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In early 2007, when I realized that for various reasons I would not have a book out that year, I asked a friend if she would consider starting an online readers' forum for me, so my presence in the world of publishing would not go completely unmarked during the year. Some years earlier, Vicki had invited me to take part in a Readerville YA discussion of The Beekeeper's Apprentice, so she was the one I thought of to put together and run a single-author forum.

In the two years since then, we have worked our way, month by month, through most of my books, as well as discussing several related works of fiction and non-fiction. The Virtual Book Club, as we call it (VBC for short) has a solid core of active members and grows steadily.

Now, real-life book clubs are famous for being largely an excuse to get together over food and chat, with the book itself briskly dealt with and often only half-read. So I expected that its virtual equivalent would be somewhat the same, with many excursions into side-topics while the moderator valiantly worked to drag attention back to the book itself.

Readers continually surprise me. The VBC is made up of as disparate a group as you might expect, women and men of all ages, locations, interests, and levels of leisure time, from white-collar workers and at-home mothers to retired people and high school students. The one common denominator? They love books, especially the Russell novels.

But even then, they come at the novels from all different corners of the reading map. Some of them are devout Sherlockians, who welcomed Russell as soon as they realized that the author honored Holmes as much as they did. Others wouldn't recognize Doctor Watson if he walked in with his stethoscope in hand --- or, wouldn't when they first began to read Russell, although sooner or later such die-hards generally yield to the pressure to read the original Holmes stories, and fall in love with them, too. For others, Holmes is always a secondary character, and it's Mary they follow.

For some members, the VBC is a game (one thread finds inveterate Russell readers pelting each other with quotes, and guessing where they're from. I rarely can figure it out...) Others seem to enjoy the opportunity of being in touch with the writer. Many of the participants in the VBC discussions, however, are interested in history, or at least historical fiction. They discuss the British presence in India and Palestine, they recommend background reading and often trade hard-to-find titles. They ask for further information and, although often I find it hard to respond when the research for that particular book has long faded in my own memory, there is generally some PhD candidate or interested amateur historian who can suggest a source or solution.

Having watched the VBC grow over the months, I can see that its chief aim is to nurture a community. People can drop in and get involved as much or as little as they like, they are welcomed, differing opinions invariably treated with courtesy, and often friendships form (we've yet to have a wedding, although I'm sure Vicki is on constant lookout for a matchmaking opportunity.) I was fascinated to see, at the mystery conference BoucherCon last October, how easily this virtual sense of community translates to the real world. In the meet-ups held by the VBC and a Russell fanfiction group, I witnessed a wide variety of individuals sliding instantly into friendship, with common interests that reached far beyond an appreciation of the Mary Russell tales.

Over the years, I have heard any number of stories from people who met the Russell books at a time of great need, when a loved one was in the hospital or at a rough patch in their personal life. I never fail to be moved, and humbled, by these narratives, just as I am moved and humbled by the creation of a community online who meet and interact under the auspices of my novels.

An author's job is to entertain, and perhaps occasionally make her readers think. I do this by writing books that entertain me and then, after I'm finished, I turn them over for others to enjoy. Only recently have I come to realize that one of the larger functions of what I do is to offer a social umbrella against the storms, where readers can go and relax into conversation with their fellows.

Earnest, informative, substantial, or frivolous, in a book club --- especially a virtual book club --- it's the conviviality that counts.

--- Laurie R. King

Laurie R. King is the bestselling author of 18 novels, from the Edgar Award-winning A Grave Talent to 2009's The Language of Bees. She is a third generation native to northern California, holds a BA degree in comparative religion and an MA in Old Testament Theology, and has spent much of her live traveling, raising children, and renovating old houses. She now lives a genteel life of crime, back again in northern California. For more information, visit her website at laurierking.com.