Ms. Socially Awkward's Tips for Social Media

Ms. Socially Awkward's Tips for Engaging on Social Media

1. Use your indoor voice. Ms. Socially Awkward assumes you were not reared in a barn, but if you were, welcome to the Socially Awkward club, my dear. No yelling on social media. No cursing unless it is for specific, and preferably, fucking humorous effect.
2. Opinions are like assholes. We all have them. Be very, very careful about which one you're exposing. To whit, Ms. Socially Awkward cannot help noticing that occasional bruhahas mar the fabric of social media, usually in the form of some accusation or another. Never in the limited time Ms. Socially Awkward has spectated such events has all of the information, much less *accurate* information emerged with the first several (thousand) tweets or posts. There are benefits to doubts about what one speaks into a vast, public echo chamber.
3. Your grandmother was quite correct. You do catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, though why you want to catch flies at all is -- well -- it is quite frankly none of Ms. Socially Awkward's business, I'm sure. Was there a point here? Ah. Yes. Spread the honey of kindness liberally. You still have the vinegar of blocking someone held in reserve should it be necessary.
4. Take frequent breaks. We are soft and squishy creatures, fragile and prone to breakage, some of us more so than others. If you begin to think of social media as a friend, you're breaking. It is a tool that allows you to connect to friends and possibly to readers. Social media cannot change the weather. It cannot undo disaster. It can, however, allow friends and family to notify one another of their statuses during crises and for that it is to be commended and valued.
5. Remember the golden rule of social media - it is for enjoying your fellow human beings. And maybe a few animal videos here and there. Enter into it in that spirit and pace yourself well. Do this and perhaps you'll find enjoyment.

#1 Social Media Tip for Authors

As Jeffe mentioned on Sunday, social media isn't that new anymore. Sure, which service is the "trendy" one changes regularly as teens seek ways to communicate without being followed/stalked/annoyed by us fusty old people. Authors trying to "be where their audience is" keeps our ilk to the bigger providers like Facebook and Twitter (Reddit and Instagram are up there too).

As a curmudgeon who survived Usenet, People Connection, MySpace, and Yahoo Groups (and who is waiting for the current generation of online communities to implode like their predecessors) I have one piece of advice for authors engaging publicly--be it on social media or IRL:

Don't be a dick. 

It's a simple thing, but seemingly hard for a lot of folks to grok. Don't worry, not being a dick doesn't equate to being a doormat. You can be firm in your convictions without making shit personal. It's also okay to ignore the misanthropes. Some comments shouldn't be acknowledged, much like some people aren't worth your time. Some of the worst offenders aren't even people, they're bots.

On the internet where things never die, take the high road and don't be a dick.

Talk Less. Listen More.

Found art. Literally. I was looking at my camera uploads to choose a pic for today's post and found this. No idea what it is or how it happened, but what a gorgeous mistake. Art can be like that.

Our topic at the SFF Seven this week is Author behavior tips for social media.

My first reaction was to mentally groan. Not again. But I suppose it is an evergreen topic. The challenge is to tackle a topic like this as if it's my first time addressing it.

There's a #protip for you author types out there - or for anyone who answers questions from people on a regular basis. You will hear the same questions over and over and over. The trick to being a gracious human being is to never hint that you've heard the question before, but to answer it as if it's as fresh to you as it is to the person asking it.

Of course, I've already blown past my own advice, but we could argue that I'm not truly a gracious human being.

It's amazing to realize that we are firmly a decade into social media for most of us. Maybe the most startling part to me is that it's ONLY been a decade plus a few years, considering how firmly it's taken over the world and our lives. Facebook opened to anyone over the age of thirteen in 2006. I joined in October of 2008. I joined Twitter in September of 2009. I recall using email - called A1 mail - sometime around 1989, which is when our university department adopted Gateway desktop computers, delivered in those iconic heifer-spotted black and white boxes. I tried online shopping for the first time sometime around 1993, and got spammed with internet porn for the first time when I tried to use Hotspot to search for Barenaked Ladies tickets.

Good times.

So, is the question really still about author behavior? I mean, we might as well have a topic about author behavior in ice-cream parlors or at car dealerships. We're all pretty much in this boat together at this point.

My advice, which works for ice-cream parlors and all internet spaces, maybe less so at car dealerships is: Talk Less. Listen More.

The thing about social media, especially for busy people, is it becomes a place to post stuff. Most authors remain on the social media platforms they no longer enjoy entirely because they feel like it's a part of their job. We have our Facebook profile and author pages, maybe a series page, some reader groups, and private groups. There's Twitter - sometimes several accounts there - Goodreads, Instagram, our websites, personal blogs, group blogs (*waves*), and probably several others. I have a mental list - I really should have a written checklist, but I'm resisting that - of places I should remember to post news, updates, and the latest book cover.

Post. Post. Post. Post. Post. Post. Post. Post. Post. Post. Post. Post.

There. I posted to all of my social media properties. Whew!

And I just did the internet equivalent of racing around and slapping up a flyer on every bulletin board around, whether I could find a spot or not.

Talk. Talk. Talk. Talk. Talk. Talk.

Talk. Talk. Talk. Talk. Talk.

Talk. Talk. Talk. Talk. 

Talk. Talk. Talk.

Talk. Talk. 

Talk.

Ever feel like the internet is just an unending roar of babbling voices? I sure do.

We change that by listening. By engaging. By asking questions, considering the reply, and giving back something to encourage the conversation.

Talk Less. Listen More. 

Seven Things You Must Avoid If You Want to Write

These three books are on sale right now. THE MARK OF THE TALA, the book that started it all, first in The Twelve Kingdoms series. Also THE PAGES OF THE MIND, my RITA® Award-winning novel, which kicks off a new phase in the overall series, and PRISONER OF THE CROWN, first in a stand-alone spin off trilogy, The Chronicles of Dasnaria. If you've been thinking about reading my books or this series, it's a great time to start!

Our topic at the SFF Seven this week regards the writer's Seven Deadly Sins: the list of things you MUST avoid if you want to finish a project on time. Of course, if you're supposed to be writing, and you're reading this, you've already broken three of mine. Oops. But never fear! There is still hope for you. Read on.


1.  Avoid the internet, full stop. 

We all know this, right? And in a different world, we could avoid the time suck and distractions of the internet entirely. But with so much tied to the internet - from our phones to messages to mail - it's not viable to ignore the internet entirely. There's always the cabin in the mountains, but people still want to that you haven't been eaten by a grizzly bear.

2. If you must internet, avoid social media.

So, if you do have to check something connected to the internet, don't open Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. I disable my notifications (which they really hate and are always messaging me to change) so I only see that stuff if I actually go to the site. That takes some willpower, yes, but nothing like what it takes to break free of the gravitational pull once I do look. 

3. Stay away from click bait and rabbit holes (like this).

When I inevitably see an internet something, I have to exercise additional will power not to click on links. Remember: they're designed to make you WANT to click. (I made this post title click bait on purpose to illustrate the point.) Once they have your attention in their greedy clutches, they use all sorts of tricks to keep you there and spiraling ever downward. Best not to look in the first place. If I see something I really want to know about, I save the link. 

4. Prioritize your work over peopling.

There's a good reason so many writers are introverts: because they find it easier to avoid peopling. Even then, however, socializing can really disrupt a writing schedule. For me, I have to block out more time to write than I use actually writing. I need time to settle in, to ramp up, to take breaks. People who don't write rarely understand this. They also don't understand the trancelike focus writing requires and that their "one quick question" can derail a writer for hours.

5. Ignore people who don't (or won't) get it. 

Which is why you have to draw a bright, hard line for the people in your life. Do whatever it takes to get them to understand and respect your writing time. If they still don't get it? Well, I'd venture to say that we don't need people in our lives like that. A hard stance, I know, but if they won't respect your passion and livelihood, what exactly DO they add to your life?

6. Kick other people out of the room.

Not physically, because we did this in #5, right? These are the people in your head who like to yammer on about what you're writing. Some might be positive influences. Others might be severely critical. There's always someone yelling about what you CAN'T POSSIBLY DO. How can a person write in all that noise??? That's right, we can't. So kick them all out and enjoy the blessed silence.

7. Acknowledge fear and let it go.

I have a sign over my desk that says, "What would you write if you weren't afraid?" Sometimes when I tell people this, they reply that they're not afraid of anything. Bully for them. Also, I don't believe them. Any time I worry about how something I write will be received, that's fear. Ignoring that concern does nothing. Instead, whenever I fret over something in a story, I try to acknowledge that fear, look at my poster, and then write what I would if that worry had never occurred to me.

If I can avoid these pitfalls, I just might get my book finished on time. 

Three Tips for Staying Grounded in a Crazy World

Happy New Year, everyone, and welcome to 2018!

I feel confident in putting this as a fait accompli, even though I'm writing this midday on 12/31/17 because I imagine most of you will be reading this in 2018, or as near to it as functionally doesn't matter. I'm also confident that 2018 will arrive, which hasn't always been the case.

It's funny looking back at the turn of the millennium and thinking the whole banking/computer change from a two-digit year to a four-digit year was the worst thing that could happen... I look forward to the day when we can look back, shake our heads at the 2016 election, and trade our "where were you when you found out Trump was actually elected?" stories.

Until then, we do what we can to resist an increasingly authoritarian regime while still keeping our sanity. Thus, my take on this week's topic: Keeping Your Sanity: 3 Things You Do To Stay Balanced/Grounded/In Control.

While resistance is critical, so is keeping our sanity. In fact, it's important to keep grounded, in balance, and at peace with ourselves, in order to resist from a foundation of strength. There's a reason sleep-deprivation is a tried-and-true brainwashing technique: because exhaustion lowers our defenses. Being healthy and at peace is key to everything else we wish to accomplish.

I've counseled more than one friend in the following. One was having nightmares about being in a nuclear war with North Korea. Another had become depressed and anxious with all the political changes and programs being cut and destroyed entirely. So, here are three ways I keep myself balanced and grounded.

Stay Away from the News

Seriously. This is the first thing I told my friends above. I truly believe part of the reason things seem so awful is the sensationalistic news media and the echo chamber of social media. I know a lot of people regard it as their responsibility to "stay informed." There are three problems here:

1. There are major forces wanting to control what we're informed of
2. News shows on TV are about entertainment. They skew to shocking and exciting content
3. This has been exacerbated by click-bait headlines and the availability of news on our phones, etc. 

The news on TV and on social media is, by its very nature, sensationalized. Choose a reliable newspaper to read. If you want news from Twitter, carefully choose who you follow for it. Look for reliable sources. I also give you permission - *waves permission wand* - not to look at all. (See Make Your Life a Paradise.) At the very least, stop reading articles on your phone to kill time. That's setting yourself up for the most sensationalized, most upsetting news without deep understanding or context. Remember when we used to see waiting rooms as an opportunity to read books? See next.

Deep Read*

That's my mom in the pic above. We spent some time over Christmas just sitting in the sun and reading. She has a lovely patio for it. But now that I'm home, I'm spending time in my favorite armchair, reading by the fire. The benefits of deep reading have been well documented. (I'm using it here to mean reading a narrative, as opposed to reading Facebook posts, Tweets, etc. I really don't think reading on a paper book vs. an ereader makes a difference, so long as I'm reading without interruption.) It's more than me being an author and being a fan of reading in general. (Buy my book!) Reading is relaxing, restorative, hones the intellect, and gives us time away from all the voices. It's also a skill that's easy to lose in our current culture of So Many Things shrieking for a piece of our attention.

I've been reading Robin Hobbs' SHIP OF MAGIC, which is *long* - 880 pages in paperback, though I'm reading in digital. At first I felt impatient with the slow, elaborate pace. As I've settled in, I'm remembering how much I loved fat books in my youth. The more pages, the better, because I could enjoy them longer. I don't have data to back it up, but I'm pretty confident in saying that my reading declined immensely with my increasing involvement with social media. Time I once spent buried in a book, I began to spend scrolling Facebook and Twitter.

Recently I've made several changes. I've removed Facebook and Twitter notifications from my phone. I've taken them both off my array of tabs to display when I open my web browser.

(I realize this is a total reversal because I used to tell people who said "I always forget to check Facebook," to make it one of their home pages. Don't. Run away. Look at it if you like, because it's still the best way to keepup with some people, but choose when.)

I've also gone back to an ereader (a paperwhite, which I'm loving) that has no functions for people to message, text or otherwise interrupt me while I'm reading. I can feel the difference in myself as my attention span relaxes.

*One note on deep reading: I've noticed, and a number of other people I've talked to have noticed, that at first it's difficult to get back into deep reading. It's as if we've lost the "muscle" for it. Start back slowly and give it time. We've all found that the more we practice, the better it feels.

Make Your Life a Paradise

Alert readers might notice I left out "in control." That's because I think control is elusive and must be judiciously sought. As far as national politics are concerned, we have very little control. We can vote and campaign for our candidates. We can donate to campaigns. We can participate in our communities. Fretting about North Korea? Not really in our control.

So, this is my best advice: take action, then walk away and work on your own life.

For example, because it's become clear to me that senators elected in other states will influence my life in profound ways - like whether or not I can afford health insurance - I donated to Doug Jones' campaign in Alabama. I felt good about that action. Immediately, however, the campaign began sending me emails - every couple of hours - with hysterical doomsday headlines. They wanted me to contribute more. But I had already taken my action. And I could feel just the subject lines upsetting me. So I labeled them spam and didn't look at another email from them. I'm delighted to report that Jones won! One small step. I took my action and got the result I wanted.

The walking away and working on my own life? That's key.

I mentioned above about turning off notifications. I'm selective about who can grab my attention. Bigger than this, however, is the idea that if each of us made ourselves and our lives a paradise, then by extension, the world would be, too.

I make a lot of choices for personal happiness. To the extent I can, I focus on doing what brings joy and beauty to both my life and the world. This includes friends, family, the organizations I volunteer for, and in the books I write. I find that if I enjoy my daily life to the utmost, I worry much less about the larger world. Which I can't control anyway.

This last is the foundation of being grounded and at peace for me. It really works.

And, at the risk of being accused of having lured you here for marketing purposes... if you do want to read, Smashword’s is having a site-wide promotion! https://www.smashwords.com
This is only good through January 1, 2018, so I felt I should tell you now, just in case!

The Big Reality Show Called Life

Yesterday my car rolled over to 100,000 miles! I was happy I remembered to keep an eye on the odometer and pull over to snap the pics. She's 21 now and feeling frisky!

Our topic at the SFF Seven this week is "If you had to be on a reality TV show, which one would you pick and why?"

Those of you who know me will immediately recognize that this is NOT my topic. I don't watch many TV shows - we don't have cable, so anything I see is what we stream - and reality shows are not my thing. My main associations with reality TV shows are ancient ones from MTV days where they stuck a bunch of bratty people into a house to fight with each other. Though I do love the character of Brock Hudson in She's All That - where he's recent reality show celeb, who can't stop mugging for the expected cameras. The rest of my ideas come from more current occasional You Tube videos of various surprising competitors on singing shows and several decades worth of cultural memes.

But I'll tell you what reality show almost all of us are a part of, whether we want to be or not: social media.

I know, I know - I've said things on this topic before, but it continually amazes me how some people seem to forget how many "viewers" they have. Social media is a big TV camera - or, rather, thousands upon thousands of smaller ones - aimed at us, recording our lives. We can control what we display for those cameras, but not who sees it afterwards.

And, as with the basic premise for all reality shows, the more drama, the more viewers tune in to watch.

Recently I've seen some authors complaining in "private groups" about reviews and contest scores. Inevitably a few others chime in, with sympathy or adding their own disgruntlement to the fire, and the conversation escalates. On one of those, I notice there are over 1,100 people subscribe to that "private" group. All other authors. In another, the group is smaller, but again it's a fairly rarified selection of other authors, colleagues in the same field of business.

Not only a lot of viewers, but targeted and invested ones.

Part of this complaining verged into criticizing major review outlets - who failed to review the authors' books or reviewed them unfavorably - with aspersions cast as to which are taking bribes to review other books with higher ratings.

And all I can think of is Brock Hudson, making an ass of himself, and thinking that he's accomplishing something. All the while everyone watching is shaking their heads, rubbernecking the drama.

Soapboxes & Social Media: How Sturdy Is Your Platform?

Whether you're taking a public stand via social media on women's rights or Oreo-flavored Oreos, please, please, PLEASE verify your sources. Disinformation is a real thing that's been happening since the advent of news. Text wrapped around an image or video does not make whatever that text is asserting true. Statements are often taken out of context and spun to suit a narrative. A talking head behind a desk is not beholden to any vow of truth or objectivity.

The internet makes it really easy to spread good things and bad things, facts and lies. Don't assume that a post on a friend's wall comes from a reliable source. Don't assume that because it looks like a legit news site, that it isn't embedded marketing, native advertising, or straight-up cult recruitment.

If you've got a soap box, by all means, use it. Be smart, make sure it's sturdy. Don't lose your credibility in a rush to indignation or to catch a bandwagon.

As the saying goes, "Trust but Verify."

Not sure how to double-check your sources?  FactCheck.org & NPR both offer refreshers in "Is That True?"

I'm a big fan of Snopes.com and PolitiFact, plus using the Three Source and For/Against rules we learned back in grade school.

Critical thinking, folks. It's important to your sanity and your social media presence.

Should Authors Comment on Politics?

This photo didn't come out in focus - too dark - but I'm sharing it anyway because the moment of this full supermoon rising through clouds in Santa Fe during a penumbral eclipse was absolutely incredible to see. My wonderful friend, Anne Calhoun, was visiting. We climbed up onto the roof and watched the sun set and the moon rise. Neither of us got great photographs.

Too much magic, maybe,

But you're not here to listen to me talk about friendship, moonrises and magic. Or maybe you are. If you know me or follow me on social media, you'll expect this sort of thing. If you clicked on a link because you found the topic interesting, you're maybe wondering when I'll get to the point.

Eventually, my new visitor!

Because this week's subject is Hot Topics & the Author's Social Media Voice, it seems the perfect time to point out that the these three things - voice, social media, and an author's response to hot topics - are inextricable. Let me unpack that a bit.

Voice

The best explanation of "voice" that I've ever heard - that is, the one that made me understand what an author's voice is - is that it stems from our beliefs.

In the writing world we spend a lot of time discussing voice. Readers recognize it, even if they can't articulate how or why. Industry folks will almost uniformly agree that it's an author's voice that keeps readers coming back for more. Authors, especially beginning ones, work to refine their personal voice. Which isn't easy, since it's not simple to explain, define or teach. Daunting for an element so critical to being a successful author.

One thing is clear - voice cannot be faked. It takes sometimes years of writing, and likely publishing, to refine that voice to its purest form. I saw paintings the other day by a 78-year-old artist. Her recent work is distinctly hers, but she completes in a few brushstrokes what she did with thousands in her youth. I saw that and thought, wow - look at how she's honed her voice. I did a post a little while back that talks about voice more. (In looking it up, I'm amused to find a photo with it of another Santa Fe landscape. See? My voice.)

It was Jayne Ann Krentz who, in a workshop, said that voice arises from our beliefs, from who we most essentially are. She's interesting because she's reinvented herself as an author several times, and has written under several names, including that one, Jayne Castle, and Amanda Quick. Each name indicates a different genre, but many of her readers (including me) read all three because we love her voice. Many love "all three authors," not realizing they're the same person.

Hot Topics

Which leads us to what we each believe in. In talking about "hot topics," I'm not referring to the clothing store (though I totally bought the Loki dress) or about the latest celebrity gossip, I'm talking about the tremendous political upheaval we've been going through all around the world, but most pointedly for me, in the U.S. with the 2016 presidential election.

The standard social media advice for authors is to stay away from politics. And I have several friends who follow it assiduously. They never post anything publicly on which way they stand. The argument is that politics shouldn't enter into what is essentially a conversation with your readers about books. I can see that. In fact, I often follow it. For the most part I'm not all that interested in debating politics anyway.

But this last election put me to the test. I kept coming back to Edmund Burke's quote: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” That's something I believe to be true.

In a typical election, I'm not going to say much. I'm not an economist, so I don't have strong opinions on the federal deficit and so forth. To a great extent, I don't think it matters greatly if the Democrats or Republicans hold the White House, because they tend to balance each other out. I take a long view on these sorts of things. I still do.

However, I do have strongly held beliefs that are impacted by what's going on. I believe that women are people first and female second, and that the key to women having personal and financial independence and equality is access to birth control and abortion. In fact, I believe all people are people first, and the rest - gender, sexual orientation, skin color, social status - all comes after that. I believe all people deserve to be treated as people, that some people don't get better perks than others, simply because of what family or set of genes they were born into.

I also believe that power and the pursuit of power corrupts.

If you've read my books, I suspect you'll know all of this about me because my beliefs come out in my work. That's my voice.

Social Media

The thing about social media is, we're trying to do two things at once: be our authentic selves and also promote our books. So, the theory that authors should stay away from controversial topics comes from the concern that offending readers could impact the perception and sales of our books.

Which, it could. It happens all the time. I do it myself. If I fundamentally disagree with an artist's beliefs and actions - Woody Allen comes to mind - I won't support them with my money. That's my vote and I get to do that. We all do.

Particularly in this day and age, social media is one of the primary avenues for authors to reach readers. However, as one smart literary agent, Jennifer Udden, says, "Social media is for promoting authors, not books."

And that brings us back to the sticking point. If social media is about the author, and the author's books are about their voice, and voice is about our beliefs - how can our social media presence NOT involve our beliefs?

It can be done, sure. As I said, I know some who can do it. One author friend of mine who steadfastly refuses to reveal her politics online commented to me, "Anyone who reads my books should be able to figure out where I stand." Some people, like her, are able to maintain a greater division between their public and private presence.

After long thought on the matter, I finally came to terms with the fact that this isn't me. I started out as a writer of personal essays and I've long had a greater degree of sharing my personal life and thoughts through my work. That's who I am. And it's important to me to be honest about who I am - which includes my beliefs - in a congruent way. That means in public or in private. I'm not willing to disguise those beliefs, which is what not ever commenting would amount to for me, particularly in favor of marketing my books.

In standing by my beliefs, I also accept that some people won't agree, and that they'll express that with their monetary vote. Perfectly legit. Ultimately it all comes down to personal choice.

It's probably something that's obvious by now, but - Personal choice is something I strongly believe in.

Foolproof Networking

Networking. You already know it's good. You already know you need to be doing it. However. It is also true that money doesn't grow on trees. If, like me, you cannot get to conferences to do your networking in person (which is the ideal) all is not lost!

This is why Al Gore invented the internet.

Online memberships are networking opportunities. Any email list or group you belong to - networking. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Tumblr, your social media du jour - all networking ops.

Even though this is a great 'spot the dork' photo, even class reunions can be networking opportunities:

A few of my fellow Cornish grads. When I finally manage to produce an audiobook, I'll have several perfect choices for voice actors.

What does networking mean anyway? Cultivating relationships. Bet you thought I was going to run on longer than that. Nope. It's supposed to be a simple task, but it is as fraught as your first date was - all that fear of rejection! And of wondering what they'll think of you!

Here's a trick for handling networking (wish I could tell you it was fool proof, but networking queen I am not) - networking is NOT the place to talk about you. It's for finding out what everyone else does. Likes. Thinks. Believes. Values. You DO get to talk about you, but that blend should be at least 60 them/40 you. You network by having something to offer someone else. Whether that be time, talent, or knowledge. Offer. When someone asks questions on social media and you can answer, give it a shot. You may not get responses initially. Eventually you will. And when you need something, ask! This is part of your 40% - other people feel good when they get to help someone.

A true story as case in point: I'm in the middle of a draft. The research is destroying me because Civil War. Let me explain the level of available detail. O_o  Anyway, I needed to know whether scent hounds could track someone who was inside a vehicle. Many long, frustrating hours trying to figure that out and I stumble across a blog written by a woman who trains bloodhounds for police work. She had incredible content and detail. So I emailed her cold, asking my question. But in return for her reply, I made darned sure to offer what tiny little bit I had to offer: mention in the acknowledgements and a link to her site. A day later, I had the most amazing and generous encyclopedic answer. Short answer: Yep. Those dogs CAN track someone who's inside a car. Kat Albrecht is her name. The scent hound website. And her newest venture: producing live mystery events.

So networking need not mean jetting (or road tripping) to conferences. There are distinct advantages to conferences - there's nothing quite like getting to meet people face to face, but also? Bar. So long as James' excellent advice is followed. No being THAT guy or gal.

Help people. You'll be surprised who turns around to want to help you, too.

The Blogging Wallflower

Why (and where) do I blog?

Let me get this right out in the open: I have to force myself to blog. It does not come at all naturally to me. Hiding in a corner (or behind a photogenic feline) and remaining invisible is my natural, introverted state.

To this day, I have no rational explanation for why I blog except for the fact that blogging is the grain of sand in my oyster - I hope to make something out of it, whether it's a little bit more facility with short essay type writing, or merely as a means of keeping me from hiding. I envy Jeffe's ease with the medium. And I am frequently annoyed with how Uneasy I am with it. :)

That said, I have been here since the doors opened. I'd lost track of the time and had no clue that I'd been here for anything approaching five years. I imagined I didn't have much to say for a group blog. Yet here I am. Still typing. And still enjoying all of the different view points and experiences of this group. Now. Do I pin a bunch of marketing hopes on blogging? Nooooooooooooo. That way lies madness. Blog because it's fun. Blog because a topic interests you. When you hire a marketing person for a book, a blog tour will undoubtedly be a part of the package - those blog posts might be a little more market-targeted and slightly less pictures of cats. Or knowing me, maybe not. But it was Jeffe who suggested I treat blogging like a conversation. I really like thinking of it that way. Even though, socially awkward as I am, I'm not that great at conversation to begin with. :D

I wish I could tell you I had mastery of any of the social media, but I don't. I do a single 'You know you're an introvert' Tweet a day, and have for the past few months. I'm having fun seeing how long it takes me to run out of introvert problems. Facebook is probably where my geeky personality comes through the strongest. Mostly, I think the only way I can survive in social media at all is to keep Jeffe's advice in mind. I must consider it a conversation - a series of jokes and shared fun with my friends - even if the circle of friends are people I haven't actually ever met.

Maybe it makes me weird(er), but it's great fun for me to make friends in the comments sections of either blogs or FB. Making friends is hard when you're a wall flower. So I blog. To make sure I don't let myself become part of the backdrop.

Yesterday's Introvert: "You know you're an introvert when even the voices in your head tell one another to shut up." #introvertproblems