October has already delivered another fun first in my author career.

A local book club had read Rockstar Ending, the first novel in my dystopian series, and invited me along to discuss some of the issues the book raises.

When they invited me to spend an evening with them, I jumped at the chance. And what a lovely occasion it turned out to be.

1. They had all read the book from cover to cover. This is unusual in book clubs. Often a few people don’t have the time or the inclination to ‘do the work’. Being in the club is more of an excuse to meet up for a drink and a chat. Nothing wrong with that, either!

2. The questions were superb. We covered a lot of ground, from curiosity about where characters and settings came from to more profound discussions about people’s views on how people might want to manage the end of their life.

3. Signing books for fans is always a privilege. As many of the participants had read Rockstar Ending on an e-reader, I was able to give them signed postcards as a memento.

4. People had different feelings about the cover and title, and how best to communicate the content of the book using those two key elements. Most of them liked it, but one or two had found it confusing. Food for thought.

5. I had not prepared a sales pitch, and wondered whether I should have had a bit more up my sleeve. When they asked where they could buy the next books in the series, I answered the question literally, rather than taking a couple of minutes to signpost my website, mailing list (The Rockstar Readers) and free prequel.

I’d love to do this again.

If you’re in book club which meets in person or online, why not get in touch with me and add a real live author to the mix?