My First Book Club

On the evening of Wednesday, September 15th, over Zoom, I participated in my very first book club. Not only was it the first book club that I attended but the group was reviewing my book, Northern Escape!!

Me being me (always a little nervous about stuff like this), I had to prepare in some way. So I read a few excerpts fro the book ahead of time and reread the back of the book where I talk about my why-why I had wanted to write Northern Escape. Finally, I opened up two documents up on my computer; one were my notes for the book launch, the other was the Book Club Discussion Guide that I had written for anyone that wanted to get the conversation started. 

The book club was hosted by my niece Reanne from her backyard via Zoom while juggling bedtime for her one year old. Impressive! She and her four friends (Brandi, Hannah, Nikki, and Carissa) were so great; all enthusiastic and insightful. I found it so interesting/cool/amazing to hear them talk about the characters and story from their perspectives. Which they liked, who they worried about, why some made them angry. They had fully engaged with them. Amazing. I asked them whether they thought this was a thriller or a suspense, because as the writer of the book I knew where it was going, leaving the nervousness about what is about to happen out of the formula. I tried to write about the tension but it is hard to know how it comes across. It was fun to learn about what scared them and what was heartwarming to them. The discussion went for an hour and a half and although I could no longer see them since the sun had gone down long before, their engagement made it more than comfortable. We talked about what might come next and their insights were very much along the lines of what I have already written. So much so that I asked if they would be willing to review my first draft and provide feedback. Their enthusiasm to do this was hugely flattering and exciting to me. I just can’t wait to get started!!