writing about something, because it's time to enter my 16th Annual Write a DearReader Contest.

To review the guidelines and to read last year's winning entries, click here.

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

Start writing and have fun,

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

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

DAWSON'S FALL (Fiction) by Roxana Robinson

Captain Frank Dawson was an English journalist; Sarah Morgan, the beautiful daughter of a Baton Rouge judge. After the Civil War they married in Charleston, S. C., where at first they flourished: he as an influential editor, she, writer and mother. Later his views on race were considered too progressive, then his household was fatally disrupted by a sinister neighbor. This is the story of a literary romance, a true crime, racial politics and the real history of my great-grandparents.

Go to: AUTHORBUZZ click on DAWSON'S FALL to read more and to email author Roxana Robinson, you'll get a reply.

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

Dear Reader Column 08-21-2020

Dear Reader,

This year's 16th Annual Write a DearReader Contest launches August 24th. You don't need to be a writer to enter. Simply tell me a story. Be sure to read Monday's column for all the information: cash prizes, this year's First, Second and Third Place entries will be featured in my column, deadlines, read last year's winning entries, and find out how your library will win cash, too, if you're one of this year's winners.

Stories are all around you, even in your own backyard. Sit a spell and watch a story unfold in front of you. This is what I discovered in my backyard...

There are some weird things going on in my yard.

Every day a female cardinal admires herself in the driver's side mirror on my car. Paused in mid air, her wings gently fluttering up and down, she turns her head from side to side, then taps on the mirror, ruffles her feathers just a bit, then flies off and returns with a berry in her beak. She gently smashes the berry into the center of the mirror and taps her beak against it. I imagine it's a cardinal's way of putting on her lipstick. Her favorite color seems to be ruby red, from the leftovers I have to clean off of my mirror every day.

A very fastidious dresser, she won't leave the mirror until all of her feathers are smoothed down just so. Periodically a brightly colored male circles around "my girl" giving her the once over. I know she's being courted and she knows it, too. But I think this cardinal, with the ruby red lips, knows she's good looking and that she would be quite a catch. So there's no hurry. For three days now she's been ignoring her suitors and playing hard to get.

Clever girl.

And then there's a fly who thinks he's a spider. I don't understand exactly what the fly is hanging down from, but he's always suspended in the middle of my driveway. The fly is obviously attached to something, but I can't see it and when anyone walks near him, he pops up like a jack-in-the-box and then pops back down to eye level after they've passed by. Whenever I've tried to get real close, so I could figure out the puzzle, the fly who thinks he's a spider, gets irritated, shoots up in the air and disappears completely out of sight for at least an hour. Playing hard to get.

Clever boy.

Yes, indeed, there are some weird things going on in my backyard and I'm one clever and lucky girl, to have discovered them.

* Congratulations to Willie L. the winner of Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, by Anne Lamott.

And congratulations to the winners of Well, Girl by guest author Jami Amerine: Lori M., Susan B., Marilyn T., Carol M. and Lynne O.

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

Start writing this weekend,

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

Dear Reader Column 08-20-2020

Dear Reader,

My husband answered the phone and after he hung up he announced, "Company's coming!"

'What to do? How do I act? Maybe I better change my clothes?' I'd never been so nervous in my life about company coming. But in my defense, because of the pandemic, it had been five months since anyone other than me, my husband, and our five cats, Cooper, Natie, Barry, Mama and Claire had set foot in our house.

"I'll wash up the dishes. You wipe off the kitchen counters," I told my husband. "Maybe we should bake our guests some chocolate chip cookies? Do we have time before they get here? I have some ingredients pre-measured, turn the oven on to 375 degrees and I'll start mixing."

How are my husband and I handling the stress of the pandemic? Apparently not as calmly as we tell folks, because two people we'd never met before, and most likely would never ever see again, were on their way to our house to deliver a new washer and dryer, but my husband and I were acting like we'd forgotten about the 150 party invitations we'd sent out and the guests were on their way.

We had no choice about ordering a new washer and dryer. Our appliances made that decision for us. Our washing machine decided to go on strike and it started depositing little brown specks on everything. And our dryer decided, "if 'she's' on strike, I'm not crossing the picket line." So now instead of 30 minutes, two hours went by before I could fold and put away one single load of towels. Yes, clearly, my washer/dryer duel was announcing, "We're on strike!"

Okay, I admit they've done a great job for the last 15 years, but how could they do this to us in the middle of a pandemic? I tried reaching an agreement with Washer and Dryer, but their demands were a little absurd. They wanted personal days and they were demanding an advance schedule of when I'd be doing the laundry. Dryer said it couldn't pump out as much heat, because it hadn't had a vacation in 15 years! (What did I expect? I guess everyone, even dryers, need to sit by the pool and sip a pina colada.)

Our two delivery guys did their work quickly. Out with the old, in with the new, and 20 minutes later my husband and I (a little sad to see company go), were standing on our porch, wearing our masks, waving good-bye, and with southern hospitality, calling out, "Ya'll come back again now--please!"

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

Dear Reader Column 8-19-2020

Dear Reader,

The creative stuff in my life, especially writing, usually comes after a little bit of torture. If I actually described to you what most days are like when I'm writing, you'd wonder, 'Why does she do this for a living?' But the torture always leads up to the good stuff--I swear it does.

It takes a lot of digging to recognize the good stuff and I never find it until I've waded through a mess of emotions. I may not always like what I find when I'm writing, because suddenly there it is--the truth that's been hiding all these years. But after a good laugh or a wailing cry, I'm always glad I went there, even if it's not a happy ending. For me it's better to know the truth.

I grew up with an "elephant in the room," people pretending because they didn't want to admit the truth. So it took me a long time to trust my own feelings and to recognize that the really good stuff in life--is always worth the dig.

When you write you'll discover amazing things about yourself. I encourage you to enter my 16th Annual Write a DearReader Contest, which launches August 24th. One of the best writing tools I can recommend, is to read Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, by Anne Lamott. For me, it's the absolute best book I've ever read. Jump in anywhere, on any page, and you'll find words that will set you free when it comes to writing.

I'm giving away a copy of Anne Lamott's book today, be sure to enter the drawing, or get started reading her book right away, and reserve a copy at your library. To enter the drawing, click here.

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

Start writing,

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

Dear Reader Column 08-18-2020

Dear Reader,

Today's guest author Lori Lansens is very happy to be at the book club and she would like to share a little bit about herself...

I started writing my first novel when I was thirty-eight years old and expecting my first child, a son. I wrote the second novel while I was nursing my second child, a daughter. I wrote the next in-between homework and soccer practice, basketball games and art projects. The next, while navigating middle school, and the latest while both were in high school, which, contrary to popular opinion, are really not the best years of anyone's life. My love for my children and my experiences as a mother, directly and indirectly, are folded into every page of my novels. The babies are 18 and 20 now and they still influence the content and direction of my work. I've been grateful to see the world through their eyes and to revisit my own youth as I guide them in theirs. I've been asked on occasion if I have a muse. I shrugged off the notion, joking that I didn't have time to wait for any muse, but I know now that it's been my children all along.

Please email Lori, say hello and welcome her to the book club. Authors always appreciate hearing from readers. Email: [email protected]

Patience. We call on patience, especially now, even when we're certain we haven't got an ounce of it left. In an attempt to replenish my own reserves, and in the hope of finding some quotes or stories to pass along to my weary teenagers, I went in search of patience. No surprise that patience/forbearance is an anchor virtue of every faith. The Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Neibuhr was a top match: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; Courage to change the things I can; And wisdom to know the difference." There's a paradox to patience though, as it can sometimes feel like inaction and complacency. As I continued my search, I was struck by some powerful words on patience in the story of U.S. Navy Vice Admiral James Stockdale.

Commander James Stockdale was shot down from his Skyhawk jet in North Vietnam in 1965. He was captured, beaten and imprisoned along with other men, enduring starvation, daily beatings and psychological torture for more than seven years. When asked how he survived, and why he thought others didn't, he pointed to the dangerous magical thinking that can define optimism, explaining that the men who lived with blind faith and set arbitrary deadlines for their freedom were routinely disappointed and eventually lost hope. Stockdale sought to affect and influence his nightmarish existence without allowing himself the delusion that it would all be over soon. He accepted the things he could not change, had the courage to change what he could, and wisely calculated the difference. In James Stockdale's words: "This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end--which you can never afford to lose--with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever that might be."

I forwarded a link to James Stockdale's story (James Stockdale--Wikipedia) to my children and we discussed the question of sacrifice and endurance as his remarkable tale of forbearance puts our current situation into perspective. I sent Neibuhr's Serenity Prayer along to my kids too, even though I know they've heard it before. We agreed to work harder at summoning patience and promised compassion for each other during those times when one of us doesn't have an ounce of it left. Patience.

--Lori Lansens
Email [email protected]

Lori's new book is This Little Light, a timely, fast-paced novel about two high school girls on the run after they are falsely accused of planting a bomb at their elite school. It's told through blog entries left by the main character in case she and her best friend don't make it out alive. It's sort of a Handmaiden's Tale meets Gossip Girl--a very relevant read.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]