I’ve done it. After chatting to my good friend and fellow-author, Sharon Booth, about setting up a reader’s group for the past 18 months (maybe even 2 years), I’ve finally bitten the bullet and done it.

Sharon got her act together way before me and runs a gorgeous, cosy group called Love, Laughter, & Happy Ever After so, if you’re a fan of Sharon’s writing (or even if you’re not), you might want to check out her group. It’s lovely.

I love a bit of alliteration so I’ve called my group:

Why does Redland’s Readers exist? The ‘about’ section sums it up so I thought I’d paste that here:

The purpose of this group is to explore together the world of Whitsborough Bay and Hedgehog Hollow (without any spoilers) where I set my stories. 

WHAT WILL I SHARE WITH YOU? 
I’ll reveal some details before they’re generally available such as titles, release dates and book covers. I’ll talk about the project(s) I’m currently working on and may even ask you for inspiration around names of characters, streets, jobs etc. when my creative well runs dry. I may occasionally talk about books I’ve read, music I love and favourite films and I’d love you to join in those conversations.

WHAT WOULD I LIKE YOU TO SHARE? 
I’d love to hear your feedback on my stories (spoiler-free please) and see pictures/hear about connections with Yorkshire. For example:
Do you live here?
Have you visited the area / would you like to?
Do my settings remind you of other places?
Do any of my characters remind you of yourself or someone you know?
Do you know someone with the same name as one of my characters?

Feel free to ask me questions. If anyone follows me on social media or on my blog, you’ll know I’m always honest. I absolutely love what I do and am so very lucky to be able to do this full-time now but that doesn’t mean it’s all shiny so I’ll hopefully give you some insight into what goes on behind the scenes to get a book/ebook/audio to you.

And I’m sure it will evolve as we go… xx

And that last sentence is key. This will definitely evolve depending on the members and what they want from the group/how they’d like to interact.

I went live late yesterday afternoon and am amazed to have 89 members already. I’m having a few problems setting up notifications for myself so have to keep scrolling through as I’d hate to miss anything.

If this sounds like a group you’d like to join, please do ask on Facebook here. There are a couple of simple entry questions and you’ll be asked to accept the ‘rules’ (straightforward things like no spamming, being kind, no spoilers etc.) and then you’ll be welcomed into the fold with a warm virtual hug.

Thank you to everyone who has written a review, emailed me, messaged me, contacted me on any form of social media across the past year to say how much you’ve loved my books. It’s quite overwhelming (in a nice way). Without your kindness, I’d never have set up a group like this and I’m looking forward to getting to know you all a bit better.

If you don’t fancy joining the group but you would like to follow my author page on Facebook, you can find it here.

Big hugs
Jessica xx