A new novel by bestselling author Claire Cook is one of the signs that beach reading season has begun. Her seventh novel, SEVEN YEAR SWITCH is getting great write-ups in USA Today, The New York Times, and The New York Post. Today’s guest post discusses why your book club might occasionally want to take its show on the road.
Book clubs tend to choose my novels after they’ve just read something dark and depressing, and they’re looking for some fun. They brought their dogs with them when they talked about MUST LOVE DOGS. They decorated flip flops and made sea glass jewelry for LIFE’S A BEACH, and had makeovers and pedicures for SUMMER BLOWOUT.
THE WILDWATER WALKING CLUB has just gone into paperback, so lots of book groups are reading it now. They’re walking together, decorating clotheslines, and serving lavender bundt cake or lavender margaritas – or both! And I absolutely can’t wait to hear what everyone comes up with for SEVEN YEAR SWITCH. I’m guessing Huli Huli Chicken, piñatas, and maybe some bicycle adventures. A trip to Costa Rica?
Sometimes book groups email me photos so I can put them up on my website, or they go to my Facebook author page and post them on the wall. And as often as we can make the times work, I call or Skype in to chat with them. One group even passed me around on a cell phone as they talked about WILDWATER!
I love sharing the stories behind my stories, and I love hearing the histories of book clubs – how long they’ve been together, what kind of books they read, how they choose their books, what kinds of fun things they’ve done. I also love hearing what parts of my novels resonate for them. I think reader response helps me learn and grow as a writer.
But there’s been another fun twist recently, something your book club might want to try. It actually started when I realized I could no longer go out and physically visit individual book groups. There were simply too many requests, and as much as I wanted to say yes to them all, I couldn’t do it and still meet my writing deadlines. And at the same time, I had all these wonderful book tour events – girls’ nights out, reinvention workshops, book parties – to fill.
So I just started suggesting that book clubs come to me instead of me going to them. And I think we were all amazed at how well it worked. Instead of one of the members cleaning and cooking, everybody gets out of the house for an adventure. I make sure they sit together at the event, even if it means juggling some chairs. I answer their questions, sign their books, pose for photos with them. And if I don’t have a plane to catch, I can sometimes even meet them for a glass of wine afterward! It’s such a win-win, because they bring such terrific energy and great questions to my events, and my events provide them with their own fun, stress-free girls’ night out.
So, next time you choose a book, go to the author’s website to see if s/he will be in your neck of the woods. Or you might even flip it, and find out what authors will be appearing at your local bookstore, and base your book choice on that.
And if my SEVEN YEAR SWITCH book tour takes me anywhere near you this summer, please come have some fun with me! I promise you won’t be sorry!
- Claire Cook, Author
