Tweets Heard Round The World: What You Tweet Can Haunt You

If you have not read the New York Times article "How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco's Life" I suggest you click the link and check it out now. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Now take a deep breath and think about the last thing you tweeted, posted or blogged about. Could something like this happen to you? What would happen if your Twitter fans read your Facebook posts? Saw those pictures of you from that party?

We all know by now that we should be careful what we tweet, but the article provides a good reminder about the speed at which a single tweet can make its way around the web. More than that, it's important to remember that all of your social media interactions are public. No matter how selective you are about accepting Facebook friend requests or how few followers you have on Twitter, people can still screen shot, share and retweet all of the things you put out into the world.  Which means you're always one retweet away from going viral.

I use different social media platforms for different things: Facebook and Instagram for friends and family, Twitter and Blogger for author/writing connections, and LinkedIn for my day job and alumni networks.  The topics I tweet about are completely different from the things I post on Facebook. But what's to stop that old friend from high school I haven't talked to in ten years from turning my funny Facebook post into a tweet, or sharing it with her Facebook friends I've never met? Nothing. Nothing at all. Which is why I have to ask myself how I would feel if that Facebook post landed on Twitter or LinkedIn before I put it out into the world.

This is even more important because I am about to be a published children's book author. Yes, I'm entitled to have social media conversations with my adult friends, post funny jokes and share pictures from parties, but I have to remember that the information can be accessed by my younger readers as well. Even if I think the platform I'm using is private, I need to be mindful of the entire potential audience, not just the intended audience.

So consider this my PSA: think before you share things online, and remember that everything - no matter how private you think it is - can go viral if posted.

How do you think about your public vs. personal personas on social media?

For the Love of Books

It's Memorial Day - the unofficial start of summer and for those of us who spent our winter in the North East - it hasn't come soon enough!

If you ask me, there's no better way to spend a glorious long weekend than to make a dent in that "must read" list.  

You could log online and download another e-book or you could take some time and travel down to your favourite indie bookstore for a treasure hunt.  If I may, I'd like to suggest the latter because you never know when those opportunities might disappear.  I remember when one of my favourite bookstores "Pages" in the heart of downtown Toronto closed it's doors a few years ago.  The community has never been quite the same. 

Many cities are experiencing the same loss.  The New York Times noted that numerous indie bookstores are being driven out of Manhattan due the skyrocketing cost of rent while writer Avi cites the aforementioned article in his most recent post, reminiscing about a bygone time when he perused old bookstores with his father. 

But all is not lost.  Check out BBC's ten most beautiful bookshops.  Ok, so it might be a bit difficult to visit these unique treasures on the last day of a long weekend.  Fear not, use Indie Bound and find your nearest indie bookstore.  You never know what hidden gem you may discover just a stone throw's away. 

TIFF for Tat

Once a year, I get to enjoy the fruits of my day job.  The Toronto International Film Festival officially kicked off Thursday evening with a star studded opening gala and it looks like the next ten days will be go, go, go in my Canadian home town. There will be 366 feature length and short films playing at the festival this year and a number of these are either about books or based on books.  

From Darius Films' THE ART OF THE STEAL starring Kurt Russell about a motorcycle daredevil and part-time art thief who teams up with his snaky brother to steal one of the most valuable books in the world to BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR - the French language adaptation of the graphic novel by Belgian artist Julie Maroh, there is something for every literary lover at TIFF.

If you can't get to Toronto, don't fret, a number of these movies will be released theatrically shortly after the festival so you'll have plenty of opportunity in the near future to watch films that are hot and some that are not. 

Of course, a festival is not a festival without awards, top honours and lists from best to worst. Here are two lists that will help you to fill your September reading quota and perhaps build a new sanctuary to enjoy them in. 

Check out the Top Ten YA Releases for September 2013 which included New York Times Bestseller and Niagara Writers Retreat 2013 faculty member Ellen Hopkins' latest novel SMOKE and Holly Black's THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLDTOWN.

Once you've decided which novel you'll start with, you can crawl into your favourite space to enjoy your new adventure. Don't have a nook? Need some inspiration? Here are twenty beautiful reading nooks to inspire you.

Industry Month In Review: Triumph & Perseverance

In light of the events of this past Friday, we at Thinking to Inking want to express our sincerest condolences to those affected by the Sandy Hook tragedy.  As children's writers, whose goal and joy it is to see kids grow, imagine and explore through words, it's inconceivable to think that someone would want to take not just that experience but any experience away from ones so innocent.  Not only did the families and community of Newton lose on Friday, we all lost. 

I'd drafted this post prior to Friday and entitled it Triumph & Perseverance.  The news is celebratory and focused on hard work and determination.  I think that as writers, that's what we're about.  We embrace the challenge of story and express ourselves through words. Wouldn't it be grand if everyone did the same?

If ever there was a writer whose manuscript flowed like a sweet song, it would be Kim Liggett-Peplowski.  But I should correct myself by saying manuscript no more as Arianne Lewin at Putnam just announced she has acquired Kim's debut YA romantic thriller "Blood and Salt", in a two-book deal at auction.  I had the pleasure of meeting Kim in October at Your Best Books.  As a member of my critique group at the week long workshop (shout outs to fellow members Halli and Carol), we'd meet every afternoon with faculty (including her soon to be agent Josh Adams) and read pages from each others manuscripts.  Both lyrical in words and beautiful in story, Kim's manuscript stood out even then.  

So why is this so exciting?  To me, it's not because Kim is a wonderful human being (she is) or that she got a two book deal (amazing), it's because I got the opportunity to witness if just for a few days, the Kim before the storm (of success).  I got to see the effort that she put into everything that was her manuscript, the sacrifices she made, the anxieties and the uncertainty but most importantly the determination not to give up.  That is what I think is inspiring to writers.  The knowledge that it's not an overnight success but a cumulation of time, energy and love of the project. 

So for all you hard working aspiring writers, here are a few good news stories for the month of December to help us triumph and persevere.

The New York Times creates separate middle grade and YA bestsellers lists - now you have more opportunities to be a part of this esteemed group.

Writer L.B. Schulman blogs about writing for the long haul - inspiration for those cold winter days when you just want to throw your manuscript in the fireplace.

Author Lee Child gives us the answer to the question "How Do You Create Suspense?" - which has a lot to do with patience and perseverance because as writers we have a penchant to want to give our readers a lot of information all at once.  But by slowly unravelling the story, revealing small answers before big ones we create the suspense our readers thrive on.