Book Clubs—Not Just For “Oprah Books”

Anyone who knows me will tell you I hate talking about myself, I hate speaking in public, and I’m incredibly embarrassed when it comes to talking about my books. I probably should have thought about those things before I decided to write books, and certainly before I decided to write romance. But, I didn’t.

So the first time someone suggested that I speak at their book club, I flat out refused. Luckily, that person was my sister-in-law and she forgave me . However, I have this one friend who not only belongs to a book club, but is the fastest reader of my books ever. I think she’d read my first book within three days of it being released by the publisher, and my second one within a week. And she told me she loved it. So I was smiley and feeling warm and fuzzy toward her when she suggested that I speak to her book club about Skin Deep—not that I don’t smile and feel warm and fuzzy with my sister-in-law, but my friend caught me at a weak moment.

This is also the same friend who volunteers to help with every single committee that we’re on together, including parking lot duty in the cold and the rain (okay, she’s starting to sound like a stalker, but really, she’s not!). In other words, I couldn’t say no. Besides, there was a small part of my conscience that was telling me to step up and get over myself (not nearly as nicely or politely though).

After a few bracing deep breaths and gulps, I said yes, via email. I had a moment of panic after I hit the “Send” button, and for anyone wondering, there still doesn’t seem to be a way to retract emails that you send into cyberspace. Sigh. But I braved my second, third and fourth thoughts, put the date on the calendar, and promptly began to panic.

My books are NOT Oprah books. They’re not book club books. They don’t have questions in the back. They’re romances. I’m not knocking them—I think they’re quite good—but they definitely have their niche and I’ve never thought a book club was it. So what was I to talk about? My friend told me to just be myself, answer their questions and not to worry. Hah!

She lives in the back of beyond. There are no lights, but lots of bears. It was a great drive, because I had to focus on where I was going, rather than what I was going to say. And, guess what? Book clubs are AWESOME! The people were so friendly and curious about writing; they loved my book (yay!) and were kind enough to buy it (double yay!). They were interested in everything I had to say and kept my water glass filled. Their questions ranged from how and when I come up with titles (usually in the beginning, although sometimes they change part way through) to who I envision playing the lead if it became a movie (Jeff Kober). They laughed when I told them how I forgot to put any sex scenes in my current work-in-progress because I was too busy following a stupid outline I’d created, and I laughed as I listened to them go off on tangents about friends and events in their lives (don’t all book clubs do that?).

I left her house realizing that I could do this again and that it was fun. And with one piece of advice to give to anyone who might be thinking of doing the same thing—if you have a tendency to blush, don’t wear red!