Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column - August 31, 2022

Dear Reader,  

It happened again today and it's so disappointing. Reading book jackets can be a little like reading "For Sale" ads for homes. The ad copy makes it sound like the perfect house, or it sounds like it will be a great read from the book jacket description, but when I do the drive by, or crack open the book and read through the first few pages--"Hey, what happened?" I flip the book over and check the title. This isn't the story line that the author sold me on. Come on now--deliver!

I usually keep reading, painfully, hoping, wishing. I start praying that the author will settle down and get into the story that he or she promised me. But 20 minutes later the book ends up in the "not going to feature it, really bad, bad, book--shame on you, you naughty author, stack of rejected books"--and I move on.

But that's okay. That's why I preview the books. It's my job to save you from that pain and disappointment. Hopefully I won't let you down.

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

* When has someone or something let you down? Sit down and write about it and then enter your story in the 18th Annual Write a DearReader Contest. I'd love to read your story. Get all the info about cash prizes, for you and your library, deadlines and to read last year's winning entries, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/contest2022/index.html

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected] 

Dear Reader Column - August 30, 2022

Dear Reader,

Today’s guest author Nancy Nau Sullivan is giving a book to five lucky readers. Her latest book in the Blanche Murninghan series–launched in June--is Mission Improbable: Vietnam. The upcoming fourth title in the series takes place at a castle in Ireland (release 2023). Nancy is also the author of The Last Cadillac: A Memoir and the novel, The Boys of Alpha Block, based on her five years teaching in a boys' prison. She lives in Indiana, and, often, on Anna Maria Island, Florida.

Be sure to enter Nancy’s giveaway. You might win, Saving Tuna Street, Trouble Down Mexico Way, or, Mission Improbable: Vietnam.

To enter, send her an email: [email protected]. You can learn more about Nancy at : www.nancynausullivan.com

I Spent My Summer Vacation in an Irish Castle

My mother read it in a travel magazine:

Irish Castle to let, summer and fall only.

Inquire: Desmond Fitzgerald, Knight of Glin, Co. Limerick.

References.

We'd always wanted to do this, so we worked feverishly to make it happen--my six brothers and sisters, their spouses, and my parents. It was an Irish miracle we made it.

An hour out of Shannon Airport, we bounced along in the van full of family and luggage, through the neat town of Glin and into a tunnel of elephant ear and wild flowers to the lovely Georgian castle. It stands on 400 acres of woods, gardens, and the desmesne that stretches to the Shannon River. In the spring, the desmesne is covered with daffodils.

The entryway startled me: A spray of roses on a table carved with goblins; the ceiling's plasterwork of dolphins and stars. The double flying staircase ascended to the bedrooms: pink, blue, green, the crown suite.

We had lunch in the dining room where the portrait of the 24th Knight of Glin, Colonel John Bateman Fitzgerald, hung over the marble fireplace. He built "Glin House" in 1790. The knight's coat of arms was stamped on each worn leather chair, which made me wonder how many knightly people had sat where I was sitting eating soup.

***

Desmond Fitzgerald, the 29th Knight of Glin, was a farmer. He grew apples and raised cows. One evening, we met him in the garden for gin and tonics. He sat on a white bench next to the topiary, his ankles crossed gracefully. He wore a pink golf shirt with an alligator on it and tennis shoes. Americans seemed to amuse him: "You've all quite lost the art of writing letters over there. I've had Bloomingdale's visit when a letter would have done just as well."

We were laughing when a look of horror crossed his handsome face. He put his drink down abruptly and raced across the lawn to chase a cow that was eating his prize bushes. That ended our festivities with the knight.

At dinner, Nancy, the cook, said "Ah, and it's a fine time you're having, for it's laughter we're hearing and we love to hear it." Nancy loved visitors, including Mick Jagger. "He's a desperate-looking fellow...I couldn't take my eyes off him. But he behaved himself," she said. He'd stayed in my room, but Nancy assured me the knight had changed out the bed.

***

It was a trip. Three weeks in a July faraway:

Once I had a bunch of thyme

I thought it never would decay...

Time with all its labors

Along with all its joys

Time brings all things to an end.

-- Nancy Nau Sullivan

Be sure to enter Nancy's giveaway, you have the chance to win one of these titles: Saving Tuna Street, Trouble Down Mexico Way, and the latest in the Blanche Murninghan series, Mission Improbable: Vietnam, Email: [email protected]

* I hope you enjoyed reading today's guest column. If you're one of the winners, or your entry is an honorable mention in this year's Write a DearReader contest, it will be featured as a guest column. Cash prizes, for you and your library, deadlines, along with last year's winning entries are at: http://www.dearreader.com/contest2022/index.html

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected] 

Dear Reader Column - August 29, 2022

Dear Reader,

This is the day to enter my 18th Annual Write a DearReader Contest. Now before you tell yourself you're not a writer, or you can't think of anything to write about, let me tell you about my friend Linda.

One of the things I admire most about Linda is that she steps right up and asks questions. Inquisitive, in a child-like, fun nature, Linda doesn't think twice about asking a stranger "What are you doing?" or "What is that thing used for?" Asking the why, who, what, where, and when comes naturally to my friend. It's part of her personality, and when she asks the question, there's an interesting story in the answer.

So you see, there are stories all around you. You have plenty of material. You don't have to be a writer, you might have never even considered entering a writing contest, and that's a good thing.

Those qualities make you the perfect candidate to enter and win, because I offer the contest in hopes of giving folks the opportunity to try something different--no pressure--and just have fun. And I get to read hundreds of great stories written by book club readers.

Two people can work together on an entry, so feel free to collaborate with a friend or spouse. 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.

If you need more inspiration, read what last year's winners wrote, view the cash prizes, for you and your library, deadlines and guidelines: http://www.dearreader.com/contest2022/index.html

Don't be shy, there's a story inside of you and I can't wait to read it.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected] 

AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win.

OTHER BIRDS (Fiction) by Sarah Addison Allen

Writing this book was a healing process for me. It's part ghost story, part love story, part fairytale. It's about what we hold onto, and how to finally let go. I hope you'll enjoy flying away with me and Other Birds.

I'm giving away five copies, to enter, click on the link to Authorbuzz and the book jacket or email [email protected]
with subject line Other Birds Sweepstakes

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on OTHER BIRDS to read more and to email author Sarah Addison Allen, you'll get a reply.

Dear Reader Column - August 26, 2022

Dear Reader,   

One of the questions that I always ask people when I'm interviewing them for a job is, "Tell me one thing that you don't like about yourself, or your life, and how you're working to change it." 

If I were the job applicant answering that question, the first part of my answer would vary depending on where I was at in my life at the time. But the second part of my answer would always be the same.

My initial reaction when I'm not happy with something about myself is to declare war on it. I devise a plan of attack and set out to fight the big fight. Unfortunately that approach never works for me, at least not right away. The first thing I need to do is resort back to a life lesson I learned when I was first diagnosed with a rare eye disorder. 

When the doctor said, "You're going to be like this for the rest of your life unless someone finds a cure," my first reaction was shock. But after I regrouped, I thought, ‘Hey, no problem. I'm tough and I'm going to beat this thing.’ Then I moved on to, ‘This is ok. It's really not a big deal. It could be worse. It's not like I don't have any arms or legs.’ But soon the ‘it could be worse’ scenario quickly wore thin, because at the time I was walking around with a red and white cane. The situation was really starting to, well, let's say, "upset" me. My story quickly changed to, "Yeah, this thing could be worse, but this sucks and I'm angry about it."

I now know those thoughts were all useful stages to go through when I was grieving my loss, but no positive change took place until the day that I found a way to "love" my disorder. I actually visualized putting my arms around it--the thing that was bringing me so much pain--accepting it and loving the fact that I owned it. It was then that I was able to start making a change in my life.

Share something that changed your life. Write about it and enter your story in this year’s Annual Write a DearReader Contest. To find out more about cash prizes, for you and your library, deadlines and to read last year's winning entries, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/contest2022/index.html

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

* Congratulations to the winners of The Memory of All That by Guest Author Mary MacCracken: Joanne H., Patricia G., Sharon B., Karen M. and Barb R.

And congratulations to the winners of Heirlooms by Guest Author Sandra Byrd: Kameron B., and Mary Lou Y.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected] 

Dear Reader Column - August 25, 2022

Dear Reader,

(Today’s column is continued from Wednesday.)

(It was 10 p.m. and flights at LaGuardia were being canceled one after another. I was able to find a hotel room, but felt compelled to offer to share the room with another woman who was stranded, and who was a complete stranger...)

When I opened up the door to our hotel suite (yes I'm being facetious), it slammed up against a bed that was less than double-sized. "Well, I guess we could sleep head-to-toe, then we might both fit comfortably on the bed," I told my new roommate.

But she insisted I take the bed, and she would sleep on the floor, which troubled me greatly because it looked like some awful things had happened on that carpet. The rest of the room, which was only a bathroom, wasn't any more inviting. Remember those brightly colored, rubber, flower shaped decals that people put on the bottom of their tubs, so they wouldn't slip? Yes, there they were--worn and blackened with a slight pastel pink showing through. And there was a matching round, stained, drain plug--the kind you lay over the drain to stop the water. Not that any of it really mattered. I certainly wasn't going near the tub.

By this time it was 2 a.m. and I was starting to have second thoughts about my Good Samaritan decision. So I stepped out in the hall and called my husband to let him know where I was--in case he never heard from me again.

But my roommate was right at home. She took six small baggies filled with crackers and cookies out of her carry-on bag and as she started taking the foil off of two cans of soda she smiled, "This is just like a slumber party, isn't it?"

Well, I was kind of hungry and it had been a long, very long day, so what the heck, yeah--let's party!

My roommate had an early flight the next morning so she left before I did. My morning flight was canceled another three times that day, and I thought I was going to have to book a train car, or rent a car and drive home--but eventually I did catch a flight home.

When my airport-overnight-friend and I exchanged "girl talk" at our slumber party, I discovered that she worked at the post office. Three weeks later, I received a framed US Postal Library Stamp collection with a very nice note of gratitude. I love stories with happy endings don't you?

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

* Tell me the story... Enter this year's 18th 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, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/contest2022/index.html

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected] 

Dear Reader Column - August 24, 2022

Dear Reader,

Funny or 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 18 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, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/contest2022/index.html

Did I ever tell you about the time (years ago, way before COVID), I let a stranger sleep in my hotel room in New York City?

I was at LaGuardia airport, when all of the flight monitors suddenly started flashing "Cancelled" on every arrival and departure line. It was 10 p.m., so every experienced business traveler immediately pulled out their cell phones and began looking for a hotel room. After 40 calls--including help from someone on my staff (who I got out of bed to find me a room via the internet),--I finally found one. I knew it would be a crummy room because of the location, but it was a room, and it would be better than sleeping on the floor at the airport.

Before the “Cancelled” notice and the hotel room panic, I had been making small talk with a nice woman standing next to me. I noticed when I said, “Good-bye” and was heading for my cab to take me to the hotel, that she was standing in the same place, looking a little nervous and definitely lost in this situation. So I offered to call my assistant to see if I could find her a room, too. After 20 minutes of searching--no such luck. Everything was sold out in the entire city. I told the woman I was sorry and said good-bye again. She looked at me with a “You-aren't-just-going-to-leave-me-here-are-you?" look.

"Well, I guess you could share a room with me if you wanted to," I hesitantly told her.

She quickly accepted my offer and she offered to pay for the cab to the hotel, adding, "If I pay for the cab I wouldn't have to chip in for the room would I?" On the way to the hotel she thanked me again for letting her share my room, and by-the-way she added, "Sometimes I snore."

(To be continued on Thursday.)

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected] 

Dear Reader Column - August 23, 2022

Dear Reader,

Today’s guest at the book club is Chris Fabry, an award-winning author and radio personality who hosts the daily program Chris Fabry Live on Moody Radio. He has written more than 80 books for children and adults.

Chris was inducted into the Christy Award Hall of Fame in 2018. His books include movie novelizations, such as War Room, and Overcomer. His latest novelization is Lifemark (the movie will be released in theaters, September 9th). Chris's novels have won five Christy Awards, an ECPA Christian Book Award, and two Awards of Merit from Christianity Today. More about his books at chrisfabry.com. You can drop Chris an email at: [email protected]

Please welcome Chris Fabry…

In my office is a framed, faded scrap of paper my mother saved and squirreled away in her Bible. I'm guessing, by the type of paper, this was written when I was in the first grade. It's only seven words and there is no punctuation, but the sentence was from the heart and fulfilled something Ernest Hemingway said about writing. I didn't know that at the time.

Our family lived on a farm in West Virginia. We had many animals including cows, a horse and pony, a collie named Shep, and a dozen cats that ate mice in our barn, a feline bed-and-breakfast. 

One day my older brother started his car, which was parked in the shade on a hillside, and when the engine sparked, eleven cats ran for the hills. He backed up, then stopped. Horrified, I noticed one of my favorite cats flopping on the ground like a flounder out of water. It hadn't moved. My brother had backed over it.

I rushed to comfort it, but my father grabbed me, the animal now flailing with bared claws. He knew a lot more about the price of comforting something that couldn't receive it.

Later, my father dug a hole in the soft earth near the barn and we placed the cat there, covered it, and I taped a torn piece of paper from my writing tablet to a stick I shoved in the ground.

Seven words.

'Here Lies a cat a Faithful cat'

I didn't know much about capitalization, as you can tell, but there is something pure and honest about that sentence. Why did my mother save it? Did she know I would become a writer? She knew that I was born on the morning Ernest Hemingway died. Through the years I've read his advice to young writers and over my writing desk is a picture of him with a quote underneath.

"Write hard and clear about what hurts."

Seven words.

My words about the cat followed Hemingway's advice without my knowing it. I put my trauma and pain on the page. In doing so, I was explaining my life to myself, what I call joining myself in my own journey. But I was also doing the same for anyone who might read my words.

A writer can hope for nothing better than that.

-- Chris Fabry

Email at: [email protected]

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

* * I hope you enjoyed reading today's guest column. If you're one of the winners, or your entry is an honorable mention in this year's Write a DearReader contest, it will be featured as a guest column at the book club. Cash prizes, rules and deadlines, along with last year's winning entries are at: http://www.dearreader.com/contest2022/index.html

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected] 

 

Dear Reader Column - August 22, 2022

Dear Reader, 

Today's the day! The launch of the 18th Annual Write a DearReader Contest.

Don't start thinking to yourself, 'I'm not a writer.' Because I started the writing contest 18 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. Two people can work together on an entry, so feel free to collaborate with a friend or spouse. 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, and nonfiction, the topics are endless. Memories make great stories.

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 18th 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] 

Dear Reader Column - August 19, 2022

Dear Reader,   

Well, I've been armed and ready for those pesky mosquitoes for days now, but I think they've heard that I'm ready to do battle, because they've retreated. In fact I have only seen one. I'm actually kind of disappointed. I wanted to try out all of the "sure-fired get rid of mosquito methods" that readers emailed to me. They ranged from the simplistic to the I'm-fed-up-and-I'm-not-gonna-take-it-anymore, serious kind.

I was going to start small with the easy ones, like eating more garlic, or stringing dryer sheets around my neck or setting up a Lemon Fresh Joy dish soap trap. You put some water in a white dinner plate, add a couple of drops of dish soap and then you set the plate on the porch, patio or in my case, on my desk and you wait for the mosquitoes. They're supposed to flock to the lemony fresh trap and drop dead into the water or on the floor (within 10 ft. of the plate).

Then there were serious suggestions from readers like Judith. For about $450, the American Biophysics Corporation of East Greenwich, R.I., guarantees that I can be mosquito free. They sell The Mosquito Magnet for, "people who want to launch a serious war against mosquitoes." The Mosquito Magnet is a propane-fired trap that converts propane gas to carbon dioxide and then emits a plume of carbon dioxide that attracts those blood-seeking insects. Then they're vacuumed into the trap and dehydrated. End of mosquito problem!

I don't know what would really attract mosquitoes the best, but I do know what reader's email attracted me the most.

Merritt writes:

“Suzanne, Carbon dioxide is the problem. If I remember correctly, you run and practice a fitness lifestyle. Your picture shows a woman who looks fit and slender, indicating a higher metabolism and healthy lifestyle. Unfortunately, it means you generate higher levels of CO2 than your co-workers, making you a blinding beacon among candles to the little pests.”

(Email anytime, Merritt. You've got a way with words!)

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

* Find the voice inside of you and enter the 18th Annual Write a DearReader Contest. All the info, deadlines, cash prizes, how your library can get involved, and last year's winning entries will be  available this coming Monday, August 22nd.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected] 

Dear Reader Column - August 18, 2022

Dear Reader,  

My grandfather used to invite me to go hunting with him when I was a kid, but I'd always turn him down. But the last few days I've been wishing that Grandpa was still around. I need his advice on how to track down the "big game" that I'm going after. I'm not hunting for the sport of it. I'm taking up hunting as a survival mechanism--my own. 

I'm going after mosquitoes. Don't laugh. It's not funny anymore. Somewhere there is a mosquito breeding ground in my office and I'm their food supply. While I'm sitting at my desk trying to type, my arms are flailing around in the air, swatting those little buggers--which I miss most of the time--and everyone else seems to find my actions amusing. That's because the mosquitoes don't attack anyone else except me. 

I don't wear perfume or hairspray and my deodorant is unscented, so I don't know why I seem so attractive to them. I've definitely become the human workplace sacrifice. I stood out in the middle of the room the other day and had someone wait for the mosquitoes to land on me so they could "do away" with them one at a time. That was actually a pretty good solution except there's still one survivor buzzing around. Does anyone know the natural life cycle of a mosquito? In the meantime, my dress code is long sleeves and long pants.

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

* I'm curious, how do you approach new things? What's the biggest challenge you've faced in your life? Sit down and write about it and then enter your story in the 18th Annual Write a DearReader Contest. I'd love to read your story. All the info, deadlines, cash prizes, how your library can get involved, and last year's winning entries will be available on August 22nd.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]