Wonderful Week.
8/21/2011 9:39:56 PM
I have had the most excellent week and it is set to continue with Off The Cuff tomorrow.
I have had a Twitter account for a couple of years, but only this week discovered the joys of tweeting. I am not entirely certain as to how I ended up making the connections I did, but I am so happy and smiling so much, you can see my molars.
There are a handful of authors whose books have moved me and inspired me to write, two of whom are Jill Mansell and Erica James and this week, I have been lucky enough to ‘talk’ to them through Twitter and FaceBook.
In my technological naivety, I posted a comment to what I thought was Jill Mansell’s fan page, commenting on one of her books, Good At Games, not expecting anyone to respond, but hopeful that I would at least connect with another fan. Well, I was blown over by the fact the lady herself sent a direct reply to me! I was so excited. I then felt like I had gate-crashed her Tweets, but she has assured me this is not the case and this is in fact how Twitter works. It made my week.
Well, I continued to find my way around Twitter and decided to follow Orion Books, who had tweeted about Promises Promises, by Erica James. There was a link that took me to the FaceBook Fan Page for Erica James. Good, I thought, I’m on safer ground, having been on FB for a couple of years. In my experience, it is very rare for the Fan Page ‘subject’ to host the page and once again, I posted a comment announcing how much of a fan I am and how wonderful the internet is for connecting people with other like-minded people. I was already relishing the discussions I could have with other readers about the books and looking forward to finding other fans who were also developing writers.
Then it happened again. Erica James, the author, responded to my comment. I was on a roll. I showed my daughter the message and she joined in with the grinning – her excitement on my behalf was wonderful and added to the euphoria of the day.
Tomorrow Isolde Martyn is attending Off The Cuff and I am very much looking forward to seeing her again. Isolde is an established Historical Romance author, who very generously gives her time to OTC to help us develop as writers. Isolde is now based in Sydney, Australia, but always drops in for a session or two when she is in Dorset.
What more can I say? It has been a stunning week and I am touched by the fact these three ladies are happy to engage with their fans. I am a willing student and they could teach me such a lot.
If you are a lover of romantic comedy, contemporary romance and historical romance, I recommend you take a look at these three authors. Jill Mansell made me laugh out loud, Erica james made me cry and Isolde Martyn taught me a thing or two, historically and literally.
I also ‘met’ another member of the Romantic Novelist Association’s New Writer’s Scheme through Twitter and I am looking forward to getting to know her better. Perhaps, next year, when I attend the RNA Conference, I shall be fortunate to meet these inspirational ladies.
Write on!