A short review: Part II - the story continues...

To recap on Part I...

I had dozed off, again. It was becoming a habit – power napping, so someone had told me once. Still, when it happened, this time, I was ready. The onslaught of flashing lights appeared before me. Yet, despite my readiness, the psychedelic, whirling, swirling bustle of colour still challenged my senses. Each time it seemed the same, yet different; different enough to enthral me.

Was I becoming addicted?

Whatever “it” was, “it” drew me forward. I had no power to resist this inescapable fall though the rushing, gushing river of light. Addiction! “It” carried over the rock-strewn precipice of a white-water rapid. Only there was no river; no rapid…

And when I landed I still found need to pause for breath.

I waited.

I was not waiting long. The gatekeeper had clearly seen my approach. Again, through the darkness that erupted before me, I sensed the movement. I knew that the blackness would only fade to a dark, impenetrable grey.

‘Hello,’ said the voice; the same squeaky, inquisitive voice as before; ‘…you again.’

You recognised me? I replied.

‘Not difficult, really… if you think about it.’

‘I don’t,’ I said.

‘Most visit here late at night – or in their lunch times at work. We don’t have too many like you.’

‘Like me? You mean my ability to stumble upon you during the middle of the evening.’

‘Yes. When others are either watching peak-time television – all that crap programming…’

‘Tell me about it.’

‘…or messing with their friends on Facebook, or whatever.’

‘Whatever. Those social networks… I’ve tried them.’

‘That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? said my squeaky voiced inquisitor.

‘I mean, they’re OK…’

‘I sense a but…’

‘But…’

‘I was right!’

‘But can anyone really have over a thousand friends? How does that work?’ I said. Then, when my inquisitor didn’t respond right away, ‘…it doesn’t for me.’

‘They can’t… work, I mean. Think about it. It’s a matter of control. And to be a little cynical about it… it’s no more than outsourced market segmentation. He or she who controls a network of contacts has the capacity to influence them. Or to sell that control. The internet is no more than a mesh of outsourced market segments sold on to the highest bidder. Have you ever thought about what you are doing when you sign up to a social network?’

‘Yes… giving away my privacy.’

‘Too damn right, my friend… your privacy and your rights. You have something of value. You lot have your ability to influence others. And you just give it away. Philanthropists… that’s what you all are.’

‘Hypocrite,’ I announced. ‘… and I told you before, you are not my friend.’

‘And I told you, you are talking to me – and here, in this space, that gives me the right to call you a friend.’

I wasn’t going to win that one. A change of tack… ‘Are you smiling?’ I asked.

‘Cool,’ said squeaky, ‘you got that… here in the dark? I am impressed. Maybe you are not like the others.’

‘So, you hypocrite of a squeaky gatekeeper, what are you hiding down here? You still wanting me to join in? I tell you, social networks don’t work for me.’

‘We’re not a social network, they promise nothing in return for your soul… What are you? A writer? Yes, you are, aren’t you?’

‘What if I am?’

‘See, you think these networks are the answer to your dreams… You sell your soul to them… and what do you get? Bombarded by the uninterested and the uninteresting. It’s all “you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours”. And there are a lot of back scratchers out there looking for an itch.’

‘Cynic.’

‘Never suggested otherwise,’ said Squeaky.

I decided on attack. A challenge. ‘Go on,’ I started, ‘what’s different about this place? Aren’t you just after my details? You just want me to register somewhere… so you can sell them on? How do you handle privacy issues here?

‘No issue. And no, we just want your soul, David!’

“David”. I rocked back. The sound of hearing my own name squeaked by the unseen hypocritical cynic of a gatekeeper to – well, to God knows what – shook me. I’d been struck dumb. But, gradually, the power of speech returned.

‘How…,’ I was unsure how to respond. ‘How…,’ I stumbled with my words.

‘How did I know who you are?

‘Y y yyes,’ I stammered.

‘You don’t think you found this site by accident do you?’

I reeled…

Go on, you want to know what’s here, don’t you? Whether we can help you or not? You’re hooked! I can tell.

‘I still can’t see anything at all here, it’s too dark’

And suddenly, there it was again. The window opened in front of my eyes. The flash almost blinded me. The same loud unwelcome tune struck up, its discordant notes filling the air. The window beckoned me. It called me forward as the deafening music dulled my senses.

Déjà vu.

‘Go on,’ said squeaky ‘enter, you know you want to.’

But all I could think of was how the hell had they got my name. I stared in disbelief as my hand reached out. My fingers seemed to hover over the window. Then it was gone. The discordant tones silenced. Relief.

‘Still chicken!’

‘Then you’re no friend of mine.’

‘Too late, David, this is my world. Remember, you do not matter in my world, my friend! Do you have a Favourite?’

This was scary. I had not been prepared for this. More déjà vu. ‘I’m not going anywhere I don’t want to.’

‘You are here now. All friends have favourites,’ squeaky added. ‘Just click there, in that little box. Accept me as a friend and favourite. Forget about Facebook… sell your soul to me, David.’

I had to get out of there. How did I do it before… I struggled to remember. A dim source lit an otherwise meaningless swirling darkness. And, in the shade, there appeared the series of stepping stones again. They suddenly made sense. Buttons. Buttons to click on and explore this site further. No.

Déjà vu. I remembered. I took the step backward. Light replaced dark. I could see again. Gone was the dark impression – the absence of light. My focus returned and I could see my outstretched hand. I squeezed the mouse.

Click!

To be continued… ;)

Miss Part I?

Make it Work, Dammit!

Our topic this week mirrors the one last week at Write in The Shadows, interestingly enough. And no, it's not my fault, it's just a coincidence because I don't do the schedules on either blog anymore.

Do social networks work for you? Yes, without a doubt.

How do you handle privacy issues? For me, it's pretty cut and dry - use a pen name and don't post personal stuff you don't want the world to know. But what if you don't have a pen name? Then things get trickier.

You will actually have to learn how to use all those nifty privacy settings - like who can view which albums you post, who receives your writing related status updates or news on your kid's latest achievement at school. And here is a novel suggestion - stop playing games and allowing apps that steal and/or share your personal information.

Do you have a favorite? Yes, Facebook. Although, I have some friends who rave about Twitter and I know I need to use it more. I just don't have the time to master one more social tool. Sucks time from my writing and/or my general procrastination to write.

Since I mentioned time sucks, I have to say I never use the aforementioned Facebook apps and games. Did a little reading on that one and decided no thanks, I did not want a third party developer to have access to my information... just for a cute game or bling thingy.

"Friends" of C.J. on Facebook will notice several things: 


1) There are almost no pictures of my children posted -- just one. It is the last picture taken of my nephew when he visited with us and it happened to be when he was seated with my kids. I didn't take a ton of pictures when he was here last because I was worried he was getting too old to tolerate his aunt hounding him with a camera, "Oh, you're going bowling with the kids? Here, take this and get some pictures."

2) I almost never mention my children in status updates or anything else. The stuff I do share is usually personal and always true.


3) Rarely do I mention my frustrations with my husband, because (although common) they are quite fleeting and to harp about them on Fb it would sound like we're on the verge of divorce or something. We're not, we're normal and he drives me crazy sometimes.

4) You'll never see me bitch about another writer. Not professional and I won't do it. Ages past, I mentioned a reviewer on Goodreads once who was a close friend of one of my competitors, who slammed my unpublished work during a contest... and later she bitched I sent my fans after her.

Since none of my FB friends ever emailed her or said anything about her, I can't say that anyone went after her. But, I learned that I should keep my mouth shut when I felt unjustly attacked in an biased "review" or blog posting. And yes, it just about killed me to do so. Good lesson to learn and I certainly see enough new writers commenting on reviews who need to learn the same hard truth.

5) Nothing nice to say? Then zip it! Never argue publicly -- whether it's Twitter, Facebook, or a comment on a blog post. It will never work out well. Considering I never shy away from a bully or confrontations, you can bet this one has been a hard one for me to swallow.

And now, I'll tell you something you all probably know about the Internet. Were you ever teased or bullied as a child?

Growing up outside Manhattan during my teenage years, living in the single most competitive metropolitan area I've ever been exposed to, taught me to not back down and to stand up for the underdog. I'd never been picked on or teased so much in my entire life until I moved north. Kids are cruel and it's a harsh reality learning to deal with narrow-minded bigots -- of whom, I found, there are many more north of the Mason-Dixon Line, than south of it.

Those angry hostile people aren't just near Manhattan and they didn't disappear as I grew older. They're online now and in social networks. It's a great tool, but it's also a great weapon for those who are mean-spirited and have an agenda. My advice is to learn how to make these networks work for you and cut yourself off immediately from anyone who may wish you harm.

You'll never change someone's opinion by arguing with them in an open forum and it's best if you don't say anything that can be twisted back on you later. Proceed with caution and wear your game face. But above all, you've got to be in it to win it, and social networking is here to stay. Learn to use it wisely so you can benefit from it.

How about you? What's your favorite social networking tool and why? Anyone have some twitter advice for me?

Writing is Lonely? Since When?

This week’s topic is “how to deal with the seeming ‘loneliness’ of being a writer”.

Excuse me? What is this about loneliness? Okay, pause for a minute. Let’s take a look at this writer’s life in the real world. You know, the one that exists outside the computer?

In the real world, one might categorize me as antisocial. Personally, I do not agree. I am not ANTI-social, I’m just naturally not a very social person. I go to family outings. I go out with my boyfriend. I go to my boyfriend’s family’s outings. But that’s about it. I’m a homebody and maybe even a bit of a hermit crab. I’m very comfortable alone in my own company. I have been since I was a child.

So, I can see how most people would think “antisocial” when they look at me, but, that’s just because they don’t know what goes on while I’m on the internet. While I’m writing. While I’m blogging, tweeting, and emailing.

As a writer, I spend most my time on my computer. It doesn’t matter what I’m doing – editing, researching, checking my facebook – no matter what I’m doing, I’m talking to my two best friends at the same time via Skype. They’re both writers – Ana and Charlene. They’re my beta readers, my number one fans, my support group in all aspects of life, my first line of defense, my dose of tough love, my source of motivation … heck, best friends just sums it up really. Not a single day goes by that we don’t chit-chat together.

Next in line are the magnificent writers you see on the right side bar of this blog. C.J. – who I secretly stock for promotional tips - James, Sharon, and George are all my friends who I learn from and share my own experiences with.

There are the friends I made on writing.com, Dawn Embers, SM Blooding (who is my unofficial mentor and query letter drill sergeant), Alex, Amy, Zoe, Kurt, Branli, Mireyah, Ashanty, C.J. … and many others.

People I’ve met on SavvyAuthors.com: C.A. Marshall, Liz, Heather, Jenn, C.J., everyone on the Witty Crew, and a bunch more ….

People I’ve met via blogging: Loralie, Bree, Chris, Mia Hayson, Arlee, J.C., Lynda, N.R. Williams, Alex J., Elizabeth Mueller, Corey, Jamie, Roland …….and at least thirty more. I apologize now for any one I forgot to mention.

Not to mention my Twitter, which has close to 100 followers now ….

AND, since I’ve recently joined MuseItUp and MuseItHOT Publishing, I have over 70 brand new Muse brothers and sisters to add to the list!

Ladies and gentlemen, if you think writing is a lonely career, you’re doing something very WRONG. I am not lonely. In fact, I have never before been more overwhelmed with so many friends who share my very passion. I am not antisocial. I network.

Transitioning

[caption id="attachment_3815" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="I love to read. I used to have time for that."][/caption]

Some of you may know this, some may not, but one year ago at this time I had just found a publisher. Vamplit Publishing had my debut novel about vampires with a Christian twist, and I was simply waiting for the editor to send back my carved-up manuscript. At that time, I had one MySpace account which was gathering dust (for spying on my teenager, don't you know), as well as one Facebook account. With that, however, all that I was doing was looking for old friends and playing Vampire Wars. Other than checking my e-mail multiple times per day for my edits which would ultimately not come in until Christmas Eve day, I had nothing to do in terms of writing.

     Oh, what a difference a year can make.

     Why am I telling you this, you ask? Some may be wondering why I am retelling it. Faithful readers of this hallowed page may have noticed that what was once fairly regimented has grown, shall we say: loose. There’s a reason for that and our hope here is it will be temporary. You see, many of us have gotten busy at quite the same time with regards to writing projects becoming published novels, and blogging evolving into PR campaigns and book tours.

     For me, 2010 transitioned from checking my e-mail every day, waiting for my novel to be published - to being published nearly every week. First came the blog. I didn’t design that. My publisher handed me the keys, but it was certainly up to me to fill it with stuff. I posted information about my novel, as well as film and music reviews and the occasional rant or editorial. A guest post on Wicked Writers transitioned over to a regular spot every other Friday. A review in a local magazine brought me to the attention of an editor who had just launched her own on-line magazine. I had never written articles before, nor did I have any kind of experience in Journalism; however, I have now been writing articles for her since the summer. I now have a second Facebook page (The Official James Garcia... You get the idea) as well as a Twitter Account.

     The point I’m attempting to make is, we spent a lot of time dreaming that these days might come; that we might be writing. Little did we realize, perhaps, just what form that might take; or how it might all come together. I think many of you have probably gone through the same things. Notice how I’ve mentioned nothing at all about us having houses to maintain, or children or grandchildren to parent. Or day jobs! Many of you are writing and running blogs; others are reading, reviewing and running blogs; and a whole bunch of us are trying like heck to do it all. Busy, huh?

[caption id="attachment_3816" align="alignright" width="225" caption="There's a few DVDs there I still haven't seen yet."][/caption]

 This brings me to the heart of the matter: please hang in there if we suddenly seem to have neglected to post on our day; or if we fail to update the poll or go a while without offering another contest. I think everyone here would agree that this site is very special to us, as well as all of the interaction with you fine people. Many of us are simply coping with transitioning at the moment. C.J.’s flying about the country on the Wicked Writer’s corporate jet, doing lectures and signings. NaNoWriMo (National November Writing Month) has claimed a few of us braver ones who are endeavoring to write a complete novel in one month (Anastasia and J.D.), Greg can’t hardly get any work done with Hollywood pleading with him to save some blockbuster project of their's by taking the lead role. And for me, between writing posts and articles, I’m supposed to be overseeing the PR machine as it figures out new and improved ways to get the information out about my positively reviewed novel that few know about. I am also supposed to be polishing up its sequel and getting it ready for the moment that my trusty publisher asks for it.

     John Lennon is famous for a great many things, but in the Beatles’ song, “The Ballad of John and Yoko”, he sang, “Christ, you know it ain’t easy…”. It isn’t one of my favorite Beatle’s songs. In fact, I typically skip it. However, being motivated by music, it was the one lyric to leap into my head as I was crafting the paragraph. You may also notice one of these days that the blog appears a bit different. Potentially, we’re moving. I’m told it will be seamless and you will not have to be redirected or find one of those notices that we’ve moved. You will not have to pick up our mail or kick the pile of newspapers out of your way while walking to the front door. Nothing like that.

[caption id="attachment_3817" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Jones is waiting for someone to come play with him! "][/caption]

     Just please hang in there (like my cat), because that’s all that we are attempting to do as well, amongst all of the stuff.

     As I like to say over on my blog…

     …We’ll talk soon.

Social Networking or Stalking

This week I’m inspired by Brian Hodge's post, Scaling the Rat Hole over at the Storytellers Unplugged blog. Go read it if you like, but please come back.

Like Brian, I kept a record of what I wrote, even competed against myself to write more words than the previous day. I changed my motto to, “Networking? Who has time for that?” I was way too busy writing.

Side note. This partially explains why I dropped off the face of the earth for nearly two years. Prior to finally deciding to hit the fiction writing full and hard, I ran a local in-person networking group, specifically to help nonprofits, and became a business and social networking guru of sorts. I was one of the first Facebook users, but I used it to post events, considering my preference has always been networking face to face. Not an easy thing to do when your audience is all across the world though.

When I decided to venture into writing a Twitter novel and entered the Textnovel contest last year, I had to make time for social networking, again. And so, the little "distraction" (as Brian so appropriately calls them) began interfering with my writing, again. My daily totals went down drastically. I realized yesterday, while waiting for my car at the dealership with no WiFi, that Mr. Hodge provides the best solution...unplug the router.

In my opinion, social networking is out of control. For example, imagine my dismay when I opened my Gmail yesterday morning and found Buzz, yet another distraction to discuss with the world what you're up to. Don't tell anyone I posted a few messages. I had to try it out.

How different is social networking from stalking, really? Think about how Facebook works. You spy on people, I mean read through personal status, for just the right victims, I mean friend. Then you make your move, the attack, I mean commenting or following their lead. There are also the members you don't know, who request your friendship. If you let them in, nine times out of ten, they take the next step and send you countless requests to join groups and fan clubs, along with messages to attend their events. Yes, I'm guilty of it too. Oops, forgot the harassment via instant message. We've all had to deal with it, yet we keep going back for more. It's like cold calling for the 21st century, with an actual audience.

My #1 stalking method has been Twitter. Why? It's quick. Well kinda. And, you can reach more people, theoretically, through search terms and replies. In addition, I love the Ning social networks, where it's easier to communicate with members, but not much different than the groups over at Yahoo, MSN & Google. Yawn! I also blog on and off, but you have to use all the other social networking tools to get people to read your blog.

Argh! There's no getting away from it if you're trying to promote yourself. It's part of the job. So if you wanna network with me, I suggest you check out the links in the right column of my blog. Adding the links here could take the rest of my morning.

Wading Into The Deep End

Social networking is one of those fads that has taken over our culture at lightning speed. And as it should: what a great way to keep in touch with everyone you know at the click of a button or two. Yet the faster technology moves, the harder it is for me to keep up.

My most social network to date is the online chapter of the Guppies, which stands for the “great unpublished” and is a branch of the mystery writers’ organization, Sisters in Crime. Despite the name, many of its members are published and a good portion well on their way. As a member, I subscribe to a yahoo group and receive a digest of emails on any number of topics that come to my email account a few times a day. While I’m not as active a participant as I probably should be, I learn something new from reading through the other emails just about every day. I’ve also met and become virtual writing pals with other mystery writers, who help me offline with line edits, manuscript swaps, brainstorming sessions, and pep talks.

As for other networks, I’m pretty limited. I’m not linked in, I don’t tweet, and I only opened my personal Facebook account a little over a year ago to find out what all the hype was about. In the first weeks, you couldn’t pry me off it. (My kids told our friends that I worked for Facebook, which they really believed.) In less than two months though, I was just about over it.

It was wonderful reconnecting with people and seeing how great old friends were doing after all these years, but beyond that, I didn’t really need to know what they had for breakfast or how their morning commute was on a day-to-day basis. And I had little news of my own to share with  the world. Prior to December, I was happy to have a chance to peruse the news feed once or twice a month.

Unless of course, I have news of my own. Like I have lately, and then the social network and all its various attributes takes on an entirely new significance.

When it came time to publicize Wicked Writers, I was glad to have all these connections. The day I updated my Facebook status and notified my Guppy friends about my first blog post, our site had over 200 hits. And since we launched just over six weeks ago, we’ve had more than 3,500 hits. That’s quite a bit of traffic for five writers trying to generate some buzz. We’re thrilled, of course, with our success and hope to keep the energy going. I’ve also had some folks—both long-lost friends, other writers, and some potential fans—who’ve reached out to me personally, making the excitement about my book and my writing life feel more like a reality than it had earlier as well as making me work harder than ever.

I may be a long way from publishing my book, it’s hard to tell with that decision not entirely within my control, but as I wait, my perspective on social networking keeps evolving. I’m learning more about all the exciting resources for booklovers, such as goodreads.com, for example. But I have a long way to go.

Any blogs, online book review sites, or other places on the web you can share with us? I would love to hear your recommendations.