Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column -- April 23, 2021

Dear Reader,

In a recent column, I wrote: "Everyone has a calling on this earth, a unique gift to share with others. So every morning I quietly listen and follow my heart for the day's assignment. Over the years, sometimes my assignments have challenged me to step outside of my comfort zone, because it's not what everyone else is doing. But I've always been rewarded with a tremendous amount of joy. And who knows, maybe these assignments are the main ingredient for my own happiness."

Book club reader Eileen T. wrote...

"Suzanne, your column today struck a chord with me. After my son's unexpected death at age 20, I marveled at how uniquely people responded to our grief. Knowing many people would be arriving from out-of-state, some brought canisters of coffee, paper goods or various beverages. Many brought salads and casseroles, and my best friends served them between calling hours, jamming themselves into my hot kitchen and deciding which items to offer, and staying late to clean up. Some sent flowers to the funeral home and some to our home, beautiful planters we could enjoy the rest of the summer. There were callers, card senders and emailers. A surprise to me was how many sent money--something I would have never thought of--but much needed since I took a month off work. My neighbor had his lawn guy do our lawn too, for the next month. Someone who I barely knew saved the funeral program, and sent me a card on [my son's] birthday the next spring. For the two weeks following his death, my friend put a big Rubbermaid chest on our porch, so people could leave their food offerings in it, without having to ring our doorbell if we weren't up to visitors.

What if everyone sent flowers or a card? My experience would have been so different. I relished how each person, doing what felt natural to them, helped me through all the facets of that hard time. Being true to ourselves is 'the' way to bless others. Thanks for the reminder. It's good to read your words each morning!" -- Eileen T.

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 my Very Cool Shirt Giveaway. I'm not kidding, I'm giving the shirt off my back to a book club reader. To see a photo and enter the giveaway, click here.

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

KIDSBUZZ: Know kids 8-12 who are into science and adventure? Fans of Percy Jackson? Then ATLANTIS: THE ACCIDENTAL INVASION by Gregory Mone is a perfect next read. For a chance to win a free copy, talk with the author, and more, see KIDSBUZZ

Dear Reader Column -- April 22, 2021

Dear Reader,

It looked adorable on the brunette model online. It would be a different sort of look for me, which was fun, and immediately I envisioned what I would wear with it. Yes, I loved the shirt and so I bought it.

I was so excited when the package was delivered and I tried the shirt on right away. 'Hmm, this definitely is a different look for me.' I stood in front of the full length mirror for quite a while, sizing up this new look, going back and forth about whether I really liked it or not, but finally I convinced myself I needed to change-up my wardrobe a bit, and this shirt was the first step. (And even better, the shirt was 40% off.)

But the next day when I decided to wear it, no matter how many times I told myself the shirt looked adorable on me--it didn't. And unfortunately, after trying on every skirt in my closet, not one of them improved the look of the shirt.

So now I'm the owner of an "On Sale, No Return" very cool looking shirt that needs a good home. Would anyone out there like a new shirt?

It really is cute, as long as I'm not the person wearing it. (And remember, it's never really been worn. I only had it on long enough to try on 15 skirts.)

To see a photo and enter the Very Cool Shirt Giveaway--I'm not kidding, I'm giving the shirt off my back to a book club reader--click here.

Congratulations to the winners of Done Gone by guest author Marcia Talley: Janice D. and Mari R.

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)
FIERY GIRLS by Heather Wardell

(Fiction)
THE END OF THE OCEAN by Maja Lunde

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

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

Dear Reader Column -- April 15, 2021

Dear Reader,

When someone asks me in person or in an email, "So how are things?" of course my answer is, "Oh, everything is fine." Whether it is or isn't. Most people aren't really expecting a detailed answer, they're just being polite. So I'm only honest with good friends. I hope my truth-telling about, "How have things been?" is taken as a compliment by my friends--that I feel comfortable enough to confide in them--and I let them know they can reciprocate any time.

"So, how have you been?" A friend emailed me the other day.

And I replied...

"Well, for the past six weeks my grandkids have had one bad cold after another. And each time one has to stay home from school, they pass the "bug" on to my son or daughter-in-law. A few weeks ago, all five of them went down at once. So I provided dinner every day for a week, so at least it would be one thing off their to-do list.

The following week, it was my turn to "go down." I dealt with bouts of occipital neuralgia, then my IBS wanted its turn, and in the midst of that I had to get my monthly 13 Botox eye injections for my BEB, then one of our cats got sick so my husband and I had to go to the vet. Then our granddaughter came to visit for nine days, and the big Easter Hunt and dinner was at my house. Even though I loved having my granddaughter and hosting Easter for the family, I forgot to wear my Superwoman outfit, so I've been feeling a bit tired.

And then this past Saturday, I went out to fill the bubble machine I run in front of my house every day, and when I bent over, my entire body was instantly engulfed with excruciating pain. I almost went down on the driveway pavement, but I managed to get back to our side porch door, and my husband helped me in. I couldn't lay down. It was too painful. At one point, I debated about calling 911. "Can you come and get me off the floor?" But finally my husband got me all set up in a chair that was bearable to sit in...and then 'OH NO' I had to pee.

I couldn't walk into the bathroom myself (I couldn't walk anywhere), so I hung onto the back of my husband's belt on his jeans, and since I had socks on, he was able to slide me over the tile floors toward the bathroom. But I bared down so hard on his belt while he was pulling me across the floor, that I pulled his jeans down to his knees. What a party, eh? You just gotta laugh!

"So how have you been?"

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read (and commiserate) with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

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

(Fantasy) DRAGON REVEALED by Donna Grant

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

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

Dear Reader Column 03-29-2021

Dear Reader,

I'm on vacation this week. My granddaughter Bailey, who I haven't seen in one and a half years is visiting. I'm leaving you in good hands. This week I will be featuring the remaining Honorable Mention entries from the 2020 Write a DearReader Contest, a visit from a wonderful guest author and a special book giveaway.

It was extremely difficult to choose winners in the 2020 Write a DearReader Contest because the writing was outstanding. Today's Honorable Mention piece was written by Karen C. Smith-Kemc. Thank you Karen for sharing your story with us. I appreciate it.

I Used to Sleep Naked

Holidays bring me a lot of joy because I love to decorate for them, especially Halloween. The house in which I was living had a big, old-fashioned, wooden front porch as wide as the front of the house with beautiful posts and a railing. Being an enthusiastic decorator, I went all out this particular year with pumpkins, skeletons, spiders and webbing, a cauldron full of candy, and ghosts hanging from the ceiling made of old white sheets draped over large, inflated balloons.

One October night close to the holiday as I lay in bed trying to fall asleep, I saw odd images of what looked like flames in the shadows on my wall. I hopped out of bed and looked out the window to see that someone had set my lovely ghosts on fire!! Yikes! Not only that, I saw them leave the porch and run up the road. I quickly dialed 911, threw on a bathrobe (because I used to sleep naked), grabbed a blanket and went outside to frantically try to smother the flames.

Since I lived in town, the police arrived very quickly and helped me get the fire out. They then asked me a fateful question, "Did you see who did it?" Being the honest, Catholic church-going, rule-abiding, police respecting, not-afraid-to-get-involved girl that I am, I replied, "yes, I saw him running away!" "Quick," one policeman replied, "get in the car" and they whisked me into the back seat of the police cruiser. "But...but..." At this point, I should remind you that I used to sleep naked.

Up and down the city streets and alleys we drove looking for the guy I saw running away from my porch but no luck. As the car turned to return me to my home, a crackle came over the police radio asking all cars in the vicinity of a location a few blocks away to assist in some kind of altercation. One of the officers turned to me and said, "Sorry, but we're going to have to respond to this" as the siren went on and they changed course. What???

We arrived at the scene to see 7 or 8 men up against a building, arms up and apart on the wall, legs spread, being frisked by policemen. The officers got out of the car and one told me, "Stay there and don't get out." "No problem," I thought. As another officer approached the police car I was in, I heard him ask my police driver, "Who's the prostitute in the back?" What??? I was indignant!! And offended!! And I couldn't hear any reply! Unfortunately, there was no way to correct his misinterpretation without getting out of the car which I'd been specifically told not to do. After all, I was naked under my bathrobe, and in the back of a police car late at night, which wouldn't help my case.

Eventually I was safely driven back home but there was little sleep that night. Before I tucked back into bed, I put on a nightgown and I've been sleeping in pajamas ever since. Yup, I used to sleep naked.

-- Karen C. Smith-Kemc
Honorable Mention, 2020 Write a DearReader Contest

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

This month's Penguin Classics book is Unsung: Unheralded Narratives of American Slavery & Abolition, by The Schomburg Center. Start reading and enter for a chance to win a copy.

Dear Reader Column 03-24-2021

Dear Reader,

I'm a make-a-list, get it done kind of person. When a bill comes in the mail, I write a check, seal the envelope, put a stamp on it and pop it in the mail right away. If my bathroom needs cleaning, I agree with Benjamin Franklin's old adage "Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today."

Waiting is not a place where I like to spend time. But the other day, I learned a valuable lesson, the magic happened when I had to wait.

Sewing quilts is a hobby of mine. I love to sew. My machine is set up in a sewing room, so it's always ready to go. Stacks of material surrounding me, I feel like a kid in a candy shop. I don't follow a pattern, there are no rules when I sew. I haven't ever taken a class (except for Home Economics in high school), because I don't want to "know" how to do it. Working on quilts is usually very relaxing for me, but the other day I had quite a different experience.

When I was looking through my material, for a new quilt idea to work on, I found a small piece of fabric with birds on it. Immediately I fell in love with it, but I was going to need more material. I couldn't remember where I bought it and when I searched through my old online orders, there weren't any matches. So I took a photo of the material and had Google do the searching for me. But no luck. I was getting really frustrated. I was so "sold" on this material that I felt like if I couldn't find it, I'd scrap the entire idea for the quilt.

I went back and kept searching through page after page of Google photos of material with a bird print, and I still couldn't find the fabric. But surprisingly, eventually, I did find another bird fabric that would look fantastic in my project. Things were looking up. Inspired, I kept on searching through photos and I ended up with five different bird fabrics that I loved, and when I envisioned the final project, I was thrilled! It was going to be even better than my first idea!

Looking back, I felt kind of childish because in a couple of hours, I went through, brainstorming the original idea, frustration that I couldn't find the bird material I wanted, to feeling so upset that I was going to scrap the entire idea, to finding five more bird fabrics that I loved, and finally, feeling very grateful that I didn't find the original material, because now, when I thought about the finished quilt--it was going to be absolutely amazing!

I'm still a make-a-list, get-it-done sort of person, but I've also learned if I want to find the 'real' magic, sometimes I might have to wait.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

This month's Penguin Classics book is Unsung: Unheralded Narratives of American Slavery & Abolition, by The Schomburg Center. Start reading and enter for a chance to win a copy.

Dear Reader Column 03-16-2021

Dear Reader,

Layla AlAmmar is a writer and academic from Kuwait. She has a master's degree in creative writing from the University of Edinburgh. Layla was the 2018 British Council international writer in residence at the Small Wonder Short Story Festival. Her debut novel, The Pact We Made, was published in 2019. She is currently pursuing a PhD on the intersection of Arab women's fiction and literary trauma theory and her new novel, Silence Is a Sense highlights these subjects.

Please welcome today's guest author, Layla AIAmmar. You can reach her through her website: https://www.layla-alammar.com/contact

Layla has 5 copies of Silence Is a Sense to give away to readers. To enter the giveaway, send an email to: libraryteam@workman.com

Winters are fleeting in my home country of Kuwait. Springs, even more so. The desert nation sees temperatures between 90-120 degrees for most of the year, with winter lows getting to about 50 degrees (if we're lucky). So, when the temperature drops and the harsh gritty winds of summer give way to gentle breezes, Kuwaitis (who are extremely sociable by nature) really ramp up their gatherings.

Winter is for congregating around the duwa, which is a cart with a fire pit that we use for heating pots of tea spiced with saffron and cardamom or roasting chestnuts. It's for going on a keshta, a camping trip out into the desert where we lay out thick rugs and blankets and light a fire pit and talk and laugh and listen to music. Winters are for nights on the beach, hugging mugs of coffee and hot chocolate, lighting a fire...and well, you get the idea. Having spent the previous nine months avoiding the outside and moving from one air-conditioned space to another, we spend as much time outside as we can during those fleeting weeks.

As we head into our second year of the pandemic, in and out of lockdown, I fear these traditions may die away. Kuwait is quite no-nonsense in dealing with the virus, and lockdowns typically include curfews, which means that outdoor gatherings and mixing of households is strictly verboten. The restrictions have taken their toll, both individually and as a community. These rituals are important in our culture: it's a way for family and friends to maintain strong bonds; it's where news is shared and connections are made; it's how the fabric of society remains so tightly woven.

That the pandemic has changed things is inarguable, but in the collapse of all the things we thought we could depend on, new creative possibilities can and do emerge. Virtual calling means we can at least maintain visual contact with our loved ones. Online chat "rooms" allow us to reach out to people we might not have otherwise encountered. The focus of our attention has expanded outwards even as our personal spaces have constricted.

We're being forced to rethink the way our world is structured and perhaps, from that, new kinds of communities can come into being.

-- Layla AlAmmar
Enter Layla's book giveaway, you could win a copy of her new book Silence Is a Sense, send an email to: libraryteam@workman.com

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

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

* This month's Penguin Classics book is UNSUNG: Unheralded Narratives of American Slavery & Abolition, by The Schomburg Center. Start reading and enter for a chance to win a copy.

Dear Reader Column 03-02-2021

Dear Reader,

Kim Vogel Sawyer is a highly acclaimed, bestselling author with more than 1.5 million books in print in seven different languages. Her titles have earned numerous accolades including the ACFW Carol Award, the Inspirational Readers' Choice Award, and the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence. Kim lives in central Kansas with her retired military husband, Don, where she continues to write gentle stories of hope. She enjoys spending time with her three daughters and grandchildren.

Her new book is From This Moment.
A lost ring brings together two wounded souls--a youth minister haunted by the past and a spunky church custodian--in this heartwarming romance.

Please welcome Kim to the book club. Connect with her at https://kimvogelsawyer.com/connect/

THE DROPPED SOCK

A little over a year ago, my husband and I adopted a pair of kittens. We weren't in the market for kittens, but when I saw them, I exclaimed, "Oh, they're as cute as the dickens!", and then promptly dubbed them Oliver and Dodger. (Once you've named an animal, it's kind of yours.)

It'd been awhile since we had kittens in the house. Kittens are everywhere! And they're small, so they are easy to overlook. This nearly proved deadly for the little black kitty, Oliver...

I was doing laundry. We have a front-load washing machine. (This is an important detail even though it sounds a little mundane.) I emptied a basket of clothes into the washer then reached to close the door. But I noticed I'd dropped a sock. I bent over and picked up the sock and, as I stood, I glanced into the drum. There was Oliver.

I scooped him out, my pulse racing. What if I hadn't seen him? How devastated I would have been to find him after the cycle was done. Were it not for a front load washing machine, which revealed the entire contents in a single glance, and a dropped sock, he wouldn't be here to curl in my lap and purr or chase his brother up and down the stairs or bat a felt mouse across the floor. I am so very grateful I dropped that sock.

Many times I've contemplated that dropped sock. At the moment it happened, I found it mildly annoying. Really, it couldn't have tumbled into the drum with the rest of the clothes? The annoyance shifted very quickly when I glimpsed the kitten. I have to wonder, how many other things I've found annoying--a road detour, a job loss, misplaced keys that kept me from leaving when I wanted to go...--really saved me from something unpleasant or potentially devastating?

In life, there will be many "dropped socks," but perhaps we should look at those annoyances in a different light. Kind of the glass half-full/half-empty concept. After all, a shift in habit to seek the positive rather than dwell on the negative is beneficial emotionally and mentally. And if you have a curious kitten that is prone to leaping into cavities when you aren't looking, maybe this story will save its life. That would definitely make my dropped sock worthwhile.

-- Kim Vogel Sawyer

Connect with Kim at https://kimvogelsawyer.com/connect/

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.

HAUNTED HIBISCUS (Mystery) by Laura Childs

It's the week before Halloween and teashop owner Theodosia Browning and her tea sommelier Drayton attend a "literary themed" haunted house in a dilapidated mansion. But halfway through their visit, the guest author is found twisting from a third floor window as purple lights cast flickering images. The police and Theodosia's boyfriend Detective Riley come screaming in, but when Riley goes to the dead girl's house, he's shot! A murder and a shooting seem too coincidental for Theodosia who throws herself into her own shadow investigation. With pacing, plot twists, and action reminiscent of a thriller--this is a thrillzy!

Go to: AUTHORBUZZ click on HAUNTED HIBISCUS to read more and to email author Laura Childs, you'll get a reply.

Dear Reader Column 03-01-2021

Dear Reader,

The quality of writing in the 2020 Write a DearReader Contest was outstanding. Today's Honorable Mention piece was written by Elizabeth Ann Kissling. Thanks Elizabeth for sharing your story with us.

June on Waterman Mountain

My family enjoyed the same two vacations each summer while I was growing up: a week camping in our local mountains and a day at our local theme park. Theme park day was definitely not to be missed, but in my book it didn't compare with our week in the mountains.

It was our tradition to camp in the same campground each summer, ideally in the same campsite. Of the thirty-odd campsites in the campground we had four favorites, and I don't recall a summer when we weren't able to get one of them. My personal favorite was the very first site, which was at the end of a dark, ferny glen where a small creek sparkled along under seemingly ancient incense cedars and sugar pines. The ground on the mountain behind the glen was littered with the long, narrow sugar pine cones we'd gather and use as starters for our cooking fires.

Our family camping unit consisted of my maternal grandparents, my mother, and my two younger sisters. In the early years we pitched a large, hard-to-handle three-room tent; later we shared a cab-over camper. The week in the mountains was the highlight of my summer each year, because while we were there I would be allowed to hike to my heart's content, and I did a whole lot of hiking.

My most rewarding hike, though, occurred one hot mid-June when I had followed a mile or so of a long, looping fire road and found that it came out at the top of the local mountain's main ski lift. The ski lodge, rental hall, and other buildings were closed up tight for the summer, but I noticed a bird's nest in the gray coverless ski lift switch box. I walked over to the box to examine the nest, which had been abandoned for the season, and saw two round buttons, one above the other, each about the size of a half-dollar piece: a red one on top that said STOP and a green one on the bottom that said ON. This was too much temptation for me, and I yielded. I pushed the green button.

To my surprise the ski lift began to move. Faced with this new temptation I yielded again, jumped aboard, rode the lift down the mountain, and then jumped off. I watched the lift baskets continuing in their long, lazy circle, and then jumped back on and rode the lift up to the top again. I did this several more times, disembarking for the last time at the top, where I pushed the STOP button and watched the lift grind to a complete halt.

I hiked back down the fire road to my campground, full of excitement and ready to share the story of my adventure, when common sense got the better of me. This was not the kind of thing a twelve-year-old safely reports to her mother. So I never said a word, until now.

-- Elizabeth Ann Kissling
Honorable Mention, 2020 Write a DearReader Contest

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.

A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD (Fiction) by Therese Anne Fowler

I could never have anticipated how this novel's themes would resonate with the strange year that was 2020. Divisions among neighbors. Heightened racial and environmental issues. Struggles for young adults in this troubled country. But the story didn't foresee all of that; it reflected a history of it. Really, it's a modern fable about mostly well-intentioned people caught up in difficult situations--a timeless, cautionary tale of love and power that asks big questions about life today.

To enter to win one of five copies, click on Authorbuzz and the book jacket or email: trademarketing@stmartins.com with subject "A Good Neighborhood Sweepstakes."

Go to: AUTHORBUZZ click on A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD to read more and to email author Therese Anne Fowler, you'll get a reply.

Dear Reader Column 02-25-2021

Dear Reader,

'I'm an old lady. so it's okay.'

I admit it was a shock to my system the first day that thought crept into my mind, and yes, I'm sure there's some adage warning me, "If you think it, you'll become it." But the truth is, no matter how much I ignore the thought, I am an old lady and I'm headed more and more in that direction every day. I don't drag the 'old lady' thought around with me every single day, but as with most things in life, there's something positive, if you dig deep enough. So when I need a break, the permission to do a-bit-of-nothing, that gem of a sentence comes in real handy. Yes, "I am an old lady...so it's okay." Or, better yet, "I'm an old lady and I deserve a break today."

I'm a goal oriented person, always have been, and lucky for me my accomplishments have given me great joy, and continue to make me smile when I reflect back on my adventures. Yes, my busy, busy attribute has served me well, but now that my time is opening up a little, I can travel in the slower lane sometimes, if I want. But I'm not comfortable with doing that yet. I feel like I should be beeping the horn, "Hey, get going, don't you see the green light?"

So when I find myself trying to push down the thought that doing nothing all day is not an option, my rescue is, "I'm an old lady, so it's okay."

Yes, I think tomorrow I'll practice doing-a-bit-of-nothing, after writing my column, enjoying my gardening, doing some baking, working on my quilt, filling my bubble machine, doing a little reading, and sending a couple of birthday cards to friends.

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 this title deserves your attention:

(Thriller) DEAD ON THE DELTA by Sherry Knowlton

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

Dear Reader Column 02-24-2021

Dear Reader,

Reading your emails, readers, they always make my day. Thank you so much for writing. If you were one of my February Chocolate Chip Cookie winners, I sent the cookies yesterday. So watch for your 'tasty' delivery.

"Hi Suzanne, I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your Thursday, February 18, 'What's the Point' column about rescuing the squirrel. For some reason it struck a chord with me and certainly brightened this gray winter day! And also for some reason, it reminded me of a meme that I re-posted this morning (attributed to an author named Lynn Miclea):

"You drop something when you were younger, you just pick it up. When you're older and you drop something, you stare at it for a bit contemplating if you actually need it anymore."

I think it is another way of asking "What's the point". I think you do a great service to the reading public with your thoughtful and often amusing columns. I order adult fiction for our library and I will often order the [books you feature] books for our collection. Stay well and keep writing and sharing!" Sincerely, -- Beth S.

"The point is, Suzanne, that the Universe gave you an opportunity to be kind [to the squirrel]. You did not turn away and make excuses. That would have been easy. You enlisted your husband to also be kind. Then you were able to share your kindness with all of your readers. Perhaps it will have a ripple effect. Thank you." -- Sandy

(Readers reply from the 2/19 column.'Call me strange. I don't mind being labeled just a little bit crazy.')

"Suzanne, thank you for [writing your column], now I know I am normal. I so enjoy your emails and you make me feel like a person." -- Peggy

"Hello, Suzanne! Loved your email this morning!! My family has described me somewhat like what you wrote today. I'm 'really out there, odd, Bohemian'--but I've never taken offense. I like me (mostly). The only way I'm not quite spontaneous is in my writing. I'm usually serious and obsessive, searching for perfection in what I write.

As a result, it's sometimes tiresome and so I don't write as much as I really want to. But I recently read an article that has inspired me to be more free. Yes, it's about poetry writing, which I've delved into occasionally, but never with such fun. I sent it to my daughter who writes poetry and now she and I share back and forth as 'The Spirit moves us.' Thanks for letting me read with you. It IS good to read with friends!" -- Annmarie R.

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

* Congratulations to the winners of Burying Daisy Doe by guest author Ramona Richards: Mildred A., Beverly D., Zada G., Pat H. and Virginia T.

Warmest regards,
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

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