Regular Contributor Heather Johnson (Age 30+ ... A Lifetime of Books) shares her book clubs discussion of FINNY and her thoughts on having the author participate in the meeting. Has your book club had an author attend? How did you feel about it?
In August my book club read FINNY, by Justin Kramon, and had the author join us for our meeting. Usually we meet at someone's home or church but this time we decided to be more "official" so we met at the library. Because the main character is from Maryland and that’s where we all live, we each brought a food representing the state, like Berger Cookies and Crab Chips.
To start things off we went around the room and shared which character was our favorite and why. Some we liked for their good qualities and some we liked because it was like watching a disaster in action. Then Justin talked a bit about the inspiration behind some of the characters and also where his idea for the book as a whole came from.
Meeting with an author definitely changes the dynamic of a book club meeting. That's not a bad thing, but you do need to be prepared for it. Unlike regular book club meetings, when an author is present there is much less discussion of the book's merits and what we liked and didn't like. Instead the focus is on the author's writing process and the influences of other books or life experiences on the characters and the storyline. Sometimes the author will even give you insight into the why behind a character's actions. Justin didn't indulge our curiosity in that area though - he really wants readers to draw their own conclusions about the characters and their actions.
This is the third author my book club has been privileged to host and only the second to attend our meeting in person. It's not something we want to do every month as it would change our club too much, but it definitely a great once-a-year experience. If you are in a book club in the mid-Atlantic region, Justin would probably be able to attend your meeting as well; contact him on his website to find out.
-- Heather Johnson, Regular Contributor
