This will come as a shock to most of you (not) that I am a bit of a new age Luddite. I may have six ebooks out on Amazon and Smashwords, but I'm not an early adopter when it comes to modern technology (computers, gadgets, you get the gist).
Since my heyday on the manual typewriters at Cleo magazine circa 1988 (it was Packer's last publication to get computer-savvy as far as I remember), technology and I have not been the best of mates. Actually, let me rephrase that. We are mates, we're just what you'd call 'fair weather friends'. When they're working well, I'm in love with my gadgets. When they start to get tricky or play up (or some bozo goes and changes the software which happens, like, monthly) I start to get cranky and want to dump them like a Year 10 boyfriend.
But as an avid writer I am too smart and way too greedy not to know the true value in utilising this technology to my advantage (cue: sinister laugh). And so, this week, I have thrust myself into the world of social media (surely that's an oxymoron, at least where the internet is concerned?) with a kind of gusto that would knock the high-tops off a Gen Z.
I've joined Twitter. I've been writing my blog like clockwork. I've subscribed to all manner of ezines and websites. I even got an iPad (although we can thank the hubby for that one). For the rest, I can thank a bunch of people whom I've never met and who have no reason whatsoever to help me. But they have and I am eternally grateful.
First I must thank Kira Diaz via Goodreads. She suggested I send my books to Book Club Reading List and then gave me a great link about scatterblogging (yes, that would be something I'm guilty of). Very helpful and it's really reshaped the way I write these blogs. So thanks, Kira, you're a champ.
Next I have to say an enormous THANK YOU to Alice Bello. What an amazing human being. She downloaded my first ebook Killer Twist a million years ago and, with my five other ebooks now on sale, can't believe I'm not faring better on the Amazon charts a la J.A. Konrath (oh, if only!) So, she has been jotting me pages of friendly advice—completely unsolicited and no strings attached. She's the one who urged me to start tweeting and who's pointed me in all sorts of amazing marketing and PR directions. Alice is a writer, too, you may even know her work. I've just downloaded her adult romance, Hope Breaks, and it's witty and steamy and, if she follows her own advice, will be top of the Amazon betseller lists before the month is out.
Thanks, Alice, you've been an amazing efriend, and I don't care what the weather's like.
While I'm thanking people, I have to add a very special mention to Elaine Rivers—a total stranger who began reading my books and letting me know when she found punctuation and spelling errors (and she did it so gently it felt like a compliment). She gladly edited my last book, Dying Words (on sale now) and did so without any expectation of payment or praise.
With eFriends like these, who needs to be tech savvy?
Happy reading everyone.
xo Christina
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