#amwriting

First of all, let me say that I'm not a big tweeter. I'm not friends with anyone on Twitter except professional contacts (and yes, some are friends), but my point is, I don't use Twitter as social media. Twitter for me is purely professional, and in the field of children's literature, it is an awesome tool of quick and handy information. It keeps me up-to-date on ALL the happenings in this field as well as newspaper articles, magazine stories, blogs, facebook links, even youtube videos about this field. For example, be SURE to check out the two Youtube vidoes I posted in the left margin. They depict the MOST HILARIOUS two part interview I have ever seen of anyone--and this one is, fantastically, the great Maurice Sendak. It is a MUST watch.

One of the other things I love about Twitter is when I am writing, I can take a peek on Twitter and see what other writers are writing under hashtags #amwriting or #writing. It is strangely comforting and encouraging to know that we're all writing together. Many days I am writing along with the amazing Sarah Dessen or Libba Bray or Jody Casella. Sometimes, we 'race' which is a great way to get going, too. When you do this, you set a timer for a period of time, then report back with your word count. So fellow writers who have been turned off by the social aspect of Twitter, make sure you check out the professional aspect of twitter. Especially the #litchats in lots of categories, usually at 9:00 on week nights.

My new favorite Twitter trend is all the authors/agents/ publishing houses with contests to win advance reader copies of books. It's a great way to promote your upcoming title.

The problem with Twitter (and probably facebook started it) is I've noticed many of the teens I work with have begun to communicate in pithy one-liners. It is almost as if every type of communication, text, email, even voice mail, needs to be some sort of clever, tongue-in-cheek one liner. So I'm never quite sure if it's meant to be funny or I should be worried when, for example, a teen-ager on my OM team sends me this: "At mtg we need to discuss your daughter losing her mind." Hmmmmm.....okay. Or this: "We NEED SUPPLIES for OM mtg. McDonalds french fries or nothing." Really? Or nothing? Because when I didn't get the french fries and opted with nothing, they didn't seem to thing that 'or nothing' was that okay. But it sounded better, right?

Have a wonderful day. I am working on a pb manuscript that is either brilliant and original or weird and, well, weird. I haven't decided which, but I'll keep you posted. At any rate, it's fun writing.