Into The daylight

A word to the wise: If you plan on being any kind of an author, do NOT plan on remaining a recluse!

Seven months ago I decided to do something I had kicked around since creative writing classes in high school, and write a book. Not just any book, either; my first novel! Flush with the possibilities before me, and with creative juices overflowing, I set upon my path to becoming an honest-to-god author. Along the way, as with anything I get myself into, I did mountains of research: how to write, what to write, when to write, where to write, how to edit, what to...you get the idea.

The internet can be a researcher's best friend and worst enemy, and over the past seven months, I have learned more about the craft than I would have thought possible. And the one recurring theme that kept popping up was that you needed to grow and develop your social network, so that you can share ideas, discuss problems, find necessary resources, and generally become part of the writing community.

That could be a problem for me. You see, its not that I'm anti-social (although my kids claim otherwise), its just that I don't usually look to spend the emotional capital required to go out of my way to develop relationships. (What was the definition of anti-social?) I do have friends, and I do social things occasionally; hell, I even have a Facebook page! But I don't spend a lot of time trying to build and expand my social circles.

So when I see so many blogs and articles in writing circles claiming that you need expand your "social media presence" and get as many "followers" as I can, I get somewhat leery.(Doesn't "followers" sound kind of creepy? But I guess "stalkers" would have been worse.)

But apparently its what I have to do if I want people to know about my upcoming book, so here you go, my future (hopefully) readers and -gulp- digital acquaintances. I guess I'm in it for the long haul. I am blogger, hear me roar.