In the past
couple of months I’ve had the pleasure of being invited to two book club
meetings that were discussing one of my mystery novels. It was a great
experience, and one that gave me a bit of an insight into how the books are
being read by typical readers.
The first
book club met on January 10 and was discussing my second novel, Wash Her Guilt Away. The meeting began
with the playing of the video trailer for the book, and, since he had a cameo
role in the trailer, the retired local police chief was also invited to the
event.
About a
dozen people were on hand, and it turned out a couple of them were fly
fishermen. As the book is set during a fly-fishing vacation, that gave
something to talk about, and they showed pictures of fish they had caught. They
were bigger fish than I usually catch, but let’s skip the sour grapes.
The Question I Didn’t Expect
A certain
amount of the discussion at this meeting (and at the other, as well) had to do
with questions about how I write the books and where I get my ideas. My general
answer to that question is that as a writer I’m always stockpiling material and
ideas and that once I start to map out a story line, things begin to fuse
together into a semi-coherent whole.
Even so,
there were questions I wasn’t expecting. One that threw me for a loop came from
a man in the group who said he didn’t understand why a successful 55-year-old
businessman would be attracted to a 27-year-old woman. (They were already
married when the story began and were two of the key characters.)
Of all the
things in the book that I never expected to have to explain, that would top the
list. As I sat there trying to formulate a tactful response, one of the women
in the group came to my rescue.
“Oh, come
on,” she said, and made a hand gesture with an unmistakable meaning. I thanked
her under my breath.
Just Among Rotarians
Last week,
I went to the second book club. It was formed by members of a nearby Rotary
Club (not the one I belong to) and was discussing my first novel, The McHenry Inheritance.
The club
has ten members, but on that blustery, rainy winter night only four showed up.
I knew them all, and it was a convivial experience. They had some good
questions and comments.
The lone
man in the group analyzed the ending of the book, using the Rotary Four-Way
Test: Is it the truth; is it fair to all concerned; will it build goodwill and
better friendships; and is it beneficial to all concerned. It was a way of
looking at the ending that hadn’t occurred to me, but at the same time showed that
he had been considering the moral complexity of it.
And there
was a make my day moment, too. One of the women in the group said that when I
published the book three and a half years earlier, and sent out emails to
everyone I knew, she decided to buy it, even though she’d never bought an
e-book before. It took her a while to get it on her iPad and be able to read
it, but she persevered and said she loved the book.
Now that’s what I call a loyal customer.
