Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column - April 12, 2022

Dear Reader,

I’m pleased to introduce today’s guest author, Samantha Jayne Allen, author of Pay Dirt Road, and winner of the 2019 Tony Hillerman Prize for Best First Mystery Set in the Southwest. 

Samantha has an MFA in fiction from Texas State University, and her writing has been published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, The Common, and Electric Literature. Raised in small  towns in Texas and California, she now lives with her husband in Atlanta. "Pay Dirt Road," her debut novel, is a small-town mystery about an unlikely private investigator searching for a missing waitress.

Write and say “Hello”. Samantha would love to hear from you. You can reach her at: [email protected]

Thanks for visiting our book club, Samantha…

The Mojave doesn't love you back. I used to ride to the cement plant in my dad's pickup, stare out the window at the hardpan dirt, wondering, if you stood in the middle of that wide-open, empty desert and screamed, would there be an echo, or without anything to bounce off of, would your call fade without refrain?

Every summer the plant hired employees' kids to work as laborers if they enrolled in college courses in the fall. Management encouraged us to stay in school by giving us jobs nobody wanted: stemming dynamite, shoveling coal, repainting the trucker bathrooms, scraping

gunk out of oil pits with a putty knife. The program doesn't exist anymore, but before it was canceled, before I left my hometown, before its sister plants closed and most of its employees were laid off, I spent my summers waiting for the place to grow kinder to me, to give me a reason to stay.

I didn't. But I often go back to the Mojave and its stark beauty, revisiting it in my mind with the kind of fondness only achieved with distance. I never fit in at work--for starters, I was one of only two women in the labor gang--but I clung tightly to the plant and its rhythms because I was scared of going to college, another place where I wasn't sure if I belonged. It was an impressionable time, but I also go back to those summers because in many ways, they taught me how to write. You can't write a story without conflict, without your characters experiencing competing desires. The ambivalence I felt suffused my ideas about where I was going and where I had been, and in turn, fueled my fiction.

Whenever I'm struggling to write, I remember the unique torture of sweeping dust into piles under an industrial-sized kiln when it was 115 degrees out, the hot wind like a hair dryer blowing the dust right back in my face. I got so dirty I'd line my car seat with trash bags, and strip at the door when I got home. There's something freeing, though, about working up a sweat, about being so dirty you lose any self-consciousness. I learned to submit to the work, and I didn't quit. You can't write if you're afraid of messy drafts, of mistakes, of rejection. I know now that I'm up to the task, and that to write you have to love the work, even if it doesn't always love you back.

-- Samantha Jayne Allen

Email: [email protected]

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

Dear Reader Column - April 1, 2022

Dear Reader,

We're celebrating National Library Week at the book club next week. This year's theme is "Connect with Your Library." Send me an email about your local library or if you're a librarian, how has the library changed in your community? Everyone has a feel-good story about their library or a special librarian, share it with readers and librarians who read at the book club.

Every day, during National Library Week, I'll be giving away fun prizes to folks who work at libraries. But who wants to wait? Let's get the party started early. Enter my first drawing, today, and you might win a "Bookmarks are for Quitters," 15 ounce enamel mug. To enter, click here.

"Hello Suzanne, I want to share with you why I love the library. As a child and teenager, I loved to read all the time. I had an aunt who didn't drive, but loved to read. She didn't want to ask anyone to bring her to the library, so she made arrangements for the bookmobile to visit her. As a result, during the summer we would all run next door to get books. As a parent with young children, I took my children to the library for programs often. It was a great way to keep them entertained and not have to spend lots of money. Now for the last 12 years, I've worked at our local library. I am not a librarian. I am a circulation assistant, and I plan programs for adults (I started out in children's, which was fun, too).

I am so glad I applied for this job. It has been the most fulfilling and rewarding job. I love to connect with our patrons, share book recommendations, and help them find just what they need. And, I am around books all the time. The only drawback is that my 'Must Read' list is so long, I will have to live to be 1000 years old to read them all. I love reading your column every day. Thanks for letting me share." – Brenda G., East Regional Library, Destrehan, LA

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.

Dear Reader Column - March 31, 2022

Dear Reader,

"Dear Suzanne, I enjoy your emails, and I love your writings. How would I prepare for your annual, Write a DearReader Contest? Do you have certain themes, topics and word limits? I'm very interested, as I am a newly retired educator who is enjoying writing."

-- Fondly, Jennifer S.

(Suzanne replies:) Congratulations on your retirement! The contest page from last year's Write a DearReader Contest won't be updated until August (launch date August 22nd), but the guidelines will be the same as previous years. The guidelines are below and to read previous winning entries, click here.

1. Maximum word count is 650 words.
2. Submit original entries that have not been previously published.
3. Feel free to submit more than one entry for us to consider.
4. You must be at least 18 years old to enter.
5. Your story will be judged on style and content.
6. Collaborative teams are limited to two people.
7. You must include the name and mailing address of your local library with your original entry in order for them to be eligible to receive the 50% matching, cash prize.

Jennifer, I would encourage you to get in the habit of writing something every day, even if it's only for 15 minutes. Don't worry about thinking ahead of time, 'What topic should I write about?' Instead ask yourself, 'What am I thinking about this very minute?' You could start by typing today's "to-do" list and if you keep your fingers moving on the keys, after that free flowing ideas will appear on the screen.

Your body is a quick study. After a couple of weeks of writing a few minutes every day, when you sit down in front of your computer and put your fingers on the keys, your mind will know exactly what it's supposed to do, because it's been in training every day.

I look forward to reading your entry this year.

Get ready to celebrate National Library Week at the book club, April 3-9. This year's theme is "Connect with Your Library." Send me an email about your local library or if you're a librarian, how has the library changed in your community? Everyone has a feel-good story about their library or a special librarian, share it with readers and librarians who read at the book club.

Every day, during National Library Week, I'll be giving away fun prizes. Celebrate!

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 this title deserves your attention:

(FICTION)
JUST ONE WISH by Carly Phillips

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

This month's Penguin Classics book is The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway. I have a copy of the book to share with a lucky reader, so start reading and enter for your chance to win.

Dear Reader Column - March 29, 2022

Dear Reader,

Today's the last day you can enter to win the March Chocolate Chip Cookie Giveaway. Three lucky book club readers will receive some of my homemade chocolate chip cookies delivered right to their front doors. I'm ready to bake for you. To see last month's winners and to enter the drawing, click here.

Rabbi Toba Spitzer is today's guest at the book club. A popular teacher of courses on Judaism and economic justice, she has received the honor of being included in Newsweek's Top 50 Rabbis in America list and the 2010 Forward list of 50 Female Rabbis Who Are Making A Difference. Since 1997, she has been the spiritual leader of Congregation Dorshei Tzedek in Newton, MA. Her new book is, God Is Here: Reimagining the Divine.

Email Toba at: [email protected]

In 2007, I received an email at work that I almost deleted. It began, "Dear Rabbi," which sounded sort of anonymous. I thought it might be spam. But I read on, and it turned out the email was from a literary agent at a very large talent agency. He had found some of my sermons online, and thought I should write a book. I was busy being a congregational rabbi and wasn't really thinking about writing a book. We emailed a bit and had a phone conversation, and I told him I'd think about it. He was based in L.A. and I told him, if you're ever in Boston, give me a call. And that was that.

About a year and a half later, I got another email, from another literary agent at a talent agency. She had also found my sermons online, and thought I should write a book. When she mentioned me to her business partner, it turned out that he was the one who had emailed me first.

While I don't believe in a God that micromanages human lives, I had to admit that something mysterious was afoot here. The universe seemed to be telling me I needed to write a book. The duo of literary agents had moved to NYC, and I took the train down one day to have lunch with them. I couldn't quite figure out what kind of book they wanted me to write. "Like your sermons!" they said. But I give sermons on lots of topics, I replied. What exactly is it that you think I have to say in a book? After an hour or so of conversation, I realized: "I think you want me to write a book about God."

That conversation happened back in 2011. In the years since, I began and completed a journey that resulted in my book, God Is Here: Reimagining the Divine. I wrote the book because, after discovering metaphor theory and cognitive linguistics, I realized that helping spiritually-inclined people who aren't so sure about God delve into ancient, non-human metaphors for the divine could literally change lives. With my congregants, I explored how we might bring metaphors like Water and Place and Rock off of the pages of ancient texts and into daily life. The results of our exploration were powerful, but there were only so many people I could teach in person. A book, I hoped, would help me share with many more people of all backgrounds the texts and practices that I had found to be so transformative. Writing this book has been its own spiritual journey, and my sincere hope is that it brings some measure of insight and healing to our broken, beautiful world.

-- Toba Spitzer

Email Toba at, [email protected]

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.

This month's Penguin Classics book is The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway. I have a copy of the book to share with a lucky reader, so start reading and enter for your chance to win.

Dear Reader Column - March 28, 2022

Dear Reader,

Get ready to celebrate National Library Week at the book club April 3-9. This year's theme is "Connect with Your Library." Send me an email about your local library or if you're a librarian, how has the library changed in your community? Everyone has a feel-good story about their library or a special librarian, share it with readers and librarians who read at the book club.

Every day, during National Library Week, I'll be giving away fun prizes. Celebrate!

"Suzanne, our library is located in Bedford, NH, a relatively small town. A patron came in to say their family had been vacationing in San Francisco and their rental car was broken into, his son's backpack was stolen and his library book was gone. Fast forward three days and we receive a phone call from a woman in California, who has found a book on the street, from our library and she would like to mail it back to us. Can you imagine? The dad was beside himself that someone would take the time to track us down. A tiny bubble of kindness! " -- Best wishes to you, Sue F., Circulation/Book Club Manager

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.

JUST ONE WISH (FICTION) by Carly Phillips

I'm so excited to bring you Axel Forrester's story. A drummer with the rock band, The Original Kings, in my Kingston-Dare world, Axel has watched the people around him settle down and he's ready to find the one, too. When a scroll through social media shows him his first love is a veterinarian in the same town, he's determined to win her back for good.

I'm giving away five copies, to enter the drawing, click on the link to Authorbuzz and the book jacket to enter.

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on JUST ONE WISH to read more and to email author Carly Phillips, you'll get a reply.

This month's Penguin Classics book is The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway. I have a copy of the book to share with a lucky reader, so start reading and enter for your chance to win.

Dear Reader Column - March 25, 2022

Dear Reader,

Once a month I bake chocolate chip cookies for readers and today's the day you can enter to win. Three lucky book club readers will receive some of my homemade chocolate chip cookies delivered right to their front doors. I'm ready to bake for you. To see last month's winners and to enter the drawing, click here.

It's coming up soon, National Library Week is April 3rd-9th. We'll be celebrating every day at the book club with special giveaways and stories from readers and librarians. So please do send an email telling me what you love about your local library. If you're a librarian, share with readers what you love about your job, or what inspired you to become a librarian.

You can reach me at: [email protected]

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

This month's Penguin Classics book is The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway. I have a copy of the book to share with a lucky reader, so start reading and enter for your chance to win.

Dear Reader Column - March 24, 2022

Dear Reader,

My monarch caterpillars and butterflies inspired book club readers. If you missed the photos, click here.

"Suzanne, I ordered a few milkweed plants, and I was wondering, do they propagate? This is all new to me, but I love the thought of watching butterflies go through their stages. I just wanted to know if I need a big area for the milkweed so they can re-seed?" -- Robin W.

(Suzanne replies:) You can propagate milkweed from cuttings, but I have never done it. I buy milkweed at the local nursery, here in Florida. Make sure when you buy milkweed, to ask if it has been sprayed. Because if it's been sprayed with chemicals while growing, to keep the bugs away, the chemical will kill the caterpillars. I always plant at least four milkweed plants together, because when a caterpillar starts eating, it's amazing how quickly it strips the leaves off the plant. Good thing the caterpillars are willing to eat the stems, too. When the milkweed is stripped, and there aren't any more caterpillars on the plant, you can cut the stems back about 7 inches and they will regrow.

The butterflies in my garden especially love penta and zinnia plants, too. Penta plants come in numerous colors. They're easy to grow and when they start looking stringy you can cut them back and they will regrow. Have fun!

"Dear Suzanne, your story about your monarch butterfly nursery brought back a memory I haven't thought about in many years. Twenty years ago, we were standing outside our condo in Stratford, CT, which was situated on the convergence of the Housatonic River and Long Island Sound. It was the beginning of fall and we were enjoying the cooler weather. Within a few minutes, we saw hundreds (thousands?) of monarch butterflies coming toward us from Long Island Sound, heading toward New York.They passed above us and around us until we had to sit on the ground in amazement at what we were witnessing. Thank you for sharing your story, and helping to bring back a wonderful memory. Your nursery is beautiful, and it makes me like you just that much more! Best wishes to you and your 'babies.'"-- Jenifer G.

"How lucky and cool this is and that you have it right in your own backyard. Just beautiful, thanks for sharing." -- Regards, Eileen M.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

This month's Penguin Classics book is The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway. I have a copy of the book to share with a lucky reader, so start reading and enter for your chance to win.

Dear Reader Column - March 22, 2022

Dear Reader,

Today's guest author, Priscilla Masters, was born in Halifax and adopted into a multi-racial family of seven. Brought up in South Wales she moved to Birmingham in the 1970's and trained as a registered nurse at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in Birmingham.

She has produced more than thirty crime novels and one children's book. In addition to the series featuring Coroner Martha Gunn and a forensic psychologist Dr Claire Roget, Priscilla has written the DI Joanna Piercy series since 1995. The latest title in that series is the newly released, Almost a Whisper.

Priscilla has two sons, two grandsons and lives in a Victorian ex-laundry cottage on the Staffordshire/Shropshire border.

Please do contact Priscilla via her website and say "Hello." 

To enter Priscilla's book drawing (you could win one of three copies of Almost a Whisper), send an email with your mailing address to: [email protected]

Priscilla Masters on a First Date

As a first date it could have ended a lot better but not much worse, to be truthful.

I was a first-year student nurse in Birmingham 1970 when I was invited to a party by one of the medical students. So far so good. Except...

My date for the night had heard that the famous clock tower, Old Joe, was undergoing some restoration. A little earlier in the evening he'd recced the tower which was normally padlocked and found a small opening in one of the doors where a panel had been removed. He reckoned that I was just small enough to squeeze through and open the door from the inside.

Old Joe aka The Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Tower, is a clock tower and campanile, or bell tower, located in Chancellor's court at the University of Birmingham. According to Wikipedia it is the tallest free-standing clock tower in the world, although I didn't know that at the time. The university lists it as 361 feet tall. The clock dial measures 17 feet in diameter; the length of the clock's hands are 10 and 6 ft, and the bell weighs in at 5 tons.

A prominent landmark in Birmingham, the grade II listed tower can be seen for miles around the campus as well as from the surrounding roads, and has become synonymous with the University itself.

And my new boyfriend thought it would be a nice start to the evening to pop up to the top, ring the bells and maybe tinker with the hands before heading to the party.

I wasn't exactly dressed for the occasion in lime green hotpants, wedge heels and false eyelashes and I'm not over fond of heights. But luckily the heights thing wasn't a problem as we couldn't look down as we climbed and climbed and climbed, finally reaching a platform. A couple of hangers on had joined the pre-party party and had clanged the bells (I don't know if any of you have read Dorothy L Sayers The Nine Tailors?) Another mischief maker had 'played around' with the clock hands causing confusion to the commuters the next morning on their way to work!

It might not surprise you to know that we didn't get to the party. We were "arrested" by the University Police but released by the Selly Oak Force who between incredulity and guffaws cautioned us and let us go.

What might surprise you more is that I actually married the guy!

-- Priscilla Masters
Enter a drawing to win one of three copies of Almost a Whisper. Send an email with your mailing address to: [email protected]

You may contact Priscilla via her website: https://www.priscillamasters.co.uk/contact-priscilla-masters/

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

This month's Penguin Classics book is The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway. I have a copy of the book to share with a lucky reader, so start reading and enter for your chance to win.

Dear Reader Column - March 21, 2022

Dear Reader,

I've become a doting mother to 38 monarch caterpillars for the past few weeks, and the numbers are growing. Every day more teeny, tiny baby caterpillars appear on my milkweed plants. It's exciting! It's amazing really, especially when I saw three different butterflies come out of their chrysalis right before my eyes. After a monarch slips out of a darkened chrysalis, seemingly a little stunned, it spends the next couple of hours drying out its wings, so it can head out on its first flight.

Mothering monarch caterpillars is a full time job. The babies have a ferocious appetite. 'Chomp chomp, chomp...' One caterpillar can strip an entire milkweed plant in a day. I trim back my old milkweed, so it will regrow leaves, but re-growing takes time. When a plant gets stripped, and there are still caterpillars on it, I gently move them to a new plant. But eventually I can't keep up. 'What are my babies going to eat?' So off to the nursery I go to buy more milkweed.

The caterpillar nursery has taken over my backyard. Caterpillars are crawling on the back steps, and they're everywhere on the brick patio. So when I walk out the back door, I have to step carefully. The leaves are piling up, too. What a mess. (It's that time of year in Florida.) But I'm concerned about raking them, because they're part of the nursery. So instead, I've decided to look at the leaves in a different way. They're gorgeous, they add character to the flower gardens, and I think my monarchs would agree.

It's true a mother's work is never done. And I feel blessed. Everyday there are amazing miracles all around me. I'm so fortunate to be part of the monarch butterfly cycle.

To see photos of my monarch nursery, click here. 

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

This month's Penguin Classics book is The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway. I have a copy of the book to share with a lucky reader, so start reading and enter for your chance to win.

Dear Reader Column - March 18, 2022

Dear Reader,

I was in a grumpy, poor-me mood because my foot was hurting--again. Two weeks ago my doctor gave me a prescription to clear up the inflammation, but I might as well have been swallowing M&M's twice a day. Last week he injected a shot of cortisone, but it hadn't improved.

Since the pain in my foot wasn't responding to anything, I decided to take charge and go about my usual routine. I'd show that foot of mine who was boss! Pain, I could tough it out. So my husband and I headed out on our usual morning walk. I did decide to walk a little slower. I didn't want to insult my foot. When you're negotiating--even with pain in your foot--the best outcome is when everyone feels they've won. But halfway through our walk, I realized "the other party" in this negotiation, wasn't happy at all--my foot was killing me.

Sitting on the side of the road, while my husband walked home to get the car, I was feeling grumpy--really grumpy and I started imagining all sorts of depressing outcomes. The doctor can't figure out what's wrong, I'll never be able to go for a simple walk again, I'll have this problem forever, this foot thing is hopeless...but then a car stopped in front of me.

I'd noticed the car a few minutes earlier when it passed by. I assumed the man and woman in the car were checking out houses for sale in the neighborhood, because they slowed down a little farther down the street, sat a minute in front of a big house, and then continued on. But a few minutes later, when they circled around again and stopped their car in front of me, I realized their topic of conversation hadn't been houses, it was me.

"Excuse me," the woman on the passenger side was leaning a little out the window, "my husband and I noticed you, and we just wanted to make sure you are all right." Both she and her husband had genuine, caring smiles on their faces.

"I'm fine, thank you. I got a cortisone shot in my foot the other day, but apparently it didn't take. My husband is walking home to get the car. I really want to thank you for stopping."

After the couple left I realized my mood had changed. The little 'why me?' and 'I'm sick of this foot problem'--instantly all of those feelings were insignificant to the kindness of strangers. The more I thought about it, the more amazing it was. One simple little question from two people who were generally concerned, one little polite gesture--changed the rest of my day. Sure, my foot still hurt, my situation hadn't changed, but my mind set had.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

* Congratulations to the winner of the Bubble Wand Giveaway, Deb DeNardo.

Congratulations to these recent book club winners: Lonnie E., Donna O. and Janet H., winners of The Treeline by Guest Author Ben Rawlence. And Fran S., Angie G., and Sharon B., winners of Funny Farm by Guest Author Laurie Zaleski.

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

KIDSBUZZ: For kids 8-12, especially kids who are into the environment and think about plastic pollution, check out Elaine Dimopoulos' TURN THE TIDE, "a heartfelt story  highlighting activism and showing how change does not come easily" and simply a great kid read. (Kirkus Reviews). For a chance to win a free copies, to talk with the authors, and more, see http://www.authorbuzz.com/kidsbuzz.

 

 

 

This month's Penguin Classics book is The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway. I have a copy of the book to share with a lucky reader, so start reading and enter for your chance to win.