July News from Susan Wiggs

• Can a romance novel save a life?
• I would love to meet you! Upcoming Tour Dates
• Coming soon
• Connect with me
• My most-requested recipe

Dear Friends,
Lakeside Cottage won the RITA Award. I’m not gonna lie, I’m ridiculously proud of this achievement. It’s an award granted by fellow writers, who are notorious for being the world’s pickiest readers. However, what I’m proudest of when it comes to this book has nothing to do with awards and everything to do with a particular reader.
Alma M. wrote me a letter saying that she believed reading this book saved her daughter’s life. Whether this is true or not, I’ll never know, because I’ve never met this woman or her teenage daughter, Kimmy. But the letter was sincere. Kimmy had been suffering from mysterious symptoms, just like the fictional teenager Callie in Lakeshore Cottage. Kimmy felt terrible but they could never pinpoint what was going on with her. While reading the book, Alma realized Kimmy might be suffering from the same problem as Callie, so she took her back to the doctor. Turns out the diagnosis was exactly the same. (Trying not to include a spoiler here.) Anyway, this is by far the proudest moment for this book.
I can’t promise Lakeside Cottage will save your life, but I bet it will brighten your day. A struggling single mom, a mysterious man with a secret past, a secluded cottage by a lake, a fun recipe collection in the back of the book…come on, what’s not to like? Jump on in. The water’s fine!
Upcoming Tour Dates – see my web site for details

• August 11-14 RWAustralia
• August 27 Mad Men Party, Bainbridge Island WA
• September 12 Puyallup Fair
• October 1-2 Northwest Festival of Books, Kirkland WA
• October 15 A crazy Seattle event – stay tuned

What’s Next?

• Home Before Dark, in a special edition with extras, including a reading group guide
• The Goodbye Quilt trade paperback edition
• Table For Five with a sneak peek of the upcoming new hardcover
• The Apple Orchard, a new hardcover in May 2012
• A new Lakeshore Chronicles book about Sonnet

Connect with Moi
For book recommendations, silly updates, occasional pictures, provocative questions, snarky comments, funny stuff, library stuff, instant giveaways and more, please follow me on Twitter or go to my Facebook page and click “Like.” For more in-depth reporting, subscribe to my blog here.
My most-requested recipe:
Wendy Gaynor’s “Perfect” Chocolate Chunk Cookies *
*I have nothing to do with this recipe other than forwarding it to people who ask. It appeared in The New York Times on October 27, 2002. Skip the parchment paper at your own peril.
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 cups semisweet chunks (preferably imported)
1. Place the butter in a large bowl and cream at high speed until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until completely mixed.
2. In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt and baking soda. Add to the butter mixture at low speed until just combined and add vanilla extract. Beat on medium speed, scraping bowl down, until blended. Do not overmix.
3. Add chocolate chunks and mix till thoroughly combined. Refrigerate batter until cold, preferably overnight.
4. Preheat a conventional oven to 350 degrees or a convection oven to 300 degrees, and line several baking sheets with parchment paper. Drop heaping spoonfuls of batter 2 inches apart on the lined baking sheets and bake, turning tray once, until golden brown around edges and soft (but not bubbly), about 9 minutes in a convection oven or 12 in a conventional one. Cool on a wire rack.
Yield: 36 to 72 cookies, depending on size.
Enjoy,

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