Category Archives: Twitter

A Conversation (But There’s a Payoff Contest, too)

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I was late getting to bed last night because I was zipping around Twitter, reading about zombies and a contest, and spreading the news about such. I related that fact to the Beneficent Mr. Hall and he said, “I’m going to twit.”

Whereupon I felt compelled to correct him (so that others would not consider him a twit).

“It’s tweet,” I said.

“I thought it was called Twitter,” he said.

“It is,” I said, “But it’s tweet.”

“That makes no sense at all. It should be twit. I’ll twit to you.”

I could see this conversation getting caught in one of those annoying loops so I moved on.

“What’s your username going to be? You have to sign up and get a name if you’re going to tweet.”

“I have a name,” he said. “It’s Boogerface McGee 8.”

“Why the 8?”

“Because there were already seven Boogerface McGees.”

I suppose if you ask a stupid question…anyway, it occurred to me that old Boogerface McGee 8 was right. He’ll be twitting.

Now, the contest I promised you. Wanna win a Kindle? The lovely founders of Writer Unboxed are kicking off their new site, Reader Unboxed, with a lovely and splendiferous contest where you can win a Kindle and a gift card. That’s pretty awesome, huh? Reader Unboxed looks to be pretty awesome, too. So zip over there and give both a look-see.

You should probably know that I’ve already signed up and I’m feeling pretty lucky. Plus, I’m getting Boogerface McGee 8 to sign up, too, doubling my chance to win. Of course, he’ll have to figure out that whole twitting thing first. (But fingers crossed that he’s smarter than he…sounds.)

Oops! Forgot to mention my book giveaway! ANY comment this month, on any post, with the word BOOk in it will count in my All Hallow’s Read giveaway. On October 31st, I’ll give out a couple spooky books from my personal stash of creepy. And seriously? I found some pretty creepy stuff. Like Ann Rice’s Servant of the Bones. *Shudders while typing.*

Thursday’s Three: Something for Everyone (If You’re a Writer)

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So, I go to Twitter. And because it’s been over a week, maybe two, a GAZILLION little tweets have rolled by. And at first, I get a little panicky. Egads! What have I missed? The secret to the universe may have been tweeted and where was I? I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO DOESN’T KNOW.

But then I breathe into a paper bag and notice that a lot of tweets are things like, “meet me at Pete’s-it’s on the corner of 4th and Lex” and I figure that the secret of the universe was probably not divulged at a bar in New York.

Still, I do find a couple writerly gems and save these sparkly posts to read for later. That is where Thursday’s Three comes in. Here are a few sites you might want to check out. And best of all, you don’t have to go through a panic attack to get there.

For the freelancer who wants to make more money, Kelly James-Enger has a wonderful blog, Dollars and Deadlines. And you might want to check her sidebar, too. Lots of great freelance resources there.

For the wannabe published author, Alan Rinzler has a blog called The Book Deal that’s brimming with in-depth information on just about everything to do with the publishing business.

For the social-media challenged writer, check out Kristen Lamb’s Blog. I really like her love revolution, We Are Not Alone (#MyWANA on Twitter). BUT, she’s got plenty to say about all things social media, not just Twitter.

Okay, those are the top three of this week. I hope you find something you like. And please, people. If you happen on to the secret of the universe, shoot me an email.

Finding Something Friday on Love-Hate Relationships (I’m Talking to You, Twitter)

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Here’s the thing I found today: I love Twitter.

I love how this HUGE community of people come together and share thoughts on just about everything. I follow lots of writers, editors, and publishers, so I find tons of tweets relating to the subject I love best. And I LOVE how these folks find submission opportunities, or book giveaways, or funny little videos or vastly interesting blog posts that I would never find myself.

But I also hate Twitter. Because when I sit down at my little desk, telling myself that I will only look at Twitter (and if I’m being perfectly honest, Facebook, too) for fifteen minutes, PROMISE, and then I get up to stretch TWO HOURS later, I am not happy.

But a part of me is happy. Because I’ve learned so much that I didn’t know before. It’s just that I’m paying for that knowledge when I finally finish my To Do list at 12:30 AM. Whew. Anyway, that’s how I found a tweet that took me to Steve Buttry’s blog.

Steve Buttry happened to be interviewing Roy Peter Clark, the man behind Writing Tools, which was published as a book–and now Mr. Clark has a blog of that name over at Poynter.

Of course, you can peruse all those delightful links, because really, there’s lots of good writing stuff there. Or you can go directly to this shortcut of the 50 Writing Tools, Quick List. Where you will find that number 2: Order words for emphasis, is the rule that Mr. Clark finds terribly important for all writers.

In the end, it was all worth it, right? (Or…It was all worth it, in the end. Right?)