Okay, so it’s my own book club.
But After December’s first book club of 2020 is the Local Authors Book Club started by Tzima Brown and me. We met on 100.7 The Point, a local talk radio station, where we both have Saturday shows (WriteOnSC and Evolve with Tzima).
Last month I was visiting Tzima’s store, Sunrise Artisan in Five Points, Columbia, S.C. She said, “We should start a book club that features Local Authors,” and I agreed. Like so many things with potential, this idea just needed someone to take the lead.
So I took it.
I agreed with Tzima that Sunrise is a great place to host the meetings. I said we could do them on the last Saturday of the month after the radio show, Write On SC, ends, so 10:10 a.m.
“We’ll start with my book,” I told her. “And introduce the other authors we’ve recruited for a full 12-month calendar.”
So After December found its way into the first book club of the year, conveniently and not ironically afterDecember.
The appeal of the Local Author Book Club is wide. First, it’s a chance for local readers to find and appreciate books by local authors and then to get to interact with those authors in person.
Second, it’s a chance for local authors to promote their own work to an audience that can respond face-to-face. So often writers are talking to readers before they read, but not much afterward. This gives the author a chance to speak to new readers after the book has been experienced.
Finally, and most importantly, it creates a community of readers-and-writers who are connected by the radio station. The community is transcending the programming and getting face-to-face with one another to discuss books.
Hopefully our readers will make new friends, enjoy a morning book chat, and discover new authors that may become their favorites.
Have you read After December? Are you in the Columbia, S.C. area? Come to Sunrise Artisan on Saturday, January 28, 2020 at 10:10 a.m. and join the Local Authors Book Club to discuss the work.
Until then, tune in to 100.7 The Point or makethepointradio.com to hear me, Kasie Whitener, discussing authorship and books with my co-host Rex Hurst on Write On SC every Saturday morning at 9 a.m.
Wanna be a featured author in our book club? Click here to apply.
Unapologetically X 