Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column 10-27-2020

Dear Reader,

While Diane Kelly, today's guest author, spent most of her life in Texas, she now calls North Carolina home. She cohabitates with three cats, three dogs, and a very patient husband. Her pets and their unique personalities play into the kitty and canine characters in her books, including sweet little Sawdust, the crime fighting cat from her House Flipper series, and K-9 Brigit who stars in the Paw Enforcement series, including Diane's brand-new release, Bending the Paw. Can our favorite K-9 team solve a murder when the body refuses to be found?

Diane told me she loves to hear from readers, so send her a "Hello" at DianeKellyBooks@gmail.com.

Nosey Mosey

'Every scent is a story...'

I'm "mom" to three spoiled mutts. We take long walks each morning. In all honesty, calling the activity a "walk" feels like a misnomer. It's more of a stroll, a meandering, a mosey. Rarely do my dogs follow a straight path for more than a few feet. Like much of North Carolina, my neighborhood is heavily wooded. Deer, snakes, box turtles, frogs, and approximately 99 million squirrels make their homes among the trees. My dogs enjoy following scent trails their fellow creatures left behind--at least as far as their retractable leashes will allow. They pull me from one side of the
street to the other as they amble along, their noses to the ground, sniffling and snuffling. Sometimes, my dogs lock onto different scents, yanking in opposite directions, testing how far my arms and patience can stretch. Other times, they weave crisscrossing paths, intent on tying me up in knots with their leashes. I've developed some creative ballet-like maneuvers to keep their leashes untangled. 'Arms up and pirouette!'

I've come to realize the walks are more than exercise to them. It's also their "reading time" for the day, a way to enjoy the stories surrounding us. While we humans read with our eyes, dogs read with their noses. They can discern with a whiff whether a doe and her fawn lingered at the edge of a lawn, nibbling on the clover. A sniff tells them that a fox trotted by in the wee hours, searching for a late-night snack, or that a snake is slithering softly through the bed of fallen leaves nearby. Scenting is their way of following a story, of getting to know the characters and what those characters are up to.

Though I can't read the stories myself, my dogs give me clues. A stiff, intense sniffing posture means a thriller plot or dark suspense story. When the dogs take a winding path, backtracking and circling about, they're on the trail of a good mystery. A lively trot with a wagging tail is a happy story, maybe a romantic comedy starring two squirrels whose eyes met over acorns. Of course, other dogs leave them stories on trees, mailboxes, and fire hydrants, too--olfactory autobiographies, if you will. My dogs even seem to have their favorite stories and characters, returning to certain spots like we humans return to a beloved book series. Next time you take your dog for a walk, see if you can "read" along with them!

--Diane Kelly

Diane loves to hear from readers! Email Diane at DianeKellyBooks@gmail.com.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

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

REGAINING PARADISE (NonFiction) by Paul Corson

Are you in search of some answers to life's big questions? Are you trying to figure out how your spirituality and belief in science can intersect? That's exactly why I wrote this book. I tried to sensibly reconcile faith and science in a manner both simple and deep, allowing the mind's eye to perceive new means of understanding the rational and the miraculous.

Go to: AUTHORBUZZ click on REGAINING PARADISE to read more and to email author Paul Corson, you'll get a reply.

Dear Reader Column 10-26-2020

Dear Reader,

(Suzanne is out of the office today, so she's sharing one of her favorite columns.)

My husband cringes and tries to duck out of sight whenever he hears me say to a stranger, "I realize this isn't really any of my business, but I'm just curious..." I admit the first few times I ventured into the "unknown," that even I felt a little uneasy. But in the end, I've never been sorry that I asked, because usually I hear an interesting story.

"Why was the man in front of me in the grocery line wearing a green ribbon, with a fancy bow tied around the bottom of his pant leg? No, he wasn't a cyclist. He said he's always forgetting important things, (well, that's what his wife tells him) they made a bet, he lost, and his wife didn't think that a string tied around his finger for a day was big enough penance.

And then there's Gretchen, a book club reader. She sent me an email the other day and her signature line read:

From the desk of Gretchen S.
Soprano & Office Manager

Okay, I had to ask. Soprano & Office Manager??

Gretchen explained it this way: "I have two lives. My life I love--a working musician as an operatic soprano/voice, teacher/performer, which doesn't quite pay my bills yet! And my other life--that supports the soprano part of my life I love--office manager at a small accounting firm! So, Diva, soprano, office manager, I am! Diva by night, office manager by day!"

I like her idea. It's a great way to "market" what you want to be or what you'd rather be doing from 9 to 5. "How-to" gurus are constantly preaching, "if you want to make a change in your life, think the part, act the part, until it happens." Think of the possibilities:

Sailor / VP Public Relations
Single and still looking / Accountant
Perfect Game Bowler / Retail Clerk
Author / Postal Carrier

Want to be thinner / School Teacher
Scrabble Champion / Butcher
First Baseman / Lab Technician
NASCAR Driver / Waiter

So what would be yours?

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

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

BEGIN AGAIN (Fiction) by Jennifer Probst

Do you remember your first love?

This is the story of Chloe and Owen, who believed they were each other's forever love, but ended up in heartbreak. Until Owen returns. And this time, he's ready to be the man worthy of Chloe's love. He just needs to convince her to open her heart one more time. I believe second chances make powerful love stories. I hope you enjoy their emotional journey, as they learn from the past and begin again.

Go to: AUTHORBUZZ click on BEGIN AGAIN to read more and to email author Jennifer Probst, you'll get a reply.

Dear Reader Column 10-23-2020

Dear Reader,

Two inquiring minds want to know....

"Hi, Ms. Suzanne...thank you for all the fun of the daily book club emails. They always bring a little joy to my day and to some of my friends as well.

However, today they've brought me and my friend a mystery, and while my friend loves mysteries I hate them. So we're hoping you can rescue our poor wee, addled brains and solve this one for us. My friend and I were chatting about favorite columns, and I said I love the one about questions. 'Me too,' my friend said. Though further discussion yielded the fact that we both remembered two different columns. I thought the column was about questions you ask yourself before committing to doing something.

My friend thought it was questions you ask to start great conversations with people that make them feel genuinely cared about. Hmm, now was my friend right? Was I? Were we both? Were neither? Perhaps this was a column we just thought you had written, but hadn't been created yet?"

Warmly, Robin

(Suzanne replies:)

Robin, both questions sound like topics I would write about. I don't recall ever making an actual list of questions, yet I can't say for sure because I've been writing (M-F) since 1999 (which is over 5,000 columns). But after thinking more about your friend's question, about how to make people feel genuinely cared about, the word 'approachable' keeps coming to mind.

In order to strike up a conversation and make people feel genuinely cared about, I think it's important to be approachable and apparently I've felt that way for a long time. Because when I searched through columns over the past 21 years, again and again--there was the word 'approachable.' So today, I'm sharing one of those columns...

One of my goals in life is to be approachable. If someone walked into a room filled with strangers and they needed assistance, I would like to be the person they feel comfortable enough to come over and talk to. Don't get the wrong idea. It's not like I'm out to save the world and I have no desire to solve everyone's problems, but I think it brings people a lot of comfort when they feel like they're not alone.

I try to simply be myself, extending a joyful, fun spirit that invites people to say hello. So what you read in my column is pretty much what you'd get, if you met me. Having said that, there have been occasions when I've woke up in the middle of the night panicking, "Oh my gosh, I shouldn't have written that in tomorrow's column. Or, I shouldn't have talked so openly to the woman I met yesterday. What will people think?"

Putting your heart out there can be risky business, but if I want to give my best, I need to get to the place inside of me that's a little vulnerable. It can be scary. Give a lot, put it all out there, and someone may take advantage, because some people take all you have to give and give nothing back in return. But it's worth the risk--giving a little bit of myself--because readers and friends, even strangers, have given the nicest gifts back.

No pretending, no hiding my flaws, no judgement, just simple words from my heart seem to be enough to put folks at ease, and hopefully make me approachable.

Robin, thanks for sending in your email and in an upcoming column, I'll write about questions I ask myself before committing to doing something.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

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

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

For teen readers looking for a mystery full of suspense and compelling characters and writing, FIRST WE WERE IV by Alexandra Sirowy "hooks readers from the first page" (Teenreads); and for the younger crowd, MERLIN RAJ AND THE SANTA ALGORITHM: A COMPUTER SCIENCE DOG'S TALE FOR KIDS by Priya Ardis combines STEM and fiction for a great read. For a chance to win a free copy, to talk with the authors, and more, click here. 

Dear Reader Column 10-22-2020

Dear Reader,

Reading your emails is the best part of my day. Thanks so much for writing. If you missed yesterday's link to Dino Grandma delivering dessert to her grandchildren, and you're looking for a good laugh, be sure to click here.

From my Inbox:

"Suzanne, what a great way to start my day! Those pictures brought a smile to my face in these days of COVID dreariness. I hope your grandchildren know how LUCKY they are to have you as their grandmother. Stay well." -- Judy

"Suzanne, those pix are PRICELESS!!!!!!!!!!" -- Anne

"Hilarious!!! Gave me a good laugh today. (Perfect hat too.)" -- Mary

"I only wish my grandma had been as fun and funny as you. Thanks for the pictures. I can just see you inflating your costume and walking up the street. It gave me a laugh, something we can all use right now. I have to confess that I do not always read the books, but I always read your essays. Thanks again." -- Peggy T.

"SO glad you thought to color coordinate your mask with your dino! You gave me a smile this a.m.! Amazing what we'll do for our grandkids, isn't it?" -- Barb R.

I used to bake with my grandchildren, but now to keep in touch, every weekend I make a dessert and drop it off on their front stoop. This Friday I'll be delivering homemade chocolate cupcakes, decorated like a cat--including the whiskers. I've been using the same recipe for chocolate cupcakes for years and last night, when I was sorting through some of my old journals, I found a page where my grandson Paul (who was four years old at the time), in his words, recited the "recipe" for making our chocolate cupcakes.

Four-year-old, Paul Beecher's recipe for Chocolate Cupcakes:

"We need flour. We need butter and we need frosting and vanilla, eggs, sugar. And we need chocolate chips. Put butter and sugar in the mixer. Put the flour in one bowl. Baking soda and salt.

We need brown sugar inside the mixer. Mix the flour, baking soda and salt together. Put vanilla in mixer. Eggs, crack them in a bowl. Put them inside the mixer. Put flour in mixer. Turn the mixer up so it go fast.

Put the liners in the pan. Put chocolate inside the papers. Put the liners inside the holes in the pan. Grandma puts the pan in the oven. Grandma washes dishes.

When the timer rings, stick a toothpick in. If it's soft, it needs more in the oven. Timer rings again. Toothpick again. It done.

Grandma takes out of the oven. Then we let them cool. When them a little cool, take them out of the pan. When them real cool, frost them. Sprinkles.

We bring to somebody else."

I was amazed that my grandson remembered the recipe, and that even at four years old, he seemed to understand one of the most important ingredients--love. Giving the best of yourself and baking something wonderful to share, or in Paul's words, "We bring to somebody else."

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

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

(Fiction) SORROW by Tiffanie DeBartolo

(Mystery) THE FOG LADIES: Family Matters by Susan McCormick

(Thriller) YOU CAN GO HOME NOW by Michael Elias

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

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

Dear Reader Column 10-21-2020

Dear Reader,

It was an Inflatable Dinosaur Riding a Raptor, Halloween Costume and it looked hilarious. I'd never seen anything like it before, and I couldn't imagine how a person could actually fit into it. But I wasn't scanning Amazon for a Halloween costume, I was looking for some gruesome Halloween cupcake toppers for the dessert I make for my grandchildren every weekend. (Since I can't have them visit, I drop dessert off on their doorstep on Fridays.) So I moved on from the crazy-looking dino costume and found some "bleeding" eyeballs to center in their cupcakes. Perfect! They'd love them.

But for some reason I couldn't resist going back to the costume. It certainly was making me smile, just thinking about it. Then again, I'm not even a big Halloween fan, and I certainly wouldn't be going anywhere this year--except I was going to make an appearance on my grandchildren's front stoop when I dropped off dessert. Okay, so now I was laughing out loud thinking about how silly I would look delivering dessert as Grandma Dino, and it certainly would be memorable. So even though I'd be buying the costume for a 10-minute appearance on the stoop, I decided 'these are desperate times for a real good laugh.' And it was clear that Dinosaur Riding a Raptor was calling out to me, "Suzanne, you need to buy me." And so I did.

Once you put this costume on and start the air pump, you have to pull the string tight around your waist, so none of the air escapes. It doesn't take too long for the head (with red LED lights), the legs, tail and dino hands to inflate. But when you're all inflated, you can't sit down. I didn't want to be inflating when my grandkids came to the door, so my husband parked our car around the block, and I got out and inflated me (with one neighbor looking), and then I walked down to my grandchildren's house while my husband drove slowly beside me.

Yes, my grandchildren and my son were shocked to see Grandma Dino at the door! And before I left my grandson asked if he could be Dino at his outdoor socially distanced Halloween party. So the inflatable, Dinosaur Riding a Raptor will be making a second appearance this year. Of course I have photos, I think you'll enjoy them...click here.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

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

YOU CAN GO HOME NOW (Thriller) by Michael Elias

My new book, is a twisty, psychological thriller that's very timely, in that it deals with anti-abortion terrorism and domestic abuse and features a female homicide detective who confronts her own moral compass of right and wrong in her pursuit of justice and revenge. She wants to find the man who killed her physician father, and along the way investigates a series of murders of abusive men that seem to be linked to a battered women's shelter. As the story unfolds, you'll gain insight into Nina's life and her secret quest.

Go to: AUTHORBUZZ click on YOU CAN GO HOME NOW to read more and to email author Michael Elias, you'll get a reply.

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

For teen readers looking for a mystery full of suspense and compelling characters and writing, FIRST WE WERE IV by Alexandra Sirowy "hooks readers from the first page" (Teenreads); and for the younger crowd, MERLIN RAJ AND THE SANTA ALGORITHM: A COMPUTER SCIENCE DOG'S TALE FOR KIDS by Priya Ardis combines STEM and fiction for a great read. For a chance to win a free copy, to talk with the authors, and more, click here. 

Dear Reader Column 10-19-20

Dear Reader,

It's all about the "presentation." If they're cute enough, even zucchini will be adopted.

From my Email Bag:

"Suzanne, we had a garden for about 25 years and had an abundance of zukes! Two stories...I found a recipe for zucchini bar cookies with a cinnamon glaze. It took our three young sons years to start questioning those tiny green flecks but they had grown so used to the cookies that they went right on eating them. My trick to 'sharing' my extra bounty was to arrange a few of the small to medium sized zukes in a basket with ribbons around each and every one and a note in which they were begging to be taken in. Worked every time but we lived in the suburbs with very few other gardens nearby so either the presentation or the lack of other donated vegetables could have been the reason. I'm going with the basket and ribbons theory!!" -- Linda F.

"Your zucchini story was our zucchini story until this year. Naturally it is 2020 and everything that can go wrong seems to be going wrong and that includes zucchini. We had a terrible crop. There were many flowers but only a few matured into zucchini. A couple started to grow and then withered. A couple got farther along but then started to rot at the other end. Two grew to giant size and we split one lengthwise. Filled it with sauce and crushed meatballs for our dinner, and the other giant I used to make a zucchini chocolate cake, and froze the other two cups of it for future use. That's it. Not one neighbor got a zucchini from us this year, but they did reap the benefits from the rest of our garden, especially the tomatoes and cucumbers which were abundant. Better luck next year, we hope, and not just with the garden." -- Mary Ann F.

"I'm sorry Suzanne, I don't mean to flood your inbox, but I had to say THANK YOU for today's zucchini email. I laughed so loud I scared my cat!!! Oh what a great way to start the day....with a hearty, unexpected laugh. Thank you thank you thank you!! And I am going to try the Zucchini Bisque. I can't wait :)" -- Mary N.

I love to hear from readers. Thanks so much for writing.

Who are the four lucky Chocolate Chip Cookie winners this month? Congratulations to Juli G., Delaware County District Library, Samantha V., Heidi S., Williamson County Public Library and Karen S. I'll be baking for you and cookies will show up on your doorstep soon. (Please be sure to send a photo.)

And the winner of the bubble gum giveaway is Scott C.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

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

SORROW (Fiction) by Tiffanie DeBartolo

I am so thankful for my wonderful fans, who have followed my writing for years and have anxiously awaited the next installment in my literary career. I am excited to finally introduce SORROW to the world. It's a story of friendship and love, art and music, and how these pursuits can save us from ourselves.

Go to: AuthorBuzz click on SORROW to read more and to email author Tiffanie DeBartolo, you'll get a reply.

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

Dear Reader Column 10-14-2020

Dear Reader,

Since the pandemic started, I've been ordering online and having my groceries delivered. The other day as I was putting together a shopping list, I accidentally clicked on the candy link and there it was--my favorite. Some things follow you from childhood to adulthood. For me, it's pink Dubble Bubble bubble gum. One, two, three pieces of gum in my mouth at one time, it wasn't unusual, because the challenge was to see just how big of a bubble I could blow before it popped.

When I became an adult, I didn't want to put my childish bubble gum ways behind me, but I was forced to quit chewing bubble gum because of my nasty, scare-the-peejevers-out-of-me gum dream. The story line was always the same: I'm enjoying chewing my bubblegum, but then somehow it starts multiplying, and when I try to pull the gum out of my mouth--it's a vicious cycle--I keep pulling and pulling, but I never reach the end. Pretty soon I start feeling like I'm choking and finally I wake up, but I'm unable to get back to sleep.

At first I thought it was a coincidence. (I was praying it was a coincidence. I love my pink Dubble Bubble.) But after numerous experiments and analyzing the results, it was clear, if I chewed bubble gum during the day, the dream would haunt me that night. So I can't chew Dubble Bubble gum any more. (So sad.)

But I'm looking for someone to continue my tradition of seeing just how big of a pink bubble they can blow before it pops. Are you game? I'm giving away a 1.5 pound bag of pink Dubble Bubble Gum, enter to win today. (Of course if you're the winner, you'll have to send me a photo.)

Click here to enter to win the Dubble Bubble.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

P. S. There's still time to enter this month's Chocolate Chip Cookie Giveaway. Four lucky book club readers will get cookies delivered right to their front door. You'll be doing this baker a favor. I love to bake, and it's one of the most relaxing things I do. To see past cookie winners and to enter this month's cookie giveaway, click here.

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

Dear Reader Column 10-13-2020

Dear Reader,

Today's guest author, Liz Rosenberg, has written novels, poetry, and more than 25 books for young readers. Her most recent publications are the novel Indigo Hill, and an award-winning biography of L. M. Montgomery, House Of Dreams: A Biography of L. M. Montgomery. Liz lives and teaches in Binghamton, NY.

Please welcome her to the book club. Authors love to hear from readers. Email: lrosenb@binghamton.edu

The Books that Grow with Us

I still own a handful of the original copies of books that I read as a child. I love looking at the old books, their covers, or the cloth covers when the paper ones have ripped away. Somewhere I have my copy of Happy Birthday to You by Dr. Seuss, which is the first book I remember receiving as a child (though that can't be true, I was read to all the time)--given by my nursery school friend Edgar, at my four year old birthday party. It's still one of my favorite Seuss books, partly because I can never open the book without reliving the delight I felt on first revealing it from its gift wrap. Strange, but true.

Old books have a pungent smell of their own--my copy of You Come, Too by Robert Frost is a bit musky, like old tobacco, while Carolyn Haywood's B is for Betsy smells both dusty and flowery. But even more poignantly do they have a life of their own. They change as we change. Charlotte's Web both is and is not the book I first finished, weeping, in second grade. It still makes me cry, of course. But I no longer carry Fern's point of view. I'm probably closer now to Fern's old doctor, or the bewildered Mrs. Arable, trying to understand her girl. Anne of Green Gables shifts colors each time I read it. Sometimes I feel the poetry of the descriptions most keenly. Other times, it's the humor that catches me. Or one character or another will rise up from the pages, and I'll feel as if I were meeting them for the first time.

There are books I revisit annually, like a family reunion. I used to read Black Beauty every summer, lying in my parent's air-conditioned bedroom, the only truly cool room in the house. Each year I re-read Heidi, never without feeling sudden hunger for my own glass of fresh milk and hunk of cheese. Miss Happiness and Miss Flower by Rumer Godden never fails to comfort me. I change favorite sisters each time I revisit Little Women.

Surely this is part of why I write for young people. Having had books as my lifelong friends, I want to pass that gift along. And while I've happily written book for adults, too, it is the eternal, shifting, changing, but always-loving relationship with books I honor most.

--Liz Rosenberg

Please welcome Liz to the book club.
Email: lrosenb@binghamton.edu

* Chocolate Chip Cookies! It's time to start baking my homemade chocolate chip cookies every month, for four lucky book club readers. Cookies are delivered right to your front door. You'll be doing this baker a favor. I love to bake, and it's one of the most relaxing things I do. To see past cookie winners and to enter this month's cookie giveaway, click here.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

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

Dear Reader Column 10-08-2020

Dear Reader,

I'm busy reading entries in this year's Write a DearReader Contest. A few days ago, I featured one of last year's Honorable Mention entries written by Elizabeth Janice. Every Sunday, for nearly three years, she spent her afternoons with Victoria, an elderly woman who lived alone in New York City. The visits were part of a program that matched homebound seniors with volunteer "friendly visitors."

Today Elizabeth writes...

"Suzanne, thank you so much for publishing my 2019 Write a DearReader Contest entry once again. It brought tears to my eyes to recall my friendship with Victoria and our Sunday afternoon 'tea parties' (good tears).

I like looking at old photographs, and I was lucky to rescue about a dozen or so black-and-white publicity shots of a young Victoria from her early acting/dancing days. What a bright smile she had! She clearly loved posing for the camera. In my mind, I can also picture her performing on stage, soaking up the energy from the audience--her smile beaming all the way to the back row. When I came to visit one day, there was Victoria, sitting at her kitchen table, about to tear up the photos because she said they would just end up in the trash when she died. When I heard this, I insisted that she give them to me. They're now safely tucked away in a photo album labeled 'Victoria,' which I pull out from time to time.

Although she never became a big Broadway star, Victoria worked steadily on stage before she got married. At one point, she went to Hollywood to audition for movie roles. I don't think she stayed out West very long, though. She was quite the world traveler, especially for a woman of her generation, and visited many far-off places. But New York City was her home...and the place she loved best and always returned to. After old age forced her to stay inside, she would peer down through her apartment windows at all the hustle and bustle on the streets below. How hard it must have been for such a fun-loving and vivacious lady--who simply adored being the center of attention--to end up alone and pretty much forgotten by the rest of the world.

I can't believe that a year has gone by since last year's contest. I was so excited when I found out that I was an Honorable Mention. You would have thought I had won first prize!! Actually, I still feel thrilled. And also honored that I could share Victoria's story.

Wishing you the best of luck judging this year's entries. It won't be an easy decision, but I'm sure you'll receive many excellent and fascinating stories."

Warmest regards, Elizabeth Janice

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

Dear Reader Column 10-06-2020

Dear Reader,

Today's guest author is a Pacific Northwest native. Her love for the Pacific Northwest runs deep, hence why all of her books are set there. From the Shakespearean Hamlet of Ashland, Oregon to the Bavarian village of Leavenworth, Washington, the Pacific Northwest is a backdrop for every book and almost becomes another character in each series.

When she isn't writing, you can find her testing pastry recipes in her home kitchen, or at one of the many famed coffeehouses or brewpubs nearby. You'll also find her outside exploring hiking trails and trying to burn off calories consumed in the name of "research".

Please welcome author Ellie Alexander to the book club! Nothing Bundt Trouble is the latest release in Ellie's popular Bakeshop Mystery Series and Without a Brew, the second title in Sloan Krause Mystery Series, will be released soon.

In today's guest column Ellie's writes about her "research" for Without a Brew.

It's officially fall, which here in the Pacific Northwest means lush sepia skies, a patchwork of golden and amber leaves mixing in with pines and hemlocks, and the kickoff of Oktoberfest, the annual celebration that raises a stein to the age-old craft of brewing.

Did you know that there's a perfect way to pour a pint? It's true. A brewer's tap handle must be carefully massaged in order to achieve the ideal balance. You can't simply yank on a tap and allow the beer to flood. That will result in a frothy, foaming mess. Shudder the thought.

Believe it or not, there's a time-tested method to every beertender's madness. A pint glass should be held at a 45 degree angle and slowly filled to the midpoint. Then the glass should be tilted upright and finished off until the beer reaches the top. Served cold, but not too cold. In fact, most brewers want us to banish the saying, "Ice cold beer" as the subtle nuisances in hoppy aromas and malty notes disappear if a beer is served below freezing.

These are the things I learn during my research process when I'm working on my Sloan Krause Mysteries. What do I do with this treasure trove of beer knowledge and lore, you may ask? It's a good question. Much of it finds its way onto the page, and the rest lingers in my head, taking up space and making for interesting conversation starters when I happen to find myself at a local brewpub.

In truth, I'm fascinated by the process. How is it that four simple ingredients--water, hops, grain, and yeast--have captivated our palates for thousands of years? Evidence of the first beers date back five thousand years to Mesopotamia, but scientists believe that fermented beverages likely originated much, much earlier. And while many Pacific Northwest pubs may feature burly, bearded brewers, the first brewers were actually female priestesses. I love getting to explore places and professions where women are taking leading roles.

However, the best part of my "research" is tasting. It's imperative that I can accurately describe the pineapple and citrus mouthfeel of a new hop variety or the toasted coconut and chocolate undertones in a dark stout. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it. So, here's a Prost to crafts in all forms whether in a pint glass or words on a page.

Happy Oktoberfest!

-- Ellie Alexander

Send a note to Ellie and welcome her to the book club.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com