Reviewing my email this morning, I expected to find a post from author Charles Todd about his latest book, AN IMPARTIAL WITNESS. When I got a post from "Caroline" I was momentarily confused. Of course with the fabulousness that is the internet, the mystery was quickly solved. Charles Todd is actually the mother/son writing team of Charles and Caroline Todd. Pretty cool. So here's what Caroline had to say about her experiences and appreciation of book clubs!
I once belonged to a terrific reading group. Sadly, once Charles and I began to publish, I had to give it up. Amazing how much time writing and promoting a book can require.
I liked that group for several reasons, not least the people in it. Their input, their ideas, their feelings about what we were reading were always interesting and thought-provoking. I also liked the books that were chosen. Sometimes it was a stretch, books I might not have picked up ordinarily. But that’s the way you discover new writers and new genres. Sometimes it was a book I had loved and I was delighted to share it with friends. And sometimes it was an author I’d never encountered before who wound up on my “favorites” list. No one has time to read everything, and this is one way to discover books that you might have missed. I loved Tony Hillerman’s books, and was always happy when others discovered him. I discovered Julia Spencer-Fleming in one of our discussions, and have enjoyed her Murderkill series.
Our Sisters in Crime group, which is one of the best in the country in my opinion, has had a short morning program where we sometimes talk about what we’ve been reading. It’s an abbreviated reading group, but I always come away with titles that catch my attention. If you don’t know Sisters in Crime, it’s a group of mystery readers, writers, librarians, and bookshop owners dedicated to helping women mystery writers receive the attention their books deserve—and yes, there are brothers in crime too, it isn’t just for women. A lot of men read and enjoy women authors, just as women enjoy male authors too.
It’s always a thrill when a book club chooses a Charles Todd mystery for reading and discussion. Charles and I particularly enjoy that part of writing. Out there somewhere are new readers and/or long-time fans who liked one of our books well enough to recommend it, and that’s a compliment of the first order. And it’s a way of touching people we’ve never met, who may never meet us, but who connect through the characters and the plot we’ve written. Sometimes we receive e-mails asking a question that was never satisfactorily answered by the group: questions about Hamish, for example, or about Bess Crawford’s background in India. We’re always delighted to answer them. I remember one particular reading group in Florida that called on the leader’s cell phone and asked a question about A LONG SHADOW. Then we were put on speakerphone so that the entire group could hear the answer. That was exciting. The question was, “When you visit a place and decide to use it as a setting, do you tell the people there what you are doing?” The answer is no, we don’t, because it makes people we talk with self-conscious, as in will I wind up being their villain? And we change the place name slightly so that no one there is upset over a murderer in their midst.
You also have to be careful not to be overly enthusiastic in public—“I just discovered a great place to bury a body,” is sure to be overheard and raise a few eyebrows. As is “How much blood do you think such a wound would produce?” when said over dinner at the most popular local restaurant.
So here’s to readers, individuals and groups, because it is for you that we write, for your entertainment. We want the hours you’ve spent with us to be memorable and for you to see in the books all we have tried to put into them from our side of publishing.
For those of you who are also Rutledge fans, he’ll be returning—as he always does—in January. And Bess will be back next summer. Stick around and have some fun with us.
--Caroline Todd, Author (http://charlestodd.com/)
