Christine asked Elizabeth Lavender:

Does belonging to a book club help your writing, and how?

Elizabeth Lavender I think it does help. I guess some ways that are more apparent than others. Obviously, it keeps you exposed to what is out there. Also, you may end up reading something you may not have read on your own normally and then find you like it. As a writer, maybe you see something an author did well in his or her book that sparks your creativity. You get feedback from others about what they did or didn't like in a book, and you keep it in mind. However, you still remember you're the author when your writing, so there is always going to be things some people will like and others won't. Some things are just preferences. Then for the author, the book club helps with balance. Sometimes in the process of writing and revising and publishing, etc., I know I get tunnel vision. Even more so with working fulltime as well and balancing the writing. I love to read. I wouldn't be writing if I didn't love to read as well. So the book club lets me keep reading as well when I start getting tunnel vision in the writing process of my own stuff. I love the world I've created in my books, and I'm enjoying the writing process. However, I need to enter someone else's creative world and enjoy that for a while. Then I find I can return to my creative world and write even freer. So there are many ways the book club helps.

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