Patricia Wood: Getting the Book Club Ball Rolling

Guest blogger Patricia Wood took a friend and fellow author's advice after the publication of her first novel, Lottery, and began talking with reading groups about the book. Many discussions later, she shares several things she has learned along the way. Patricia lives on a sailboat moored in Hawaii, and you can visit her blog here.


When my debut novel Lottery was released last August, my author-friend Holly Kennedy took me aside and said, "You HAVE to do book clubs. They're such FUN!"

"Book Clubs? Fun?" I visualized a bunch of retired English teachers who enjoyed Proust, played bridge, but made great desserts.

"No really. Try it. You'll have a blast." Holly was very convincing.

She got the ball rolling by suggesting Lottery to the readers who had just finished discussing her novel The Penny Tree. She explained I was a virgin author and they would be "my first."

You know what? Holly was right. It WAS a blast. I was wrong about everything except for the desserts.

Since then, I've done nearly 80 book clubs in the U.S., Canada, England, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands and (soon) Germany. From up close and personal (where I get to eat those yummy desserts) --- to virtual (where I just hear them eaten in the background). I've had book discussions on a patio, using speakerphone, on Meetup, at schools, on Yahoo, aboard boats, in homes, at community centers, in libraries, at Universities, by ichat, in restaurants, via email, on blogger, on websites, by Facebook, on Skype, and at one technologically challenged meeting from speakerphone to ichat to Skype and back to speakerphone again.

I've learned several things along the way that made me rethink my assumptions about book clubs. For instance, it's good fun even if not everybody likes your book. Odd isn't it? My best discussions have been with readers who had issues with Lottery. The debate can be astoundingly interesting. Sometimes we agree to disagree, other times a reader goes back to re-read and change their perspective or I may even say gee, you're right! I wish I'd thought of that!
We talk about the process of writing. Readers are fascinated to learn an author mindfully makes specific literary choices. I describe how, when I'm writing a novel, I try things out, write my story from different perspectives, and see what more closely aligns with my vision. For example, I wrote my novel Lottery from the point-of-view of Perry, a man with cognitive challenges. Perry sees people as rather flat and one-dimensional ("good" or "bad" with little or no shades of gray). I was faced with a dilemma. How to create well-rendered characters with an unreliable narrator? How to allow the reader to "know more" than the protagonist? What literary strategies could I use? I believe this kind of insight has been the most fascinating to book clubs --- a way of looking over a writer's shoulder. From my perspective as an author, it's been especially illuminating to see what has and hasn't worked in Lottery with certain readers and why.

Book clubs say when they invite an author to their meetings it sheds more light on a book's themes and content without guesswork on their part. They enjoy finding out what inspired the author to write the book. It did, however, surprise me to discover being there "in person" is not always best. Discussions are sometimes more comfortable and less confrontational on speakerphone. Readers are inclined to be less nervous about discussing a book and braver about challenging the author when not face-to-face. This adds texture to the debate --- always a good thing. Additionally it allows readers to be able to pass notes back and forth, make rude faces, or just go away and leave the author talking to an empty room. Okay I don't know if any group has done this to me, but they could...

Technology makes it possible for me to be seen reclining in my cockpit, palm fronds dancing in the warm ocean breeze as I sip my Mai Tai, although when it's January and the book group is from Maine it can be more fun for me than it is for them. I'm certainly lucky technology has not evolved to the point where one can throw things via the Internet.

For me, I feel my art does not truly come into fruition until the circle is completed: I write the book. The reader reads the book. Then we talk about it together. Book groups help me complete this circle. And for that I am profoundly grateful.

Note: I'm still figuring the best method that book clubs can ship their desserts from the mainland to Hawaii so I get them in time for the discussion. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

---Patricia Wood