Yesterday I told a friend that my favorite author-related activity is joining book groups to discuss my books. I meant what I said. As much as I enjoy presenting book talks, usually with folks who haven’t yet read my book, nothing compares to exploring a book’s nitty gritty details. All of it: what people most enjoyed, didn’t understand, and sometimes, disliked. It is in this frank and open discussion when we learn even more about our writing. Far more than a review sheds light on.

I’ll never forget one conversation about my “novel in stories” Humanity’s Grace. One attendee shared their thoughts about the book’s final story, giving it context I hadn’t imagined. And yet, it was a great alternative ending! Another time, my dear sister-in-law (yes, this will make her laugh) told me flat out while she enjoyed the book, she did not like its cover.

When I meet with book groups, in person or virtual, I always remind them they don’t need to protect my feelings. I’m sure I felt more sensitive to criticism with my first book, My Music Man. The writer I am today has learned a lot, and gained certain qualities, including a thicker skin. Even more importantly is my realization that I do want to hear it all. It helps me understand my own weaknesses and viewpoints, and sometimes, how I can become a better writer. More than anything, though, discussions allow me to see the remarkable diversity of thinking about a single topic or idea.

With that background, I encourage you to invite me to a book group to discuss any of my books, including A Map of Her Own. I’m now setting up dates for 2026. I have joined book groups for each of my books over the last few years. While I prefer in person, distance makes that impossible for those from afar, and virtual works too. I have generated book discussion questions for several books and share them below. Oh, and in case I’ve fooled you into thinking I’m more popular or famous than I really am, of course there is no charge. (For local folks, I have a special deal for A Map of Her Own: signed copies at $3 off the $16.95 retail if you buy at least three and pick them up or we come up with a designated meeting spot.)

The Books!

2025 A Map of Her Own (Dual timeline fiction)
Two women separated by a century—one a modern-day fisherwoman in Astoria, the other a paper-mill worker in 1912 in Camas—navigate gender, labor and identity in the Pacific Northwest, while their stories intersect through place and purpose.

See Reader Discussion Questions for A Map of Her Own

2024 From First Breath to Last: A Story About Love, Womanhood, and Aging (Memoir)
The author interweaves her life with that of her mother. She draws on memoir, journals and family history to explore the evolving roles of women across generations.

See Reader Discussion Questions for From First Breath to Last

2022 Humanity’s Grace (Linked short stories or “novel in stories”)
A linked-short-story collection set near Astoria, Oregon, that springs from a murder to reveal how many lives, past and present, ripple and connect in surprising ways. (Two characters move on from this collection to A Map of Her Own.)

2019 Beyond the Ripples (Literary fiction)
After a message in a bottle floats up in the Columbia River, an old man, a teenager and subsequent generations uncover secrets, regrets and forgiveness in this multi-generational Pacific Northwest mystery. (Three characters from this book move on from this book to Humanity’s Grace.)

See Reader Discussion Questions for Beyond the Ripples

2017 My Music Man (Memoir)
This memoir tracks seven generations of a family from Oregon’s Willamette River, using the author’s grief over her father’s death to explore memory, place and the ties that bind. This book contains snippets of early Oregon history. My Music Man is also available in audiobook as narrated by author.

See Reader Discussion Questions for My Music Man

Whew! That’s a lot of writing…and reading. (I’ve also written Then, Now and In-Between: Place, Memories and Loss in Oregon, but find it lends itself less for group discussion.) Thank you, yet again, for your support of this journey. Your reading, reviewing and discussing the words that have filled my brain over this not yet decade gratifies me. Thank you. Oh, and reach out to me at dede@dedemontgomery.com (or other avenues) to invite me to a book group. Don’t have one? Then it’s a great time to pull some friends or neighbors together and be in community. We all need each other, especially now.