Author Karen Wojcik Berner: Starting A Book Club

I had the pleasure of getting to know author Karen Wojcik Berner last year when her debut novel, A WHISPER TO A SCREAM, toured. I’m delighted to welcome Karen back today on another WOW Blog Tour with her current release, UNTIL MY SOUL GETS IT RIGHT, Book Two in her Bibliophiles series.

UNTIL MY SOUL GETS IT RIGHT continues the series with the story of another member of the Bibliophiles Book Club: Catherine, the budding actress. The story details how Catherine doesn't do all her pretending on stage, she pretends in her "real life" and even to herself. This book is a great read as Catherine rockets around the country, moving to a new "home" every time things get uncomfortable.

Karen is sponsoring a special contest on her blog Bibliophilic Blather for those who missed A WHISPER TO A SCREAM the first time around. Readers can win a copy of Book One in the Bibliophiles Series. Click over to see how.

Since Karen’s series features the Bibliophiles Book Club and I’ve never been a member of a book club, I asked her to explain how one starts a Classics Book Club. 

Are you longing to revisit the classics you read back in school? Or, maybe you never read them, opting instead for Cliff’s Notes and regret your most unfortunate decision? 

Well, ladies and gentlemen, now is a great time to start, and I am here to help you. My series, The Bibliophiles, explores the lives of fictional suburban classics book club members. The first, A WHISPER TO A SCREAM (The Bibliophiles: Book One), centers on Sarah, a stay-at-home mother of two, and Annie, a PR executive with fertility issues. The latest, UNTIL MY SOUL GETS IT RIGHT (The Bibliophiles: Book Two), chronicles Catherine Elbert’s journey as she bounces from coast to coast in search of her true self.

Each novel features two pieces of classic literature that are guaranteed to spark some great conversations. Just follow the steps below, and you are on your way to your own fabulous book club meeting.

1. Gather friends who love books and enjoy talking about them. Or just friends who love to talk. Or friends who like to drink. Either way, it will be a lively gathering.

2. Set a date. 

3. Consult the handy party ideas and discussion questions below.

4. Read. Eat. Drink. Discuss.

Repeat.

In UNTIL MY SOUL GETS IT RIGHT, the Bibliophiles are about to begin “The Crucible,” Arthur Miller’s dramatization of the Salem Witch Trials. Here are a few hints to get your meeting started.

Classic: “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller

Food and Beverages: Puritan fare. Serve cornbread, roasted turkey and stewed pumpkin with ginger, butter and vinegar. To drink, Puritans preferred beer, wine or cider.

For more Puritan food tips, go to http://www.ehow.com/way_5486139_puritan-cooking.html. 

Discussion Questions

The Puritans of Massachusetts Bay Colony established a theocracy, in which religion and government became intertwined. What do you think life would be like living in a theocracy?

Do you think people nowadays could be easily swept up into the hysteria that plagued Salem?

Salem is clearly a patriarchal society. Discuss the village women and their roles. Would the witch trials have happened if more men were accused? How do you think the proceedings would have changed?

So far, my fictional Bibliophiles have discussed James Joyce’s “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” and William Shakespeare’s “As You Like It.” If you would like more meeting tips and discussion questions, please visit the book club suggestions page on my website, www.karenberner.com.

Karen, thanks so much for joining us again and for sharing these great tips. Starting a book club sounds like a lot of fun.

Now a bit of background on Karen. She lives a provincial life tucked away with her family in the Chicago suburbs. She majored in English and Communications at Dominican University and couldn’t help but write about the society that surrounds her.

A book lover since a toddler, when she isn't reading, writing, or spending her time wishing she was Jane Austen, Karen spends her time sipping tea or wine, whichever is more appropriate that day, and watching Tim Burton movies or "Chopped," her favorite foodie TV show.

For more on Karen, her writing, and her books, check out her website, visit her blog, find her on Facebook, and see what she’s up to on Twitter.

Here’s another brief description of UNTIL MY SOUL GETS IT RIGHT:
The ladies (and men) of the Bibliophiles Book Club are back! This time the spotlight is on Catherine. Catherine Elbert has never been good at making decisions, whether it was choosing an ice cream flavor as a child or figuring out what she wanted to be when she grew up. The only thing Catherine knew for sure was there had to be more to her life than being stuck on her family’s farm. 

So Catherine became enamored with the complete opposite of the flat farmlands of Burkesville, Wisconsin – the ocean, lobsters, and rugged coast of Portland, Oregon. Despite her parents’ threat to disown her and her brothers’ bets on how many days until she comes home Catherine heads for Peaks Island, off the coast of Portland. 

She is finally free. Or so she thought. What Catherine forgot was that you can’t run away from yourself!

Be sure to visit Karen’s blog for a chance to win a copy of Book One in her series. Are you a member of a book club? Have you ever belonged to a book club? Have you ever thought about starting your own book club? Thanks so much for stopping by today. Have a wonderful day.

Channeling Your Inner Man: Writing Convincing Male Characters by Author Karen Wojcik Berner

I always enjoy participating in blog tours conducted by WOW! Women On Writing because I meet ‘new-to-me’ authors like Karen Wojcik Berner, who joins us today.

Karen’s current release is A WHISPER TO A SCREAM and it’s Book One of her series called The Bibliophiles. Her second installment in the series is scheduled to be released soon.

A WHISPER TO A SCREAM is the story of two women on opposite ends of the child-bearing spectrum who come to realize the grass is not necessarily greener on the other side of the fence. A vivid portrayal of contemporary marriage and its problems, the novel speaks to a longing in all of us, a yearning that might start as a vague notion, but eventually grows into an unbearable, vociferous cry. 

Thanks to Karen and Jodi from WOW!, I have an ecopy of A WHISPER TO A SCREAM to giveaway to one lucky visitor who comments on this post by 8 p.m. (EST) on Sunday, Jan. 15. Be sure to leave your e-mail address with your comment, if it’s not included in your profile.

Karen is here to talk about women channeling their inner man and writing convincing male characters.

Men are not aliens! 

I know this may come as a shock to some of you, especially when your husband ignores you while watching practically any sporting event on television, or your boyfriend wants to high-five you after uttering a particularly humorous comment.

Women just don’t do that, right?

I live in an all-male household with my husband and two sons. As a result, there are some days I could swear all of the estrogen has been drained from my body and replaced with testosterone. I have even been known to yell “Hit somebody!” from the sidelines at football games. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending upon your perspective, menopause is a not-so-subtle reminder my X chromosome is not yet lost. 

 
I feel a great responsibility to half of our population not to create cardboard male characters in my fiction.

 

Even though A WHISPER TO A SCREAM (THE BIBLIOPHILES: BOOK ONE) is a contemporary women’s fiction novel, it was important that the main characters of Annie and Sarah have flesh-and-blood husbands. 

Annie and John Jacobs struggle with infertility, something that affects both partners profoundly, but sometimes in different ways.

For overwhelmed, stay-at-home mother, Sarah Anderson, I was determined her husband Tom would not become a stereotype. Sure, he works a lot, sometimes ignoring his family’s real needs, but why?

Most women spend a good chunk of time each day with men of all ages, personalities, professions and temperaments. Pay attention to how they react to things, how they speak, their physical carriage. What is important to them?

Hang out with men. Instead of joining the women in the kitchen at a family gathering, go watch football or whatever sport is in season. Notice how they talk to each other. Listen to what topics come up. 

However, be careful not to go all Jane Goodall on the men in your life. Remember, it is a more subtle observation. 

When in doubt, ask. Grab one of your guy friends and ask what he would do in the situation you are writing about. Now ask your husband, boyfriend, son or father. Tap into the knowledge base around you.

There are two male classics book club members in my series, The Bibliophiles. I am looking forward to writing anglophile Thaddeus Mumblegarden’s story in book three, which will be the first time more than half the book will feature a male character.

The series is about the members of an American suburban classics book club. Each novel spotlights one or two Bibliophiles and tells the story of their lives up until joining. 

The second Bibliophiles novel, tentatively titled HOW LONG ‘TIL MY SOUL GETS IT RIGHT?, follows Catherine Elbert as she bounces from coast to coast in search of her true self. It will be released in March 2012.

Karen, thanks so much for guest blogging. I like your insight on writing male characters. Asking male friends and relatives their views on certain issues really would be a big help.

Now for some background on Karen. She lives a provincial life tucked away with her family in the Chicago suburbs. If it was good enough for Jane Austen, right? However, dear Miss Austen had the good fortune of being born amid the glorious English countryside, something Karen unabashedly covets, so much so that she majored in English and communications at Dominican University. Like the magnificent Miss Austen, Karen could not help but write about the Society that surrounds her.

A booklover since she could hold one in her chubby little toddler hands, Karen wanted to announce to the world just how much she loves the written word. She considered getting a bibliophile tattoo but instead decided to write about the lives of the members of a suburban Classics Book Club. The series is called, of course, The Bibliophiles.

When she isn't reading, writing, or spending her time wishing she was Jane Austen, Karen can be found sipping tea or wine, whichever is more appropriate that day, and watching Tim Burton movies or "Chopped," her favorite foodie TV show. For more on Karen and her writing, visit her website at http://www.karenberner.com/index.html

 

Here’s a brief synopsis of A WHISPER TO A SCREAM: Annie Jacobs has dreamed of the day she would become a mother since the first time she held her Baby Tenderlove doll. Unfortunately, biology has not cooperated with her plan, and she finds herself dealing with a diagnosis of unexplained infertility instead of picking out baby names. 

Across town, stay-at-home mom Sarah Anderson is just trying to make it through the grocery store without her toddler hurling a box of rice at a fellow shopper. She is exhausted from managing the house, a first grader and a toddler, all without any help from her work-obsessed, absentee husband.

If you’re a writer, do you find it difficult to write male characters? As a reader, can you tell the difference between male and female writers? Remember to leave your e-mail address with your comment (if it’s not in your profile), for a chance to win a copy of A WHISPER TO A SCREAM.