At Sherrill's Inn

                                                          

On Thursday I was the guest of a book club that meets at the historic Sherrill's Inn in Fairview, NC. It was one of the best such meetings I've ever attended. Wine on the porch, a five-star 'pot-luck' candlelit dinner, and a lively discussion of Crows. And the venue!

                                                                                                           

Built in 1845, Sherrill's Inn has served as a family home, a stagecoach stop, a drover's stand, and an inn. Today it is still a family home, but it also serves as an event venue. (See more HERE--the About Us contains an excellent history of the house and its owners.

A maze-like path leads through century-old boxwoods to the house which boasts stunning views of the property and beyond.

Inside, the house is a completely charming accumulation of family treasures. A fire was burning in the dining room fireplace, and candles on the table and in the chandelier added to the feeling of stepping back in time. 

On the walls of the sitting room are mural-like paintings of the inn as it was during the early days. They were a wonderful labor of love executed by Elizabeth McClure, one of the previous owners, whose descendants still live here.

I'm sorry I didn't get better pictures due to low light and limited time, but they are worth a look, especially if you can enbiggen them.

Meeting with Readers

A spectacular sky led to a warm, mainly overcast day.  Frogs are singing in the pond, and John just pulled a tick off Jenny.

It was a nice day to drive to Hot Springs to meet with a group discussing Crows. The group was notable for having as many men as women.  And there were great, serious questions that showed these folks really thought about what they read. We talked about the horrors of war, the role of women at the time, the current division in the country and if it was like that before the Civil War. 

They were interested in my research, and I explained that much of what I used was from primary sources--government records and newspapers from the time. I warned them that none of that was guaranteed to be accurate, and we all agreed that the same could be said for news sources today.

One question I'd never had before: We were talking about my use of dialect, and I was asked if I perhaps wrote a scene in standard English and went back and put it into dialect. The answer there is no. Writing the local dialect is like breathing. I just remember who's speaking and say things the way I think they would.

One woman commented on how much she'd learned--how I'd managed to pack the story full of interesting information--like the Red Strings and the bandage-rolling societies. Another woman confessed she had no idea how milking a cow worked and how did I know. Research, I told them. About 15 or 20 years of hands-on research. I just didn't know at the time that it would end up in a book.

Perhaps my favorite comment was the woman who said she read the books that the group discussed because they were assigned, and she sometimes had to struggle through them. But she really enjoyed reading Crows--not a struggle.

Next month they're reading The Plague by Camus.

 

The First In-Person CROWS Event!

What joy! I spoke to the Marshall Library Book Club--outside and all of them masked-- about CROWS and they asked the best questions! They really seemed to understand what it was I was trying to accomplish.

I've done some Zoom events but in the beginning my old computer was a bit wonky and the conditions just weren't ideal. What a pleasure to be in person!

I even managed to ask them to post reviews. It seems so tacky to be doing that but it really helps the book to get more notice. And there's some kind of algorithm on Amazon that kicks in when a book reaches 100 ratings--CROWS is at 82, which is more than any of my other books, due, I suspect, to my periodical nagging.

Many thanks to the folks at the library and the readers who made this event possible. It felt like old times. Except for the masks.

 

A Very Small Book Club

Oddly enough, in all my years as a voracious reader, I've never belonged to a book club. There was a time, early in my marriage when I read and reported on books for my mother-in-law who did belong to one and somehow rarely got around to reading the selected book when it was her turn to report on it.

But I've attended any number of book clubs as the speaker, when they were reading one of my books, and always enjoyed the lively discussions (and the food and the wine too.)

Now I find myself in a very select book club sort of a thing. My friend Allegra and I exchange piles of books  and have lunch and chat about this and that. Several months may pass between our 'meetings' and no one has to make a report on what she's read. If I'm particularly inspired by one of the books, I may email Allegra and tell her so but, so far at least, there's been no detailed analysis of any given book -- in spite of (or perhaps because of) the fact that she's a retired English teacher and I put in nine years as one.

You see in these two pictures the wealth she brought me yesterday. An interesting assortment in the top photo -- I'm looking forward especially to the Patchett and the Chevalier books. And in the bottom photo, the entire Shetland series. I loved the series on television but had never read any of them. I've already deep into the first (not pictured) Raven Black and am not disappointed.

Undoubtedly I'll be reporting on my reading here--in this online extension of our very small book club.

Any suggestions as to what I'm most likely to enjoy in the top photo?

The Joy of Discerning Readers

I met last night with one of the best book clubs ever. It's a mystery book club that meets monthly at Malaprop's, Asheville's much lauded independent bookstore. They had chosen (at my suggestion) The Day of Small Things.

After making the suggestion however, I wondered if I'd done the right thing. I think this book is one of my best and it stands alone, unlike the Elizabeth books, but it's not a traditional mystery. 

There's a murder and a bit of a mystery but the reader only becomes aware of this near the end. Plus there's quite a lot of woo-woo, aka paranormal, goings on. And lots of what I  think of as clever hints and allusions that the ordinary reader in a hurry is likely to miss. 

Well. My worries were unfounded. Judging by their very intelligent and precise questions about the book, this group had read carefully and attentively. And (unless they were just being polite) appreciatively.

They liked it! They really liked it! The dialect, the magic, the characters, the snake-handling, Ronnie Winemiller's sweet ride, Mr. Aaron (another of my especial favorites,) and, of course, the three incarnations of Miss Birdie. 

It was an author's dream -- readers who really get what you tried to do. 

Book Club Alert!

If you're a member of a book club here in the US or Canada, your club can enter to win eight (count them, 8!) autographed and personalized copies of Signs in the Blood, the first Elizabeth Goodweather mystery.

 

Find full information over at NYT best selling author Dianna Love's Quantum Book Club.  There are several titles available each month (many of which have rather steamy covers -- Signs looks a bit like a maiden aunt in comparison.)

QBC gives away books every month. Mine is available in January but if you're a book club member, you might want to remember this site.

 On the home front, I'm feeling better. All of Christmas has been put away (except for a stack of red and green napkins that need ironing and I hope to resume blog visiting tomorrow.

 

Help! I Need Somebody . . .

Eat Your Words at Avenue M (on Merrimon Avenue in Asheville) is a new kind of book club. You don't have to join or bring food; you don't have to take a turn hosting; you just make a reservation and show up.  For a modest price, you'll get a four course meal and lots of discussion of the book of the evening (which you are asked to read beforehand.)  It's limited to 21 so that it can be a real discussion, not a reading or a talk.

By an amazing coincidence, Under the Skin will be the featured book next week (Thursday, November 17th at 5:30) and I'll be there to lead the discussion and answer questions.

Of course I'd love to see any of you who are in the Asheville area at this dinner. (Go HERE for information.) But I beg any of you who've read the book to help me think of topics for discussion -- seances? sisterhood? syzergy? (I threw in that last one, just to be silly and alliterative but on looking it up in Wikipedia, I found that one of its meanings (the union of opposites)  is appropriate.

Please, if you've read the book, help me out and suggest a topic suitable for book club discussion!Or any question you might have re the book.

Book Club ... with Poultry

These charming folks invited me to their book club last night.  I have to say, this is a lovely way to meet with a group (as long as it's of a manageable size.) 

We ate dinner ( two different lasagnas-- one with zucchini slices instead of pasta -- both delicious, a fancy salad with grapes and sugared nuts, and brownies and a marvelous lemony polenta cake with fruit and whipped cream.)

And while we ate, we talked about Signs in the Blood -- and I told them about the original ending to the Little Sylvie story, as well as how the story came to be.

This is fun for me -- I usually know the answers to the questions. And it was more like a group of friends having dinner than me Giving a Talk. 


And for an added fillip, there were baby ducks. And chickens. And dogs and cats. I really felt right at home.

These are baby Runner Ducks -- ducks kept for eggs, not for eating. They stand very erect and look like a covey of bowling pins as they wobble along after their mamas -- who happen to be two hens, one of whom brooded the eggs.
 

The neat thing is that this is a house in a wooded suburban development. Kim and her husband have a chicken house and a chicken tractor as well as lots of herbs and tomatoes growing in places where you might expect to see traditional landscaping.

I think Elizabeth Goodweather would feel at home too.

A Visit to Lake James and the Read Between the Wines Book Club

It's always a pleasure to talk about my books with people who enjoy reading. 

And when that pleasure is combined with a visit to a beautiful lake and wonderful hospitality . . .

As well as a chance to see a bald eagle guarding her nest . . . well, it makes for a rather special day!

Below is a web album with more pictures -- the pictures in the restaurant were by my hosts Steve and/or Janie.  As always, click on pictures to biggify.

Hell or Highwater

The skies were lowering and it was spitting rain when I set out for my meeting with the Hell or Highwater Book Club last Saturday night. In fact, it was the sort of evening that makes a body want to stay home and drink hot soup.

But I knew from their name that the ladies of the club would be there. And I'm so glad I went. Cloudy stormy evening are beautiful in these mountains and the autumn gold shows to particular advantage against the gray.

At the end of my journey I discovered a beautiful home, filled with art, an amazing studio hidden in the woods, and a charming set of women, ready to talk about my first book, Signs in the Blood.

Check out my slide show to see some of what I saw. . .