Friday, April 30, 2010

McLean, Unplugged

By Russel D McLean

This evening's post will be short, written late as it is, due to the fact that I have been out, doing what writers do... meeting readers.

The joke going around certain quarters is that this evening was McLean, Unplugged. A book group meeting with a guest author in a small village, but this is the kind of event I love to do - - talking to and interacting with enthusiastic readers is one of the pleasures of this gig.

It was the kind of evening, however, where I wasn't sure what to expect. The organiser -the lovely Teri - had told me that "maybe a wee talk about the book and we'll take questions" was in order, which sounded fine to me. But from the moment I arrived the questions came thick and fast, and I was only too happy to take them, even if I did frequently lose my train of thought. It was also interesting to talk about various topics that I had never considered before. That's the other joy of readers - - they mention things you would never have thought of before. And the fact that they all just leapt in, quite unafraid, was wonderful; a whole different experience from larger events where often people are hesitant to ask any questions after a talk.

This kind of one on one meeting - there were maybe nine or ten there in total - is also good for the readers, who have the chance to interact on a more casual level than they might otherwise. And to ask some harder questions (like, did you make this word up or is it slang? when I couldn't even remember the word in question!) or make some valuable insights. One member even taught me to do sweary words in Sign Language (and it was interesting to learn that you can even sign with a Dundonian accent).

So with thanks to Teri and the Gateside book Group* for a wonderful evening, some great questions... and for buying the book!

And since today's post is short, here's some bonus footage from the launch of THE LOST SISTER last year...





*And here's a question, why don't many men join book groups? It seems to be a common question among those I know... and even as a man who is not part of a book group, I don't really have an answer...

3 comments:

John McFetridge said...

The book club question is a good one.

There is an all-male book club in Toronto, See Dick Read, but it's the only one I know of.

Unknown said...

the Poisoned Pen in AZ has a hardboiled book club that I'm a part of and most of the 15 or 20 people who show up a month are men. But maybe that's just the nature of the fiction we're reading

John McFetridge said...

Hey Keith,

Do you guys have a blog for the club or anything like that?

It would be interesting to see what books you're reading and maybe what people have to say about them.