Join us for a Twitter Chat

Come on over to twitter and join in with the authors of the Shattered Worlds Boxed Set as we talk about paranormal, dystopian, science fiction, and fantasy novels in the set! There will be Q&A's and giveaways and loads of fun!

Come follow the hashtag #shatteredworlds from 8 - 10 PM EST on twitter!

See you there!

Dear Self: Social Media

Okay, so with this month being NaNo and all (17,834 words, baby!), I've been giving a lot of thought to the social media in my life. I'm going to give you some things I wish I knew when I first entered this crazy social networking arena.

What I Wish My Past-Self Knew About Social Media:
1. Pick what works for you. Don't try to be everywhere, doing everything. It's impossible, and you'll just end up feeling like a raging loser.

You like blogging. Focus on that. You like Facebook. Do that. You hated twitter, remember? But now you like it, because it's quick, it's painless, it's fun. So don't judge your social media so harshly--or so quickly.

2. Remember that the Internet is a public battlefied. All online posts, tweets, and statuses should pass this question before being posted: "If I Google myself next week, will I be embarrassed by this post/tweet/status update?"

Only proceed if the answer is "No."

3. Be yourself. No one can be you the way you can. You can't imitate someone else and expect results. And BTW and FYI, most people can sniff a fake out of a garbage dump. So yeah.

4. Along with acting authentically, be genuine. Bambi's advice really applies here. If you can't say something nice, maybe you shouldn't say it. (See #2 above.) Of course, things are different for those in your Inner Sanctum of Trust. And everyone knows that IST's only communicate behind the scenes.

5. Respond/Repay/Interact as much as possible for you, your life, your schedule, your family, your writing time, etc. Everybody loves email as much as you do. Everyone wants a comment on their post. Everyone (even adults, heck, ESPECIALLY adults) wants to know they're valuable, appreciated, loved.

Do what you can. Hope that who you miss, someone else will pick up.

These are my big five. What do you have to add re: Social Media? Do you have rules for yourself? What are they?

And, oh my flippin' heck! You can preorder POSSESSION now! It came up on Amazon and Barnes & Noble yesterday. Trust me when I say I freaked out, complete with tears and everything. I just felt deeply how truly lucky/blessed I am.

FIRELIGHT (twitter version) by Sophie Jordan

Okay, people. Be prepared for some sweet reviews today -- because it's Bookanista Thursday!

Today, I've got Firelight by Sophie Jordan, and I'm bringing you my review, twitter style. So strap in for 140 characters or less of pure awesome!

Wow-who doesn't want to just stroke this cover? The girl with scales, the elongated pupil. Stunning. And the font on FIRELIGHT? #coverlove (with 2 characters to spare!)

About Firelight-Finally something new. I mean, dragons! Not vamps. Not weres. *insert Shrek voice* DRAG-ons. And a hot boy. Need I say more? (Exactly 140 characters. And that was holy hard.)

I loved the words. I fell in love with Sophie's writing. This book is in present tense, but it's BRILLIANTLY done. #fabulouswordusage (7 characters left, but I cut a lot of what I wanted to say. #ohwell)

Characters you care about: yes. Jacinda was a fabu narrator. And the boy! Holy fire-breathing dragon my friends. The boy. Read it. Love him. (Exactly 140 characters. I think I deserve a prize.)

So yeah. If you like YA and you're looking for something special and fresh, get Firelight. It's a masterpiece of character and storytelling. (Exactly 140 characters. That's it, I'm buying myself something bacon.)

Question: What book have you read lately that made you breathless? What did it? The characterization or the actual writing? (17 extra characters. Me = twitter review champion!)

Check out what else is going on around the Bookanista-sphere today:
Christine Fonseca is celebrating THE DUFF
Shannon Messenger is loving THE MOCKINGBIRDS
Carolina Valdez Miller is gushing about THE UNIDENTIFIED
Lisa and Laura Roecker are praising NIGHTSHADE CITY
Scott Tracey is ravenous about HUNGER

(-218 characters. Deal with it.)

Confessions

First off, I should stop writing my blog posts when I'm angry/depressed/revising/hungry/working/up too late. Wait. That's all the time. So yeah. I apologize to you, my dearest readers, for taking out my...whatevers here on the blog.

Anyway, today is confession day here at the Elana Johnson blog.

Mine?

I hate (hate hate) how Twitter makes me feel like an utter and complete loser/outsider.

There, I said it.

Twitter is by far my least-favorite social medium. Because there's all these people that you "know" and they're all having these exclusive conversations with each other. Not you. Oh, no. You're not funny/smart/famous enough. You haven't been to NYC. You haven't been to SCBWI-LA. You don't vlog. You're a loser!

So there. There's my confession. I don't like Twitter. And as irrational as my feelings may be, I hate how I feel like a freaky sixteen-year-old who doesn't fit in with the cool crowd on Twitter.

I adore the #kidlitchat and the #YAlitchat on Twitter. And last week, we dished about social media. One of the big things that I swear I knew, but don't do, is that you should do what you love. Love blogging? (Yes.) Do that. Twitter? (No.) Don't do that.

So I'm going to be taking that advice. I might still lurk on Twitter, but as soon as I feel the I'm-a-loser vibe coming on, I'm closing it down. Sound good?

What about you? Do you like Twitter? Hate it? In between? What else do you feel like you need to get off your chest today?

Confess.

Social Networking is Killing Me

Because I was gone all last week, I wasn't able to do any of my facebooking, twittering, blogging, commenting, forum posting, etc.

And you know what? I didn't miss it. In fact, now that I'm back, the weight of social networking is so heavy, I'm considering scaling back. Like way back.

Because I'm tired of social networking. Are any of you? What are your best social networking stories? Met anyone amazing? Crit buddies? Agent convos? Basically, I need you to sell me on this whole thing again, because I really didn't miss it and just thinking about starting up again has me shaking.

Thoughts?

My Twitter Mosaic

I'm not really sure what Twitter is yet. But it was in Entertainment Weekly, and I'm on there tweeting away.

I'm a lurker. For real. You should totally follow me on Twitter. Sometimes I say funny things or post updates of my writing life.

But then I stumbled upon something distraction-worthy. My own Twitter mosaic. This is gonna blow your mind, people.

Get your twitter mosaic here.

Are you Mindless yet? You should be. This is Mindless Musings, after all. Those are my followers on twitter. Aren't they so pretty? Are you on there? You should be. Yes, yes, you should.