Local author interested in talking to the Book Group

Patrick Woodrow is a local author of adventure thrillers who has already had one book published by Random House, and another due out at Christmas. He's interested in coming to talk to the group about his work, and about the trials and tribulations of being a 'struggling author'.

In terms of the book, I guess he'd be keen for us to add it as a candidate for a future poll (perhaps thrillers) - though of course, as with any other book, whether it's nominated or read is down to the vote and decision of the group - there's no obligation to do this on our part. From our point of view I think it would simply be interesting to hear from a local published author - and have the opportunity to ask questions, if he is happy with that. I think it might be good to have him pop along to the January meetup and talk for about 20 mins at the beginning of the evening. The usual book club discussion would then proceed as normal. What does everyone else think?

I've posted his message below - contains links to info on his work, on the book, etc.
>
> What Patrick Woodrow wrote:
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Cath

I'm a local author with a new thriller coming out this
December. If your group enjoys thrillers I'd be delighted to
come and talk to you or answer questions about the book -
assuming the group was interested in reading it.

It's an adventure thriller about a couple who get lost in the jungle
and stumble on all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff. My first
book, DOUBLE CROSS, was published by Random House and has been
translated into 8 languages, including Chinese, which helped it
to become a no.3 bestseller in Taiwan.

FIRST CONTACT, the new novel, is not published until 17 December, so could be a
candidate for your Janurary read? It can be pre-ordered on
Amazon UK, but won't hit the shops until Christmas. This is
only my second book so I can give a candid assessment of what
it's like to be a struggling author, which your group might
find interesting. I'm in the process of building a website at
www.patrickwoodrow.com. The site is currently unfinished and
rough around the edges, but will give you a bit more
information about me. Apologies for the brazen cold call! Do
let me know if this is of interest - obviously there would be
no fee or anything silly like that.

Many thanks and kind regards

Hey Cath,
This sounds really interesting.I think it would be great to have Patrick come and talk in January. I do hope other members feel the same.
Debbie

Not very keen on thrillers - so would not particularly want to waste one of our monthly evenings on it. Brutal???

Esther X

Not very keen on thrillers - so would not particularly want to waste one of our monthly evenings on it. Brutal???

Esther X

I always thought part of the purpose of a book club was to open oneself up to genres previously avoided.Broadening horizons and all that.

So in answer.Yes,pretty brutal...

I'd also question you reference to "wasting" an evening.
We've discussed several novels in the past which could easily have been described as thrillers.None of those meet-ups felt "wasted",they were usually lively and interesting.

I'd also question you reference to "wasting" an evening.
We've discussed several novels in the past which could easily have been described as thrillers.None of those meet-ups felt "wasted",they were usually lively and interesting.

That is right, "Child 44", undoubtedly a thriller, was just a couple months ago... So maybe enough
for now? :-)

As well I think the whole idea of book club is to discuss the book, not to listen to the author's "life story",
what with full respect to the latter, might be not interesting at all.

I am siding with Esther.

P.

I think it's a great idea to listen to a local author - it's only 20 mins - and we don't have to vote for the book if we don't want to.

Plus, I think the author's life in some cases is very relevant to the books we read and have sometimes discussed it when talking about a book.
Esther J

Would someone explain the relevance of the author being 'local'?

I'd suggest that folks scope his website. It might give some idea of whether or no you feel you'd likely find listening to its author a good use of 20+? mins.

Interesting debate! And I can appreciate and understand both sides of it. On one hand, you can view this as a rather needless piece of self-promotion (and agreed the book club isn't a forum for that); on the other (which is where I tend to lean), a fresh change to format and a bit of interesting insight into getting published. And, now and again, I figure it might be good to have a discussion like this. My gut instinct says it's a shame to dismiss this kind of opportunity entirely.

All I would add is that I only proposed Patrick talking for 20 mins or so at the beginning of the evening, rather than dominating the entire night - though I can see that if people asked questions etc it might spill over into longer.

Perhaps the answer is to have this as a separate evening/event for anyone who is interested? Then we can keep to the usual book club format.

Cath