I mentioned the other day (last week?) that I loved Amy Bai’s Sword SO much that I emailed her to tell her about it. (Seriously, I really REALLY liked it, and I’m really REALLY glad she’s working on the sequel.) Then I started following her on Twitter (I follow a handful of authors I like on Twitter – they’re fun). Then she emailed me back and was super nice. (Or maybe she emailed me back and then I started following her on Twitter – can’t remember, doesn’t matter.) AND THEN, she started following ME on Twitter. I am not cool enough for this. But I’m trying to act like I am. 🙂 No public squeals of delight. I’m pretty sure the neighbors didn’t hear me.
Luckily, Jess has upped her game on Twitter, and I’ve taken that as a dare to do the same. Why be on Twitter if I’m not going to use it? All I do is follow a bunch of people hoping to be amused. Boring for anyone following me, including myself (not that there are many of those (which is okay)). So let’s be less boring (at least to me and Jess).
Small dilemma: I was going to start tweeting about the books I’ve been reading that I’ve really liked, but having Amy Bai follow me on Twitter (have I mentioned that Amy Bai is following me on Twitter now?) makes me hesitate (because hers is one of the books I would tweet about). Does it look self-serving? Like, “Look at me! I liked your book! I’m telling the world, and it’s only coincidence that I didn’t tell the world until after you started following me and would see it (wink, wink)!” Except that I told you guys before she was following me (but she doesn’t know that), and I told HER before she was following me (she’s following me!), and since I’ve already told you, why even tweet about it? I don’t want to look like I’m sucking up or starved for attention. Or a stalker.
Overthinking this? Probably.
Definitely. Authors are people who like other people for the same reasons everyone else does, and being nice to people is appreciated (usually) and my insecurities are having a field day. Just relax already.
momma betty
I’m not sure I’ve ever really grasped the concept of twitter. Not sure I’m ready to waste even more of my time on a social network I don’t understand. Of course, I didn’t understand Pinterest until I tried it, and then I became addicted for awhile–pages on everything! Haven’t looked at instagram.
ibcrandy
I’ve had some similar twitter experiences. One was during an interview with a prominent game producer (Dan Adelman, formerly of Nintendo) where I asked him about what game studios were doing “all the right things” besides Vlambeer, because everyone in the game industry knows they’re doing all the right things and thus would be too obvious of an answer. Little did I know someone tweeted the question, copied Vlambeer on it, and now the Vlambeer team follows me. So that was my squee moment #1.
#2 (ewww) was when I tweeted about playing some Name That Tune and was especially proud of getting Suzanne Vega’s “Blood Makes Noise” ninja fast. She favorited my tweet and I squeed a little.
Now if I can just get Nathan Fillion and Joss Whedon following me I can retire from Twitter a happy man.