NETWORKING

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Letitia didn’t shut down her facebook account, but she stripped it bare. All those little chats and lyrics, all those thoughts about grocery lists, gone.

All those pictures of people at the side – actually, she only ever collected six kind souls – and only one of those shiny happy faces ever spoke to her, anyway. Well, they are gone now, too.

What is this illusion of networking? I don’t get it. I don’t know these people. I don’t send them hugs when they feel bad, I don’t care what they eat for their dinner, they certainly don’t care what song I am listening to today. What is this ongoing mass delusion of interaction?

And then there is the spam. Letitia does not need a Russian bride. Or Viagra. Or cheap pharmaceuticals. She has won enormous sums of lottery money overnight almost every night since she began her facebook account. She is waiting.... Surely some of those cheques must arrive; they can’t all be lies, can they?

Der wunderkinder tell me Letitia is out of touch. She should have clicked every face that came up. Most of them will accept the offer of friendship, and Letitia’s network would grow. ‘But,’ she says, bewildered, ‘I don’t know these people. They don’t know me. They have no interest in my grocery list or my favourite lyrics.’ Wunderkind groans. It’s hopeless trying to educate the elderly.

Meanwhile, my dog is overweight. Ten kilos, the new vit’nery says, must be shed. Thankfully he passed no judgement on the lump sum of my person. Either he deemed it within reasonable bounds, or he decided on tact. Perhaps he thought the message on overeating and diabetes would carry over across species divides.

Have you been reading?

OBOOKO has a facebook account – which they use to feature excellent fiction. If you are running short of ideas, drop by and see what is being reviewed.

ErgoFiction has a two part feature on crowdfunding. How do you feel about paying for your fiction? Will you pay when you can get it for free? Is the status of ‘Art Patronage’ still desirable? If it works to direct the writing process for serials, can it be applied to novels? If so, where does that leave the writer’s craft? Hmmmm....

Letitia's four books are running wild out there and still doing well, thank you all. More stars. Pass them on. Spread the love.

And always remember,
Genius is born – not paid.
Oscar Wilde.
[But it can get a bit skinny and malnourished if it is left too long to its own devices.]
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