The Ladies Who Love Literature Book Club - Virtual Author Appearance

Like many authors, I’ve had to cancel a few in person appearances and other author events since the pandemic. Bummer. But I was pleasantly surprised when I received an email from Georgia Harris, a friend of Emma Lou Black (the founder of the Heritage Book Club in Lexington, Kentucky) asking whether I would be available to meet virtually and discuss my first romantic suspense novel, Gotta Let It Go with her book club – The Ladies Who Love Literature. 

Without hesitation, I jumped at the opportunity to connect with these avid readers via Zoom.  After we locked in the date (October 10, 2020 at 4 p.m.) I began communicating with Gayle Lloyd, a founder of the book club. She prepared a flyer (see below) with details of who they are, the types of books they like to read, and their logo designed by Belinda Stallings-Fields (another founding member) denoting the “chic, sophisticated persona of this group of enthusiastic readers." This was awesome!

Needless to say, I was super excited when Saturday, October 10^th arrived.  I met the lovely book club members (Fern Berry, Lisa Carter, Deborah Hall, Georgia Harris, Gayle Lloyd, Jeni Lowry, Belinda Stallings-Fields, and Charlotte Walker) and then dived into an engaging discussion based on the questions below. 

Discussion Questions

1. What were your initial reactions to the book?
2. There were a lot of suspicious characters in the book. Who was on your initial list of suspects for the murder of Lia?
3. What adjectives would you use to describe, Deidre, Kyle, Detective Harris?
4. Did you initially trust Detective Harris why or why not?
5. Do you think Kyle is involved in the murder? What is his “game”?
6. Does Deidre go too far in trying to solve the murder?
7. What were the biggest surprises?
8. Which character would you most like to meet?
9. What did you think of the ending?
10. If the book were made into a movie who do you think should play, Deidre, Kyle, Detective Harris, LaTasha, Ms. Benita?

Everyone had their favorite characters they would like to meet: Angela, Miss Benita, Deidre, Hill, and Kyle. The discussion heated up when we talked about secrets and whether they should be revealed. This was very interesting because the majority said that secrets should be revealed up front so that folks can know how to deal with it. True but it all depends on the folks involved. Anyway, we had fun once we got to the question of who should play Deidre, Kyle, Detective Harris, LaTasha and Ms. Benita if the book were made into a movie.  

Per Gayle: “My final pick for Deidre is Gabrielle Union. She, is soundly, sassy, savvy and plays a super bad detective on the new TV show and was great in Bad Boys 2.” I can totally see Gabrielle in this role.

As for me: I like Meagan Good to play Deidre; Morris Chestnut to play Kyle; Laz Alonzo, Ricky Whittle or Michael Ealy to play Detective Harris; Regina Hall to play LaTasha; and Jennifer Lewis or Sheryl Lee Ralph to play Ms. Benita.

Overall, it was indeed a fun-filled, energetic afternoon of great discussions and questions. Thanks again to Georgia for reaching out and connecting me with Gayle who organized a wonderful and well moderated virtual book club meeting. After we made our toasts and said our goodbyes, I sat back in my chair and smiled basking in the fact that book clubs really do ROCK whether in person or via Zoom!!