Tuesday, March 10, 2009

all a-twitter!

Happy Almost Spring! We're in Daylight Savings time; temperatures are rising; birds are chirping; and it seems everyone is all a-twitter!

Are you on twitter? When I first heard about it, I thought to myself, "Do we really need another venue to make ourselves seem more self-absorbed? Do people I know and/or don't know need (or even want) to know what I'm doing at random moments throughout the day?" But, I gave it a fair shot for the sake of a work project and what do ya know, this girl is hooked! It's an easy and fun way to connect with friends and co-workers. It's become a great way to discover events around the city. It's a free advertising tool for your blog, and an extra way to chat, share links, etc with other bloggers. I even get occasional updates and glimpses into the lives of biggies like @halseanderson and @realjohngreen!!

Check it out. You may be surprised to find out who's tweeting. Everybody's doing it; why aren't you? ;) The Library of Congress, School Library Journal, The Columbus Dispatch, President Obama, The Today Show, CNN, and countless other radio, news, social, and community organizations. And those are just the "serious" ones! There are also plenty of tweeps out there doing it for fun and laughs. (Not convinced? Read this article. And this one. And, lastly, this one.)

So, aside from being all a-twitter about twitter, I'm also feeling so giddy and excited about my latest blog news. As you know from some of my posts, as well as my blog header, I'm a wanna-be writer. :) For now, it's mostly this blog and book reviews and product reviews, but I do dream of being a published author one day. A major source of advice, information, and encouragement is Christina Katz, who blogs at The Writer Mama, and is the author of several books on the business of writing, one of which is so perfectly titled The Writer Mama: How to Raise A Writing Career Alongside Your Kids. So clever!

Well, the book was a great jumping off point for me, and one impetus that brought me to blogging. After reading the book, I checked her web site, found the blog, subscribed to her newsletter and found a couple other great "writer mama" blogs from her blogroll. A few months down the line, I stumbled across her on twitter, which makes it very easy to see what she's up to and get much-needed reminders to write!

So, the news. I've taken a very roundabout way to get here, but here we are. During the month of March, Christina is celebrating her blog's 2 year anniversary, and she's doing it up big with a blog tour and giveaway -- every day in the month of March. And, drumroll please, she'll be stopping by this very blog on Day 16!!! I'm thrilled to have been selected to participate. You'll be thrilled too because on Day 16 (Monday, March 16, 2009) you'll have the chance to win a copy of The Writer Mama!
Hope you'll check back! tweet, tweet!

5 comments:

3/4 said...

Congratulations big sister!

Cheryl said...

Congrats! That is super fun news! Glad you guys are getting warmer temperatures and sunshine!

Jenni said...

Congrats! I've been following along on the tour--I'll be there!

Mom2Miles said...

I'm interested to hear that you got hooked on Twitter. I am curious about it but reluctant for some of the reasons you stated. But I'll look into it. One question: how do you pick a Twitter name? Does it have to be related to your blog?

katie said...

@Mom2Miles~

There are some articles out there on twitter etiquette and how-to kinds of things, but I've also read that people love twitter because there really are no rules.

I think the reason you plan to use twitter impacts the username you choose. It doesn't have to be related to your blog, unless you plan to tweet mainly blog-related stuff and you think that would help readers connect with you. Some people just use their real name. And that makes for one less login name to remember!

If you give it a try, let me know. You can "tweet" me @k8ie. :)