Since joining a book club, I've noticed how nice it is when authors have discussion questions posted SOMEWHERE, either in the back of the book, or on their website. So, for any of you who choose my novel to use as a book club read, here are some questions you can use to discuss afterwards. You're not limited to these, obviously. And I'd love to hear any you can come up with, too.

If you look in the back of Saving Grace, you'll see something that isn't in my other two books. Know why? Because this year, I joined a book club. And several of the girls in the group always look for discussion questions for the book of the month. And since they honored me by choosing my book as the October read, I wanted to make sure these questions were there.
So, being read by a book club is a huge deal to me. This is my third book and this is the third club to choose one of my books as their read. I know how hard it is to pick books, especially if no one in the group has read them yet. And even though these ladies had read my other stories, they didn't know anything about this one.

Last week, I got to have a new fun experience. A book club in Texas used my first book, An Unexpected Legacy, as their read for February. And then, they had me skype (or actually facebook messenger) in to their meeting so they could chat with me about the story and other things about my writings. It was so fun to hear their thoughts and take-aways from something invented out of my head several years ago. I am always touched when people tell me my book made them FEEL. It means I've done something right, something that makes the story and characters come alive to the reader. It was a true pleasure chatting with these ladies in a state I came to love in the eleven years we lived there. I'm pretty sure I made a roomful of new friends.
If your book club would like to have me visit, and you're too far away for me to drive, this is a really neat option. I look forward to doing this many more times. Thank you to these delightful ladies for hosting me, and who's next?

As if I didn't read enough already, I am helping form a book club this year. We had our first meeting last week, and I very much enjoyed it. Nothing quite like talking about books you've all read. Last month, we read Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts. It's fiction, but based on the true story of L. Frank Baum's wife Maud and how everything happened to get him to the point of writing The Wizard of Oz and then later how she was involved (or at least tried to be) with the making of the movie. It was fascinating and sweet, but also sad because of the reality of the times.
We've set up our list of reads for the rest of the year, and I'm looking forward to delving into several I've read in the past as well as quite a few new to me, including a few mysteries, not usually my go-to genre.
So, why are groups like this important? Well, not only for the camaraderie and joy, but also because it gets me a little more out of my comfort zone. I might never have discovered that book if my friend hadn't recommended it for our club to read. And then to be able to discuss things about the story that bothered us or encouraged us, sometimes can bring to light little details someone else might have missed in their reading. It adds depth to the experience.