Turning the table: Questions for Maine mystery readers

As I meet and talk to readers at signings and other events, it’s always a pleasure to listen to their opinions and questions about my Bernadette “Bernie” O’Dea mystery series. I welcome questions about my choices, why characters do certain things, or why the plot took a turn it did.

Ready to talk to readers at Oliver & Friends Bookshop in Waterville Nov. 16.

Many readers I’ve talked to recently — a surprising number — have expressed hope and opinions about what they want to see happen to my main characters in the latest book, DYING FOR NEWS, which came out in October. I don’t want to spoil the book for people who haven’t read it, so I don’t give a lot away as I ease them past the questions. [Some who have already read it also have some strong opinions, but that’s a blog post for a day when the book has been out for a while].

Readers’ strong opinions, suggestions and hopes for characters and plotlines also prompt me to ask questions of them. At my most recent event, a very lively book signing at Oliver & Friends Bookshop, in Waterville, I was lucky enough to talk to readers who’d read the first three books in the series and couldn’t wait to get their hands on the fourth. They had some very strong opinions about the books they’d already read. They had questions. And I had just as many questions for them.

As I drove home, it occurred to me that it was time to turn the tables. Instead of a post telling readers what I think, I’ll give readers the opportunity to think about how they read and react to books without having to hear my two cents about it.

Don’t send me your answers! These are questions you can ask yourself as you read any book, not just mine. They may increase your enjoyment of the book, and even give you some ammo if you run into the author at an event or in the grocery store.

Here we go:

Are you willing to stick with a character you like when they do something that bothers or frustrates you? Why do you think the author had the character do those annoying things?

Instead of wondering who the author has in mind to play the characters in a movie, who who do YOU think would play them?

How much of a role does the setting play in the story? Could this book have been set somewhere else and still have the same results or impact?

How much of an impact does the book have on your emotions (aside frustration at a character) — did it make you laugh or cry? Both?

Does the book make you think more about things in the real world than you otherwise would have, or see anything differently?

If you liked the book, and were to meet the author, what would you tell her, specifically, about what you liked?

There are no wrong answers to these questions. You don’t even have to answer them, or even think about them, if you don’t want to. But if you really like a book, don’t be afraid to drop the author a line, or track her or him down at an event, and give them your thoughts. Authors love to to talk to readers who have read their book and want to discuss it.