Book Clubbing On Line
Last night I took part in an online discussion of the novel Angel in a chat room set up at the Author's Info site.
Conducting a book club meeting in a chat room has its plusses and minuses. The biggest advantage is the ability for geographically diverse readers to get together.
The discussions are a bit more fragmented due to the way chatroom conversations work. It is an experiment I am anxious to try again.
If you are an author, you should visit the Author's Info site. They do a lot to help writers promote themselves. Also, they are looking for someone to act as a regular moderator for online book club chats, a feature they've not yet implemented. So if that interests you, head over and contact the administrator.
Unfortunately, some people had trouble finding their way into the chatroom and couldn't take part in the discussion. The Author's Info site is notoriously difficult to navigate in some ways. They are working to improve it. We've talked about rescheduling and making the instructions to get in the room clearer. If that happens, I will let all who couldn't manage to get in know.
There were four of us in the discussion, which veered off into mysticism and whether there is such a thing as a devil and if bad energy can inhabit furniture.
The main theme that emerged, if I can point to one, would be aspects of the novel Angel that some people love and others hate. This includes just about all of the aspects of the novel from the cover design to the appearance of the character of Ian as an Angel to the chapter heading epigrams.
The character of Ian and his mysteries was the second theme of the night. Because much of this relates to his actions at the end of the book, I won't elaborate to much. We talked a bit about Ian's alcoholism and how the fact that he is in his first year of recovery might have affected his relationship with Paul. This is an aspect of the book that I have not been asked about much in interviews.
In all, although not everyone who planned to attend was able to, it was a successful night and worth the effort. I hope to have more opportunities to join with groups of people and discuss the book in the future.
Conducting a book club meeting in a chat room has its plusses and minuses. The biggest advantage is the ability for geographically diverse readers to get together.
The discussions are a bit more fragmented due to the way chatroom conversations work. It is an experiment I am anxious to try again.
If you are an author, you should visit the Author's Info site. They do a lot to help writers promote themselves. Also, they are looking for someone to act as a regular moderator for online book club chats, a feature they've not yet implemented. So if that interests you, head over and contact the administrator.
Unfortunately, some people had trouble finding their way into the chatroom and couldn't take part in the discussion. The Author's Info site is notoriously difficult to navigate in some ways. They are working to improve it. We've talked about rescheduling and making the instructions to get in the room clearer. If that happens, I will let all who couldn't manage to get in know.
There were four of us in the discussion, which veered off into mysticism and whether there is such a thing as a devil and if bad energy can inhabit furniture.
The main theme that emerged, if I can point to one, would be aspects of the novel Angel that some people love and others hate. This includes just about all of the aspects of the novel from the cover design to the appearance of the character of Ian as an Angel to the chapter heading epigrams.
The character of Ian and his mysteries was the second theme of the night. Because much of this relates to his actions at the end of the book, I won't elaborate to much. We talked a bit about Ian's alcoholism and how the fact that he is in his first year of recovery might have affected his relationship with Paul. This is an aspect of the book that I have not been asked about much in interviews.
In all, although not everyone who planned to attend was able to, it was a successful night and worth the effort. I hope to have more opportunities to join with groups of people and discuss the book in the future.
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