Skip to main content

Great video teleconference with intriguing book club

As an author I love to visit book clubs.

Recently by video teleconference, I was the honored guest of the Yarn Spinners Book Club of Ackerman, Mississippi. Friend and member Frances Coleman tells me that the club grew from a group of women who like to knit and crochet. They soon found themselves talking about books and decided to devote one meeting each month to having a book club. The program is sponsored by the Mississippi State University Extension Service - Chocktaw County. 

Last year the Yarn Spinners read and discussed my newest novel, "Wiggle Room," but in 2015 my second novel, "Points of Origin," a national IPPY award-winner in Southern Fiction, was the focus of intention. Pictured separately via Skype and Facetime are the guest novelist and the Yarn Spinners group with guests.The club shared with me the 23 discussion questions it considered including such concepts as what was the central conflict of the novel’s plot, how does one "feel" when reading the book, and what motivates the characters. Since "Points of Origin" includes a scene involving an unfortunate airplane flight, they asked me if I was a licensed pilot. (Answer: No --- that's what research is for.) The members were curious regarding how I have time "to write books with so many well-defined and overlapping characters." (I consider that a compliment!)


Pictured left to right in the group above are the Yarn Spinners and their guests: Jan Ballard, Frances Coleman, Becky Williams, Sharon Kennedy, Ellen Turnipseed, Ginger Rose, Eva Turnipseed, and Alex Turnipseed. Not shown is Juli Hughes (member and event photographer).    

I sincerely appreciated the club's invitation and wish I could have visited in person, but I guess a live video discussion was the next best thing to being there. Many thanks to Juli Hughes for coordinating the video teleconference. The Yarn Spinners is a welcoming group of intelligent, progressive readers. I hope this wonderful book club reads my next book and asks me back!                                         

-----Darden North  www.dardennorth.com


Comments

Sandra de Helen said…
Yes, I too have had this enjoyable experience. The mystery bookclub at the Laredo Public Library invited me to visit them one day via Skype. I couldn't see them, so had no idea I was up on the big screen before them as we chatted away for over an hour. I was totally not self-conscious! ha. They had prepared several questions about the book itself, and also about the writing experience. It was flattering on the one hand, and it also was so fun to have the characters come to life in the room with the readers as we talked about them.
Darden North said…
Thank you for sharing your experience, Sandra, and for adding to the discussion. I hope to have the opportunity to participate in more video conference book clubs as an author.



Unknown said…
Thank you Dr. North for "coming" to our Yarn Spinners book club via Skype and Facetime. We enjoyed your book and look forward to reading the next one. Juli Hughes, MSU Extension Service-Choctaw County

Popular posts from this blog

From the Other Side

The new year 2016 brought a special gift to me, the "opportunity" to be on the other side of the healthcare delivery system--the care receiver rather than the caregiver. Fortunately, I am blessed that my surgery went well. I only missed just over week of work, and a full recovery is expected. During those days away from my ob/gyn career, I spent time at home recuperating and was feed well by family and friends. The surgery had been scheduled long before the Ole Miss Rebels finished a stellar football season, and since my wonderful physician is not an Ole Miss fan he did not mind skipping our second trip to the Sugar Bowl in over 40 years. Fully alert, status-post anesthetic trance and requiring minimal post-op pain meds on the evening of January 1, I watched Ole Miss trounce Oklahoma State on a fairly large, widescreen TV from the comfort of my den couch. However, I missed being in New Orleans with my friends at the Superdome in what they described as great seats in an obvi

Flawed characters surround us

A recent publication discussed the growing role of powerful female characters in many popular televison series and that many times the male lead becomes their kryptonite. This theme also drives the plot of many murder mysteries and thrillers. Whether on television, in the movies, or in novels, those of us seeking escape are drawn to flawed characters. Male and female characters create many conlicts with the opposite sex and drive a novel's plot. Murder mysteries and mystery fiction novels abound with men who lose the sexual battle but somehow find redemption. Are audiences as forgiving when a female protagonist is derailed by a love interest? Contemporary television does not seem to think so, and that concept helps this writer create flawed female characters that practically write award winner books themselves . To read more:  http://bit.ly/174GWC1 Darden North is the author of four novels including "Points of Origin," awarded an IPPY in Southern Fictio

BLOG JOG DAY

Thanks for stopping by Recent Musings on www.dardennorth.com . While here, please explore my website which includes the book trailer for my third novel Fresh Frozen . When you're ready, jog on over to http://www.thegoldenpathway.blogspot.com/ . If you would like to visit a different Blog in the jog, go to http://blogjogday.blogspot.com . Enjoy! Darden North