Random Acts

I had planned on doing a Scrivener update today, now that I actually get to spend some more time with it.  However, upon opening my in box this morning, it seems the Awesome Folks over at Limebird Writers  *waves enthusiastically, and raises coffee mug in toast* have nominated me for a Versatile Blogger Award.  Way cool, and many thanks to the Limies!   

The Versatile Blogger Award, as far as I can tell, is a ‘play it forward’ type of honor.  It comes with certain responsibilities known as:

The rules….

1. Thank the award-giver and link back to them in your post.    *ahem*  Many Thanks, Limebird Writers!  If you haven’t checked out their blog, do so.  They also have a writer’s forum.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.      Ergh.  This is the toughy.  So, I’ll go with -

1. I don’t like to share things about myself.  LOL
2. I run with scissors (knives, screw drivers, sticks — yes, I live on the edge).
3. My dogs are my passion ~ along with creating, wether with words, paint, film or anything else
4. Don’t *ever* try to make conversation with me if I haven’t had my coffee yet.  (Unless you’re an agent or publisher wanting my work, of course!)
5. I like made up words that make sense ~ like Friblings: friends who are like siblings
6. I would be perfectly happy living as a hermit ~ with my dogs, my friblings, my husband, and plenty of wine, of course.
7. Some people just don’t get my sense of humor.  Go figure.

3. Pass this award along to 15 20 recently discovered blogs you enjoy reading.    Here are my choices, in no particular order, whether they want it or not!:

1. Raven’s Quill
2. The Illiterate Scribe
3. Devin Writes
4. Coffee & Quill
5. Autumn Barlow
6. Kana’s Chronicles
7. Norfolk Novelist
8. Sue Healy
9. Snagglewordz
10. Michael J. Martinez
11. Elizabeth Barrow
12. A. E. Marling
13. The Athele Series
14. Banshee in the Well
15. Tammy E. A. Crosby
16. Alex Schnee
17. Anne Brooke
18. Jeanette Levellie
19. Going Greene
20. Writer J. A. Campbell

4. Contact your chosen bloggers to let them know about the award.   **working on that!**

It Takes a Village. . .

. . . to raise a writer.

What a glorious place is the www and all the social networking opportunities.  Although many people look down their noses at all of it, it really is an awesome entity.

As many of you will attest, we writers are solitary individuals.  Oh, I’m sure there are plenty of gregarious authors out there, schmoozing it up, but for many of us it’s not high on our list of things to do.  And writing, for the most part, is a solitary endeavor.

Yet, we need contact, and not just any contact.  We need the contact of like-minded souls.  People who understand our need to find just the right phrase.  Who know what its like to having characters running amuck in your head, and don’t think it’s a cause to call the men in the white coats.  People who hear phrases like, “Lose the statives.” and don’t need an explanation of what a stative is.

Unfortunately, life being what it is, and with the basic needs of food and shelter, many writers find that writing, family, and day job = very little time left to interact with other writers.

Enter *cue music* The World Wide Web!!!!

Not a new concept, granted.  But you never really appreciate it fully until you need it.  Through the www and things like FaceBook and Twitter, writers can connect with other writers a world away.  Connect, learn, trade ideas, vent, rant, rave, and everything in between.  And suddenly, the solitary writer is surrounded by other solitary writers without ever leaving the comfort of their desk.  We can write, edit, re-write, and take a two minute break to tweet or message someone just to break up the monotony or to help pick us up and brush us off when our dream agent just sent us a form rejection.

So for all of you who are in my on-line village, just visiting, or who haven’t yet found it.  Welcome!  And thank you!

Rockin’ Robin

I love gadgets and technology.  But I’m also reluctant to jump on the latest bandwagon.  I like to forge my own path and stubbornly hold out against the latest trends due to that non-conforming streak I seem to possess.  Take cell phones, for example.  I held out a long time.  I didn’t ever want to be that connected, that reachable.  But the fact I traveled solo quite frequently made a cell phone practical for “emergency use only”.  My first phone was one of those pay as you go models, barely one step up from two cans and a string.  Now, although I don’t go into panic mode if I’ve forgotten my phone at home, it’s become an integral part of my daily life.  But only because it’s so much more than a phone.  It keeps notes, holds my calendar, stores books, photos, videos – you name it.  Oh yeah, and phone numbers if I should ever really want to make a call on it.  I admit, I love my smart phone.  Because it is smart and more than just a phone.  And if I want to be “that connected” I can be.  From anywhere.

Facebook was another hold out.  I set my heels in the sand and was dragged into it kicking and screaming, away from the private family Yahoo group I had created.  No one was posting to it anymore.  Family news was once again filtering through the grape vine and when I bemoaned that fact the reply I received was, “Well, I posted on Facebook.”

“Well not everyone in the world is on Facebook!” I retorted.

A week later, I was.  I told myself I joined out of necessity, a need to be in touch with my large, wide-spread family.  Now, I check and post almost daily.  Sometimes more if I need a distraction.  I’m still close-fisted with friending.  Seriously, if I won’t talk to you if I see you face to face why would I want you as my Facebook friend?  Now that I am on Facebook I see how it can be a wonderful marketing and platform building tool as well.  The number of people you can reach is exponential.  And with Networked Blogs my blog posts appear automatically in my status.

And now there’s Twitter staring me in the face.

I have to admit, every time I hear the word the song Rockin’ Robin starts playing in my head.  You know, Tweedly-dee-de-dee,dee-de-dee-de-dee, Tweedly-dee-de-dee and so on.  And I cringe.  I don’t want to cave.  Don’t want to give in to the craze, don’t want to be one of those people Tweeting about my dinner.  Because, really, who cares what I’m eating unless I’m a food critic at a new restaurant?

But again, and possibly even more so than Facebook, there’s the marketing/platform building aspect of it.  I’ve been doing some research, begrudgingly, because I know by the time this post goes up, I will most likely be a Twitter member, or getting close.  Not because I want to be part of the in-crowd,  I shun the in-crowd as much as I deplore line dancing, but because my research turned up many blog posts and articles about why Twitter is good for writers.  List upon list of the authors, agents, publishing houses, and booksellers who Tweet.  Explanations as to why it’s a good platform building tool.

And I need a platform.  All writers these days need a platform.  Social networking, whether I want to admit it or not, is one of those indispensible platform building tools with the potential of reaching thousands of people.  People that reach other people.

Some of whom might just like my writing and want to read my books.  And isn’t that the ultimate goal for a writer?