How Book Club Helped My Writing by Sophie Claire

Have you ever met a writer who doesn’t get excited talking about books? Anyone who knows me will know that it’s a subject I’m passionate about, and there’s nothing I like more than dissecting a story with friends, listening to their recommendations, and sharing my own. So it was a no-brainer to find a book club near me. I’ve been a member for 5 years, and each month we read and review a book which the library selects for us and supplies.

I love the thrill of receiving a book which I haven’t chosen, I look forward to our meetings and debates, and I’ve really enjoyed making new friends who share my passion for reading. But what I never expected was how much going to book club would benefit me as a writer.

Here’s what I've learned:

1. It encourages me to read more broadly:

Ok, that’s obvious, but no one has been more surprised than me at how much enjoyment this can bring! Granted, there have been books which I’ve gritted my teeth to get through, but by pushing myself out of my comfort zone I’ve discovered really talented authors whose books I never would have picked up if they hadn’t been on the reading group list.

It’s also clarified in my mind why I dislike certain genres, and why I adore women’s fiction and romance.

As a writer, broadening your literary horizons can only be a good thing.

I believe it keeps your writing fresh, and it’s pushed me to read more books each month as I try to fit in the book club book on top of my usual reading.

2. People rarely have the same reaction to a book:

There are usually around a dozen of us at each meeting, and I’m fascinated by how varied our reactions are to the same book. There’s usually one person who hated it, two or more who tried it and gave up within the first chapter, and at least three who loved it with a passion. It’s fascinating to hear all the different views and interpretations. And when we unanimously enjoy a book it’s a rare thing.

What does this teach me as a writer?

It’s impossible to please everyone all of the time, so write to please yourself. Write the story you want to read with characters you care about.

Which leads me onto the next point…

3. Characters are everything:

When we discuss a book we talk about the characters as if they’re real people. We judge them, we admire or pity or loathe them – we often respond to them in an emotional way. But if that emotional connection isn’t there, it follows that we don’t enjoy the book – or even stop reading. “I just didn’t connect with him/her…” is something I often hear at book club meetings.

As writers, we can get caught up in our fictional worlds and settings, and it’s easy to become tangled up in plot twists and complexities, but it’s worth remembering that what readers love is a character they can identify with or who intrigues them and they feel compelled to try and understand (Note: characters don’t have to be likeable, morally flawless or heroic to do this).

If you focus on your characters, they will drive the story and carry readers along with them, and exceptionally well-drawn characters will stay in readers’ minds long after they’ve forgotten the story.

4. It allows me to read the classics I missed:

There are so many books I feel I ought to have read or am curious to read, and of course I don't need to belong to a book club to do this. But discussing the classics at book club is more interesting than a solitary read because other people’s interpretations add to my own.

It’s also interesting to reread the classics I read as a teenager with an adult’s perspective. My reactions can be extremely different – but then, I’m a different person now.

Classics are the foundations of today’s writing, and it’s interesting to analyse them and understand why they've stood the test of time. 

5. I’ve learned to be patient and persevere with a slow start:

Despite all the pressure on writers to hook readers with the first line, there are a lot of books out there which haven’t immediately grabbed me (I know – this is so subjective). But what I’ve learned is that sometimes a story or its characters can grow on me. They may not start with a bang, but by midway through the story I’m totally invested in them. As a result, I’m more aware of the type of openings which hook me and those which don’t. In fact, the less effective the opening, the more obvious it is what doesn’t work for me.

Readers are the people we write for, and if you want to understand them, there’s no better place to learn than a book club.

Have you ever belonged to a book club? I’d love to hear about your experiences…

Sophie.x

PS: My local library supplies book groups with free books each month. If you’re thinking of setting up a book group, it might be worth looking into this kind of service. The benefits for you are obvious (free books!) and you’ll also be supporting your local library. I've previously blogged about libraries here.

All I Want For Christmas is ...

Last Christmas I asked the Novelistas which book they would give as a present. This year I'm asking which reading or writing-related gift they would like to receive - if they've been good, of course!

Trisha Ashley

I absolutely adore the Kate Spade range of desk and writing accessories in gold and this pencil pouch has been in my amazon basket for about a year. When you see the price, you can understand why! I treated myself to the gold and acrylic stapler to celebrate signing with Transworld, but I would like the rest of the desk set too - and all the gold spotty and stripey folders, journals and year planners, etc. But meanwhile, call me shallow, but using my beautiful stapler gives me great pleasure.

Valerie-Anne Baglietto

As I've already splurged on a Kindle Paperwhite in the Black Friday sale, I'm not actually asking for any physical books this Christmas. Instead, I've added a literary themed gift to the wishlist conveniently pinned to the fridge, where my family can't miss it. As I'm a bit of a cushionaholic (yes that's a thing) I've set my heart on a quirky, vintage-style bookish one, although any cushion along these lines would be well received. Thanking my brilliant, amazing family in advance (am I being nice enough?) Love Val x

Anne Bennett

23 years ago we moved into a four bedroom house in North Wales with two daughters so we had a spare bedroom. Although we called this the study from the onset, it wasn’t used as initially as I wrote on the dressing table in our bedroom and the ‘study’ was used as a storeroom. When the time came for me to need a special place to write, there was barely room for the hastily constructed desk and chair. Although I have made valiant stabs at tidying up and clearing out, much of the original junk is still there and my ‘study’ is a hotch-potch of mismatched office furniture with no sense of order to it. So what I really want, and would nearly sell my soul to get, is Mary Poppins. With one click of those magic fingers, my study would pack itself all up neatly and I could decamp elsewhere for a time while my study was redecorated and planned properly.

Alas I think I will be disappointed but really Christmas isn’t just about presents and it is a joyful time. So happy Christmas to all of you and I hope 2017 is a good year for all of us.

Annie Burrows

You’re going to think this is daft, but what I’d really like is a new pencil sharpener. The one I have at the moment came out of a Christmas cracker several years ago (not mine, either, I saw it drop onto the tablecloth and pounced on it!)

I edit my printed-off manuscripts by pencil, you see, and they wear down to this…

And my Christmas-cracker sharpener is not going to last much longer.

Sophie Claire

My wish is for a week in Provence. Expensive, I know, but I’m hoping that maybe just maybe if I wish hard enough…(and Santa has deep pockets, doesn’t he?)

Why? The book I’m currently writing is set in the heart of Provence and although I have many fond memories of the childhood summers I spent at my grandparents’ house by the sea, I’m finding there are gaps in my knowledge, partly because I’ve rarely visited out of season.

I have a growing list of unanswered questions – which trees flower in spring? What is the quality of the light like in autumn? Can you swim in the Mediterranean in May? The internet is wonderful for research, but it’s no substitute for visiting a place yourself. If I hadn’t seen the denim-blue skies and red earth, or heard the cicadas’ rusty song, or smelt the sweet perfume of pine trees in sunlight, it would be difficult to write about them. But there’s so much more about this vibrant place that I’ve yet to get to know, so fingers crossed I get the chance to visit again soon.

Beth Francis

As a Christmas gift I’d like an experience day. Not for a trip on the London Eye, a hot air balloon over the countryside, or a Spa weekend. I’d like mine to be a visit to a literary festival. Something prearranged, planned, and the date firmly blocked in on the wall calendar above my desk. Failing that I would love the wall calendar. A month at a glance, but with beautiful inspiring pictures. Snow capped mountains, palm fringed beaches, Christmas Fairs…

Turning the page each month and finding a picture I was happy to look at for weeks would mean the gift was appreciated throughout the year. I have a calendar on my computer, and a family calendar in the kitchen, but this one would be for me. Seeing looming deadlines focus’s my mind, even if they are only self-imposed. I often forget to buy a new calendar until January, when there can be a limited selection. Currently I’m looking at the November picture of a famous steam train, which seems very similar to the steam trains on the previous ten pages.

So, a calendar please, beautiful, arty or quirky, but one I can enjoy filling with lunches, mini-meets, book launches and even deadlines for the next twelve months.

June Francis

I would like Death at the Seaside by Frances Brody for Christmas. It is set in Whitby on the Yorkshire coast where Dracula was supposed to have landed. My son Iain is going to buy it for me.

Juliet Greenwood

My ideal Christmas present would be a beach in the Seychelles. Not to own it (too much responsibility, life is complicated enough), or permanently (boredom would set in), but a week (or so). Just me, sunshine, no responsibilities, no laptop, a warm sea and the TBR pile at my side. With a nice relaxed place to meet friends in the evening for a glass of wine, a meal, and good conversation under the stars. I’ve never been to the Seychelles, but they sound nice and at a safe distance. Mind you, I’d probably want one of those transporter things from Star Trek to get there and back, and my dog is giving me some very funny looks …. Happy Christmas!

Cheryl Lang

Christmas is the perfect time to be able to try something new. In my stocking I’d like to find a variety of items to generate ideas for novels. Not just a book, but something electronic or even dice, perhaps even creative games. I will spend time looking at random plot ideas, romantic situations, characters and backstory. I could experiment with the paranormal or comedy. A veritable writers’ toolbox!

Haydn Lee

Every time I step into my local Waterstones’ for a book on my English Lit course, I am always drawn to a high shelf nestled deep within the ‘fiction’ section. Ignoring the pressing need for a copy of Joyce for next week’s class, I reach up and select the book I always take down from the top shelf. I am careful not to drop it, or let my clammy fingers mark the gorgeous Art Deco cover. I flick through its pages, smiling at the well-known titles whizzing past, and pausing at the lesser known ones I’ve only seen as fragile paperbacks at second hand book fairs, not reprinted since the War.

I sigh, and return the book back amongst its identical friends. ‘Soon,’ I think to myself, ‘soon I will be able to read you. But not now,’ and I wince thinking of all the essays due before Christmas and all the plays of the Italian Futurists I have to struggle through until then. This Christmas, though, I will put all work aside, and settle down with a mug of cinnamon and chai tea to read The Complete Novels of Nancy Mitford, after months of pining over it at Waterstones’. If nobody gifts it to me, I will damn well buy it for myself, because Nancy’s novels, with their wit and their wonderful eccentric characters, give me an enjoyable escape from the sort of thing I’d usually have to read.

Louise Marley

This year I discovered Shirley Jackson and have been reading her deliciously creepy psychological suspense stories back-to-back. I'd really like to know more about her life, and what inspired her stories, so I'm sending a note up the chimney for a copy of her biography, Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin. Definitely worth being good for!

Thobe? Or not to Thobe? by Trisha Ashley

We asked Trisha Ashley to tell us about the inspiration behind her latest book, A Leap of Faith.

I’m delighted that The Urge to Jump is being republished and ebooked under the fresh new title A Leap of Faith – and with a lovely, sparkly new cover. It was the second of my romantic comedies and very hard to get hold of, so at last I have an answer to those endless requests to know where readers can get a copy!

My heroine, Sappho Jones, is tall, bossy and opinionated – so very different to me (though friends might beg to differ on at least two counts…). Luckily, Sappho has a big heart to match and when she moves to an old cottage on the Gower, in South Wales, she sets out to help her two best friends achieve their dreams…even if they don’t realise exactly what it is they want, before she takes a hand!

There are a couple of points of similarity between myself and Sappho that I don’t mind admitting to: I love to walk about barefoot, too, connected to the earth - and also, we both own a strange, kaftan-like robe called a Thobe. (And no, I have no idea how you pronounce that. Toe-bee, or not Thow-be, that is the question…)

I had no idea of my robe’s origins when I bought it in a charity shop well over thirty years ago, I just knew that it was beautiful and I wanted it. And I wore it: to parties, when I had people over for dinner, when I just wanted to feel mysterious. I have a photograph of me somewhere wearing it, sitting in front of one of my larger paintings and holding my son, who is a few months old. It was a very forgiving garment.

This was all in the dark ages before computer research made finding information literally child’s play, so I put in some time at the library and finally discovered similar robes (which the author called Thobs) in a book on Palestinian costume. Mine seemed to be Bedouin, made by women for women - and the original owner must have been very tall, because it’s a little long on me. Back when I bought it, I used to wear it with shiny black and gold Indian leather mules with small wedge heels. And my method of hairdressing then, and for a couple of decades, was to brush my hair back, give my head a good shake so that it fell from a central parting, then let it hang loose and long. I have fine hair, though, while Sappho has thick, glorious hair with a Rapunzel complex. 

Anyway, back to the Thob or Thobe: going by the book, mine was most similar to robes made in the 1920’s, but I expect the designs were handed down and repeated. The material is a thick, heavy black satin fabric, with most of the embroidery sewn before the sections were put together. It is entirely handmade and the embroidery sewn in minute cross-stitch in shaded silks, with flowers, birds and baskets of fruit. The neckline is hemstitched. It’s a work of art, and I love it. And it must love me, because – see! - in the picture I can still get into it, despite all the years and the extra pounds.

Now I’m folding it up into its acid-free tissue paper, along with the memories it invoked, and placing it back in the big, camphorwood-lined carved chest on the landing. My Pandora’s box, though not of troubles, but delights.

A Leap of Faith

by Trisha Ashley

Sappho Jones stopped counting birthdays when she reached thirty but, even with her hazy grip on mathematics, she realises that she's on the slippery slope to the big four-oh! With the thought suddenly lodged in her mind that she's a mere cat's whisker away from becoming a single eccentric female living in a country cottage in Wales, she has the urge to do something dramatic before it's too late.

The trouble is, as an adventurous woman of a certain age, Sappho's pretty much been there, done that, got the T-shirt. In fact, the only thing she hasn't tried is motherhood. And with sexy potter Nye on hand as a potential daddy - or at least donor - is it time for her to consider the biggest leap of all? It's either that or buy a cat . . .

(Competition now closed)

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Recommended Reads for Summer!

Nothing says 'summer' quite like the chance to relax with a good book, whether it's on a beach, lounging by the pool or just in your back garden. So I asked the Novelistas to tell us which book from their shelves they would recommend as the perfect holiday read.

And, if you scroll down to the end of this post, there is a chance to win this fabulous book bundle from the Novelistas themselves!

Trisha Ashley

Resistance is Futile by Jenny Colgan

My recommended holiday read is Resistance is Futile by Jenny Colgan. This is a brilliant novel, full of dark-edged humour- I finished it late one night, unable to put it down and I was still thinking about it days later. It's science fiction, but also a great - in every sense of the word - love story. It's all about friendship and love and the strange forms they can take...some of them very strange. And I know nothing about maths but I understand now that it can have a strange beauty of its own.

Valerie-Anne Baglietto

Letters to the Lost by Iona Grey

I was in a bit of a reading slump when I picked up Letters to the Lost earlier this year, but I was immediately sucked into the story, and read it quite quickly - for me! I think it would be the perfect, absorbing read for a lazy summer's afternoon. It's set in 2011 and during the Second World War. A tale of love, heartbreak and hope, woven together with elegant imagery and rich historical detail. A word of caution though: as the threads of past and present come together, just make sure you have a tissue box handy!

Annie Burrows

Something Wicked by Jo Beverley

My TBR pile!

I don't have just one book I will be reading this summer. When I go on my holiday, I will be taking a pile of books with me – all the ones I cannot read while I'm writing my Regency romances, because they ARE Regency romances, and I'm always a bit bothered that I might absorb too many ideas from other writers while I'm trying to write my own stories.

And I will also be reading the ones I've saved to my kindle. In particular I'm looking forward to reading Jo Beverley's Something Wicked which was chosen by my Facebook reading group as the June pick, in memoriam.

Sophie Claire

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

I was a fan of Jojo Moyes’ well before this novel hit the bestseller charts in 2012. My favourites were The Ship of Brides, The Last Letter From Your Lover, and Night Music. But Me Before You blew me away. 

Jojo Moyes’ writing is accessible yet beautiful, with strong plots and there’s always a romantic element. In Me Before You the romance is at the heart of the story, but it’s also about how two people are changed by meeting each other. It’s a thought-provoking and emotional premise that a young girl, employed to look after a quadriplegic man, would fall in love with him, and that’s what initially intrigued me. However, once I began reading, it was the characters which drew me in. Lou is the most endearing heroine: humble, fun-loving, kind and colourful with a quirky dress sense. Will makes the most unlikely hero, embittered after the accident which changed his life. The two are separated by class, wealth and education, yet they are drawn together despite – and perhaps because of – these differences. And watching them and their relationship develop made my heart melt.

Granted, this might not be the lightest of holiday reads, but the story is so compelling you won’t be able to put it down. And despite the serious issues it examines, this book is full of humour and romance and colour (if only in Lou’s outfits!). I admit, though, that it is also very emotional, so perhaps have tissues at the ready. PS: And in case you’re wondering, the film is also very good!

Juliet Greenwood

Blackberry Wine by Joanne Harris

My recommended summer read is Blackberry Wine by Joanne Harris, which remains one of my favourite books of all time. It’s hard to describe without spoilers, but it’s a magical story, full of wisdom and the most delicious sensuality. It is also a morality tale of the very best kind. The first time I read it, I was in a terror of anxiety that the moral of the story would not be carried through to the end. But it was.

A perfect, life-affirming book for a summer’s day. Besides, where else do you get to find your narrator to be a bottle of wine?

Beth Francis

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry 

by Rachel Joyce

Harold Fry, retired, disillusioned and sad, only leaves home to post a letter to a former friend who is seriously ill, but he passes the postbox and starts walking. With no map, no suitable clothes, and wearing only yachting shoes, he begins the long trek from Devon to Berwick in the belief that as long as he keeps walking his friend won’t die.

This is a gentle, funny book peopled by characters who wander into the story and touch Harold’s life with unexpected kindness. Characters who remind him of past events, and whose warmth emphasise the gulf that has developed between himself and his wife, Maureen.

Many start to walk with him, the story gets reported in the news, and Maureen, abandoned at home, bewildered and alone, begins to recall him as he was when they met, before the loss of their son isolated them in their individual grief.

The end of Harold’s pilgrimage marks the start of a new understanding between them.

If you want something shorter to read at the airport, try Rachel’s book of short stories A Snow Garden. Seven stories, each peopled with amazing characters, one telling how Maureen and Harold met.

June Francis

The Last Dance and Other Stories by Victoria Hislop

I settled on The Last Dance and Other Stories by Victoria Hislop. The stories are all set in Greece and in my opinion do give a flavor of the real Greece and its people. There is a real sense of place and some interesting characters and good twists in the tales.

Cheryl Lang

Some Elusive Dawn by Elizabeth Darrell

Well, this is a difficult one. I’ve read several good summer reads just lately, The Egyptian Years by Elizabeth Harris, The Sun in her Eyes by Paige Toon, Daughters of the Silk Road by Debbie Rix, Some Elusive Dawn by Elizabeth Darrell, Last Dance in Havana by Rosanna Ley and The Separation by Dinah Jefferies.

With difficulty, because I loved them all, I choose Some Far Elusive Dawn by Elizabeth Darrell Set in Singapore after the first world war this story tells how the rigid old ways and strictures of behaviour are blown apart by two incomers. You really feel the heat, the humidity, the mosquitoes the illnesses and Europeans trying to cope in a tropical climate.

It follows several families trying to lead normal lives whilst adhering rigidly to colonial rules. Life is a whirl of tennis parties and club nights and afternoon teas on shady verandas always with the same set of people. Until Martin Linwood arrives. His mind has been affected by the horrors of war that the colonials would prefer to ignore. He is not accepted because he is different and so when a distant cousin of the family, Dorothea, arrives she is also tainted as being different as she is going to write a book on life in Singapore and wants to add ‘native colour.’ Between them they turn the cosy colonial world of Singapore upside down.

Louise Marley
Imogen by Jilly Cooper

I first discovered Jilly Cooper when I was 13 years old and on a holiday to the Isle of Wight. It was the height of summer, so it rained and it rained and it rained. While my brothers disappeared off to the amusement arcade, I found myself in a little café on my own, sat next to a carousel stacked with her books. I quickly handed over my pocket money and my parents didn’t see me for the rest of the holiday.

I think the reason I love Jilly’s books so much is that they are hugely funny and don’t take themselves too seriously. The heroines make the same mistakes as the rest of us, but rather than whinge about it they just crack a joke and move on. My favourite, which I eventually read so many times it fell to bits, is Imogen. She falls in love with a bad boy tennis player and is whisked off on holiday to the French Riviera, which at the time seemed a very long way from a rain-lashed Isle of Wight!

**The competition is now closed! ** 

COMPETITION!

If you'd like to win this fabulous book bundle from the Novelistas, just leave a comment below! One winner will be drawn, in our usual random way, after the closing date. **Due to the cost of postage, we're only able to offer this prize to entrants living in the UK - sorry! **

Closing Date:

Thursday 30th June 2016

The Prize:

A collection of paperback novels as follows:

Creature Comforts by Trisha Ashley

Every Woman for Herself by Trisha Ashley
The Moon on a Stick by Valerie-Anne Baglietto

In Bed with the Duke by Annie Burrows

Her Forget-Me-Not Ex by Sophie Claire

Lily's War by June Francis

Eden's Garden by Juliet Greenwood

A Girl's Best Friend by Louise Marley

Small print!!!

Be sure to use your full name, or post using an account we can contact you on (Facebook, Twitter Blogger, etc). If we don't hear back from the winner within 72 hours of notification, another winner will be drawn.

Good luck!

Trisha Ashley drawing the winner!
Congratulations to Chris Sterry !

Photo credits 
Book covers: individual publishers
Girl reading: Shutterstock