Charles Todd | The Merits of Meeting Readers

One of the unexpected perks of writing is touring. Yes, it’s tiring, it takes you away from your writing, and you seem to spend more time in airports than anywhere else.

But—and it’s a big exception—you get to meet your readers. In bookstores, in libraries, at conventions.

A writer needs his or her readers. They’re the people who buy and read—and hopefully—love your books. The more of them the merrier, and the royalty checks swell.

But—and this is exception number two—they are far more important than numbers coming in to an author’s publisher.

Authors generally write alone in an office or living room or kitchen, wherever it’s most comfortable to spend long hours at the computer or the tablet or even with pen and paper. If other writers are like the two of us, they sit there talking to themselves a lot of the time. Testing a bit of dialog, trying out a chase scene or an important confrontation, even making sure of word choice Some authors have a support group to help them work out tangles. We’ve never done that—we have the two of us to use as sounding boards when things get sticky.

What we gain from fans is enthusiasm, a feeling that what we’re writing is reaching an audience and that they want more. Encouragement, the knowledge that there are people who care about what we do. A sense of value, that the time we’ve spent creating a mystery hasn’t been wasted, that others “get” what we are trying to say. It’s wonderful find out what one’s public really thinks.

What’s more, readers often tell us what else they’ve been reading, and we’ll find new (to us) authors that we might have missed. And rambling through a bookstore before the time comes to talk to a group is sheer bliss. We were readers long before we were writers--we absolutely love books, and here are hundreds of them within reach, tempting us to stop and give them a look. We like taking a minute to open this one or to read the jacket of that one or look through the pictures of another one. It expands our horizons, and the more an author knows, the better writer he or she will become. And ideas appear from all sorts of places. A line in a book on Italian hill towns might mention an Englishman or Englishwoman who stayed there for a time, and we suddenly see where a character has been—or might disappear to. A book on ships might mention a wreck that explains what happened in a backstory. You have to be alert to these, because as often as not, they pop out of nowhere and surprise you.

Library talks are always fascinating, because supporters of our libraries are great readers, and they can ask unexpected and thought-provoking questions.

We’ve spoken to high school groups as well, and they too ask terrific questions, and on a very adult level.

All this keeps you on your toes!

We’re about to begin a six state swing, with the usual early morning flights and quick turnarounds, late meals and long days. We started the next Rutledge yesterday, and we’ll be taking some of our notes with us and some of the research we’ll be looking through, but we don’t expect to get much writing done. This is the time when fans get our full attention, and we’ll come home ten days later and fall into bed, exhausted.

And exhilarated. Eager to write the very best next book we can, something that will tempt our many readers and satisfy them too. An author has to deliver—there’s no fudging it. Mystery fans are the smartest people you’ll find anywhere, and they’ll know if you’ve written less than your best. Which is a good thing. This is the kind of support a writer can’t find anywhere else.

About A FINE SUMMER'S DAY

New York Times bestselling author Charles Todd takes readers into Scotland Yard detective Ian Rutledge’s past—to his perplexing final case before the outbreak of World War I.

On a fine summer’s day in June, 1914, Ian Rutledge pays little notice to the assassination of an archduke in Sarajevo. An Inspector at Scotland Yard, he is planning to propose to the woman whom he deeply loves, despite intimations from friends and family that she may not be the wisest choice.

To the north on this warm and gentle day, another man in love—a Scottish Highlander—shows his own dear girl the house he will build for her in September. While back in England, a son awaits the undertaker in the wake of his widowed mother’s death. This death will set off a series of murders across England, seemingly unconnected, that Rutledge will race to solve in the weeks before the fateful declaration in August that will forever transform his world.

As the clouds of war gather on the horizon, all of Britain wonders and waits. With every moment at stake, Rutledge sets out to right a wrong—an odyssey that will eventually force him to choose between the Yard and his country, between love and duty, and between honor and truth.

Read Fresh Fiction's review of A FINE SUMMER'S DAY here.

About Charles Todd

Charles and Caroline Todd are a mother and son writing team who live on the east coast of the United States. Caroline has a BA in English Literature and History, and a Masters in International Relations. Charles has a BA in Communication Studies with an emphasis on Business Management, and a culinary arts degree that means he can boil more than water. Read their full bio here.