One thing I've learned since Adrift was published? I LOVE attending book clubs to talk about my novel.
It's hard to do interviews about Adrift because I can't say much without spoiling things. The story opens with someone waking up alone on a sailboat with no memory and so everything is a mystery at the start and the fun is that you go on the journey with the main character to find out what happened and where to go from there. But, book club meetings where everyone has read the book? THOSE are where the fun conversations happen and I am here for it.
I've done in-person book club meetings and meetings over zoom and no matter the format, the discussion is always thoughtful and lively and fun. We talk about the story, climate change, the publishing process, is Adrift an optimistic or pessimistic view of our future, where does our sense of identity come from and what role does memory play in that? There's SO MUCH to talk about.
In the past few months, I've met with a local group that has been meeting to talk about books for over twenty years! I've sat in a beautiful garden of another local club and talked about climate change, heat pumps, and electric cars. I zoomed into Bookshelf Irvington's summer book club meeting - they met at a local restaurant in Virginia called... Adrift; how perfect is that? There was a zoom call with a group on the Sunshine coast, a chat with folks on Vancouver Island - so many great times!
Last week I met with an incredibly insightful group of people in Vancouver who really saw what I was trying to do with Adrift and asked questions that cut to the heart of things I wanted to explore and it was lovely and energizing and gratifying.
As an author, your book goes out in to the world and you don't know how people will respond. People bring expectations based on cover design, they bring the mood they're in when they sit down to read - it's a collaboration between the reader and the text the author has put on paper and you never know how it will turn out. But these book clubs have all been so amazing, so full of kind, insightful readers, and I'm grateful to connect with each of them.
In all sincerity - if your book club reads Adrift and likes it and you want to connect with me about possibly joining your book club discussion - please send a message! You can use the form below or email me at lisa [at] lisabrideau.com
Friendly reminder: March 27 - I'm doing a virtual event with Mississauga Library, part of the Author Talk Series at 7pm EST. Free to attend but you have to register in advance (click here).