A little while ago I received news that Macmillan, my UK publisher, was going to be launching a really interesting new program. They were running a competition to find twelve enthusiastic readers to form a reading groups panel. Panelists would get free books, meet authors and come in to London to discuss their take on books that seemed like they would have special appeal to reading groups. Editors and the rest of the publishing team would listen to what the readers would like to see as additional material in paperback editions and panel members would actually write some of that content themselves. I loved this idea, so when my editor gave me the news that Tell the Wolves I’m Home was going to be the very first book in this new program, I was thrilled.

Last week I finally got the chance to meet the panelists (a lovely bunch of readers) and hear their thoughts on Tell the Wolves. Some very interesting stuff came out of it. For instance, I was completely surprised by the level of dislike the group had for Danni. As a writer, I understood and appreciated all my characters, so I was a bit blindsided by that, but still very intrigued. It’s not often writers get a chance to be a fly on the wall during a discussion of their book. You can see the playlist the panel came up with here: http://www.panmacmillan.com/tellthewolves  and you can read their profiles of Greta, June and Danni and read their excellent list of discussion points in the back of the UK paperback. Here’s a great one they came up with: Greta is the true hero of the book. Discuss…