The Vagaries of Social Media

Lately I’ve had some online friends who decided to pull back and disappear from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media sites. Most of them cite similar reasons for taking protracted breaks. Reasons include: stress, mental health, disgust, tiredness, lack of fun and time consuming. Ah, the vagaries of social media!

I did not want to be on Facebook but when my first book came out, my publisher practically insisted. “If you want to sell books you need an audience and to do that you need Facebook. And Twitter. And….

Well I was already on Twitter, and had been for about a year. But I dragged my feet about Facebook because I didn’t care to post about sneezing or what I ate for lunch, or how I spilled my coffee or where the cat threw up. I really did NOT want to be involved in such a banal, trivial and cliché world. But I joined.

I kept my interactions simple and limited myself to general notes on weather, inspiration, book promotion, and things about writing. Took me a while to learn how to fill everything out and make it work. Than I learned about the ability to have a “page” and more learning commenced as I tried to build an author page (which is why I was there in the first place).

When I started to find familiar faces “out there,” I settled in with a little more confidence. I still kept my personal interactions to a minimum and never disclosed anything too personal. I’m still this way. But gradually I began to see the trouble with “social” media” and why the vagaries sent people away.

I wanted, and still sometimes want, to go away too.

Seems we’ve forgotten how to be civil. We don’t allow people to have a personal opinion that differs with ours. We have forgotten how to debate and be respectful of others’ ideas. We don’t approve of people who are different. We are self-centered and narcissitic. If we aren’t selfie-ing our friends to death, we are meme-ing ad nauseum or else we are selling and selling and selling and selling. It gets tiresome and exhausting and boring and did I mention tiresome?

Social media has made us antisocial (not everyone, of course, I speak generally here). It seems to have brought out the bigots, the racists, the homophobes, the misogynists, the anti-everyone, the social media platform builders and sellers, the buy-me-and-no-one-else-crowds and the folks who drowned out my Notifications with their posts of 57 new pictures every day.

What happened to being social? Where is the “how are you?” Where are the folks who are interested in you just for you? Where are the people who can share a little and then engage a lot?

It is no wonder that people are stressed about social media. It’s a madhouse of nasty innuendo, bad language, constant buy-buy-buy or sell-sell-sell, political vitriol (it has to do with who is #45), sickness, excuses and complaints. People are taking a break by the droves because the vagaries of social media are turning us into people we don’t like. 

Knowing this I wonder why we can’t be different, better, more social and stress a lot less?

Take a good hard look at your feeds. If you are a business, then sell. But remember to gain notice you have to be social too. Are you putting out a thousand pictures all over everyone’s feed? Stop. Give me 10 now and maybe 10 more later. I don’t need every single photo of your trip. Or else use the custom notifications and send only to those who really want to know the intimate details.

Yes, let us see the new baby, the new kitty, the graduation, the success, the bestseller, the solo at church, the blue ribbon and the first day of school. We are interested in your big moments. But exercise some caution before you get in too deep about your personal life. (And as a suggestion, stop broadcasting to the public when you are away from the house. Use the friends only for that and keep yourself safer). Sharing is caring. Too much sharing is overkill. Social media has become the overkill valley. No wonder we’re all wanting to run away back to the lives we know and love.

Let’s do a little less finger pointing, harassing, shaming and bullying. Let’s be SOCIAL and be kind. Let’s be curious and interested about others even though you want to yell “BUY MY BOOK.”  Remember that social media serves a purpose. It’s not a retail store (unless you have a business page). Want to get some fans? Be social before you be the salesperson.

And stop letting the vagaries of social media drive you, your friends, and me away because we need to stop stressing, worrying and recovering. Let’s be FUN! There’s a thought, right?

Let’s make Social media a social thing again and maybe we won’t trouble ourselves with the vagaries ever again.

I remain, Yours Between the Lines,

Sherry

Seasonal Changes and Mid-Year Review

The temperature may be 90 degrees outside and the A/C is definitely cranked down inside, but there are signs everything is about to switch over to a new season. I’m ready, are you?

(my house and I know we aren’t there yet, but hey…!)

When I was at the grocery store a few days ago, the magazines are touting “soups to warm you” and “easy casseroles for tailgating,” and snuggly quilts to make for those chilly nights. Covers display autumnal designs with pumpkins and warm colors of gold and orange. Domestic magazines are encouraging us to take our families on the ghost tours. In other words, Summer may have us firmly in her grasp but Autumn is pacing in the wings and she’s not far away.

Which is why I thought now was a good time to catch up with a mid-year review with what’s news and include what’s happened to be sure we’re ready for a change season.

UPCOMING NEW RELEASE: First, the July newsletter gave subscribers a first look at the new book cover! I followed this up with a release on Facebook, first on the Cover Me Darlings page and then on mine. Now you get to see the final front cover:

I’m completely crazed for this divine cover by Marisa-rose Wesley of Cover Me Darlings. The upcoming events are wonderfully captured. Hoping to for a SEP 21 RELEASE. No pre-order info yet.  If you want to be ready for the new book, then begin with the prequel, THE GYPSY THORN. Here’s a teaser and a link.
LATEST CHAT: I’ve done a Live Chat every month. Hope you’ve been listening. The latest one promised exclusive content for newsletter subscribers. August will begin those surprises. Catch up on the latest video here.  Newsletter subscribers can sign up here.

INSTAGRAM: Are you following all the pens I’ve been showing every Monday on Instagram? Here is the one for this week — you’re seeing it here the same time I’m posting on IG. Only two left after today. What a cool year of pens it has been. You can always scroll back through my IG and revisit them.

UPCOMING EVENT:  Find me next at Book ‘Em North Carolina, an author signing designed to fight against illiteracy. This will be my third time with them. The event is Sep 22, Robeson Community College, NC and the event is FREE. All you pay for are the books you buy. There are about 35 authors and publishers scheduled to attend. Plus there will be some panels and those are free too. Hope to see you. Here is the website with more info. Come by and mention this blog post and you’ll get a little something extra with my compliments.

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ON THE HORIZON: I was given a great idea and I am going to implement it right away. The suggestion was that I do some specialized videos about each of the books in my Evening Bower series, to include information about the characters plus read a snippet from each book. 

I like that idea and so I will begin this information right away! The first video will appear soon and be about Midnight Assassin. The second will be at the end of August and cover The Gypsy Thorn. The third will be about Time and Blood and appear around mid September. In the vids I will introduce you to characters, give you information about the plot and read something from the book. I will mention particulars about the characters that may enhance your experience with the story.

All this will be in preparation of the newest book’s release. Just before it comes out, I will do a teaser video (TBA) and mention some secrets that have never been discussed. Sound like fun?

Exact dates TBA in the newsletter, in here, and on my Facebook Author page. It’ll be FUN!

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There’s MORE!  FAN FICTION WRITERS!

My special book, Vampire Vignettes is planned for late spring 2019 (guessing). This book will be scenes that never made it into the regular novels of the Evening Bower. I have planned scenes between Drahomira and Franklin, Destin and Reaper, Rhea and Cooke…and so many more. But here’s where YOU come in.

I’m going to offer readers of the series a chance to have their fan fiction vignette INCLUDED in this book. You won’t be paid royalties when published, but you will have your own chapter in the back under Fan Fiction and you’ll be a published author too! Thinking right now up to three stories. More info on this coming.

If you have read the novels and plan to read the new book, then you will have all the information you need to do a fun vignette (of course I will happily answer any questions). Lighthearted is the key. They may be dark but they have to have some quirk to make me smile and must capture the established flavor and voice of the character. Look for specifics by the end of the month. I’m VERY excited about this and look forward to helping you out too.

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With the upcoming change of season, I’m changing too. I love the longer nights and the darker shadows.  New books keep me excited and the prospects ahead are as moonlight from a full moon. The changes make me want to write more….more….more!

Thank you for stopping by. Watch my newsletter and Facebook author page for updates, and of course, the Monday posts here. 

I remain always, Yours Between the Lines,

Sherry

Novels Need An Oral Exam

Say AH. How do you spell that? Ah? Aaah? aaH? Would you believe it is properly written as “ah?” Though you may still write it as “aah,” that is a less common approach in novel writing. Things like this expression are often discovered in the edit phase of writing your novel, but you might be surprised to know it is often most discovered during the ORAL phase, that is, when you read your novel ALOUD.

What’s that you say? You don’t do that? Then you are short changing yourself and missing out on the most critical of all the edits, the oral. Oral readings do several things and all of them benefit both you and the reader.

First, a good novel has natural rhythm and flow to the sentences. The words in a novel flow, are varied and come and go like the tide. Sometimes words rush and sometimes they drift lazily by, the pages easy reading. Sometimes the novel swallows the reader with drama and other times creeps up like a sneaky growing tidal wave, filled with foreshadowing. An oral read through of your work lets you, and the one or ones who are listening (more on that in a moment) get a feeling of the natural undulation of your work. Too slow and the reader snoozes and drops the book. Too fast and the reader may have a hard time staying with the plot. Therefore, a good read thru provides the first actual feel of the story. When you read the words aloud you can hear and feel the advancement of your idea and decide if it has a good pace.

Second, an oral read through lets you hear the dialogue. Are your characters sounding stilted and unnatural? Do guys sound like guys? Do the YA girls sound current or more like your old mom? Getting the right dialogue is tricky and no matter how many times you read it to yourself, there is nothing like hearing it aloud. You find out if your jokes sound natural and if they are truly funny. You hear if an argument has the fury you intended or just becomes page filler. Once you hear the worlds aloud, you (and your listeners) start to know your characters. As the book progresses, so they stay true to how they began? Are the voices consistent? Do you have the right slang? Are the joikes dated or are your references out of the wrong era (or head of time)? Don’t forget to listen for the accents of your characters. Do they say “lemme” but later, “let me?” Be sure to capture the consistent. Have the listeners pretend they are listening to your audio book. You will hear all the oddities you never dreamed in your writing.

Next, the oral read through helps you define pacing. If you started out slow and are supposed to be building to a moment but suddenly drift away to a subplot, is it well-timed? Is it necessary? You can hear these things and you will miss them when you read to yourself. Things the author wants to be there may not sound correct when said aloud. Separate from the rhythm and flow, pacing tells you whether your story is hitting the marks for impact, plot and climax. Like how the words flow, the story must also flow and develop. Bumps in this area come when the reader stutters through certain parts of the oral review. You’ll hear it when it happens.

Of course, the next thing you can eliminate the repetitive or unnecessary. When you’re in the diner, do we need to know what the rest of the diner is eating while we’re having a romantic moment? Probably not. But if you’re a vampire slayer and everyone is eating raw meat, you might be in a zombie deli and be in trouble. Orals let you know whether the details matter. You may enjoy the scene when you read it to yourself, but when you read it aloud, you  tend to sense whether or not you have fluff. Again, you’ll hear it. Also, you’ll hear your favorite overused words:  said, but, so, maybe, just, and, and, and. In my case: smiled, turned, laughed, breathed. Look out for the adverbs too: suddenly, consequently, as a result. Remember the road to hell is paved with adverbs and readers are trusting you to take them to heaven.

In the end, maybe the most important reason to do the oral exam is because this allows you to slow down and really hear the story. Reading aloud is time consuming, yes. But it presents the novel to you in a way that no other edit will. Everything that is wrong – missing commas, overused words, odd phrasing, choppy sentences, rough dialogue – everything stands out in an oral. I tried to put in vampire parkour because my vampire loves to run the rooftops. But my story takes place in 1997 and my listener looked at that and realized that parkour didn’t happen until the 21st century. Things that look great on paper can jump out during an oral (feel unnatural or sound silly).

If you’ve finished a story or a novel, then you are ready for all those terrible edits – copy, line and developmental – but don’t forget the one that will make you dividends, the Oral. After all, an oral checkup for the writer keeps your mouth and you healthy. The oral edit, the novel checkup, makes the book strong and healthy too.

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I just finished the oral exam of my latest book, LOVE AND BLOOD, coming in Sept 2018. God Bless my friend, Terri Wilson, who sat through nine hours on day one and five hours on day two until we finished. Lessons from that read dramatically improve my work. Now my novel is ready for its close up and sharing all its secrets.

Get your Oral Exam done today!

Thanks for stopping by.

I remain, Yours Between the Lines, 

Sherry