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New Year Resolutions

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2012-12-24 09.34.45

At the end of each December, people make a list of resolutions that they will try to accomplish in the new year. I am no exception. I keep mine simple and tend to use the same ones for they are what I need to try to concentrate on.

1-Try to eat right and exercise- For the most part I been doing well with this.

2-Save a little bit of money each month- This one well I am soso on. We all know when emergency hits the saving get plundered.

3-Try to treat others like you want to be treated- I can work on this more.

I might have some stragglers in the four and fifth spots but my primary ones are listed above. That was until I came across something on Facebook that made me pause.  The post mentioned to get a jar out and every time something nice happens regardless how small, place that on a piece of paper and put it in the container. By the end of 2013 empty it and see how many awesome things happened that you probably forgot occurred.

I really love this idea. We tend to narrow in on the big events in our lives. The items that made us pause and wonder about. The little things sometimes get overlooked or just completely forgotten. So I have decided to do this for the year 2013. I am already excited to see what will be placed in the jar.  The little things that made my day but got left at the waste side due to the hectic way of life. Perhaps this happens since it was not earth shattering by today’s standards. Maybe this will change my perception, I really hope it does.

Happy New Year every one. With that I hope it is an amazing year and that along the way you don’t ignore the little things in life that are just as important.

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A Jasper Moment

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This is Jasper. He is staring at the oven. The very appliance I had just placed a casserole in to cook for dinner. When I took this picture he had been waiting for 15 minutes already with 30 more to go.

This is a common occurrence in my house when anyone cooks. The bird will climb up to as high as he can and just wait for whatever is being prepared for the family ah well in his mind him. Once I leave the kitchen he will yell at me loudly as if to say,”Wait where are you going? You need to be back in the kitchen cooking so I can eat. You know it is all about me me me.” That is what it sounds like as he yells and tries to motivate me to go back to the stove.

If that is not bad enough when I set the table he will slide down his cage, cross his bird stand and climb onto the nearest chair and pace back and forth as he waits. Really bird? I mean really? It just makes me think of the people who have told me in my life that my bird is stupid. He is anything but.

He knows the word no and when to use it. His latest accomplishment has been to learn the phrase, “I know.” So now when I talk to him he will sit on his rail and go, “ I know.” as if he is a dear friend listening to me complain as he sympathizes with me.

He is really an amazing bird and has taught all of us here so much about animal behavior and their personalities. These fascinating creatures are more than just a pet. They infuse themselves into our lives especially one that can talk back to you. Though my favorite line he has every learned has been,” Mom where where where?” which is his way of asking where am I in the house if he does not see me. Does he mimic us…absolutely. But with that mimicking he is learning to interact with us on a different level as he learns when to use certain phrases at the right time.

I know a lot of people don’t get it as over the years I have heard people make fun of me being owned by a flock of birds. My response has always been, “Well you have probably never been owned by one of these splendid animals or taken the time to know them.” They love me as much as any dog or cat I have ever owned in my life. I have tried to imagine how it was before I was adopted by my first birds, Maxie and Twopiece, in 1998 but that is a blur to me. Twopiece is still with me and is my little buddy who sits by my desk on many a day.

I am owned by eight birds and know it. This is not something I would change for the world.

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Tweet Tweet Goes the Twitter

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In keeping in theme with my online platform series today’s topic will be on Twitter. If done right any author can make this social media work for them. As mentioned in my post on online presence it was discussed how I started on Twitter. One little @ in a Writer’s Digest issue was all it took

One can either use their real name, pen name or something that describes themselves. For me it is @NewEngland_Muse. As long a I have been online my handle if it is not taken has been Muse.

The bio in Twitter does not give you much space to tell the world who you are. However it is a good lesson in learning how to be concise, to the point without unnecessary words. Something we will have to do when we write our synopsis for our books or our tag line.

My bio on Twitter is:

A writer who is tuning her 2nd/3rd book. A sports loving, photo taking gal who loves to sing/dance to her own enjoyment. She love to laugh even at herself.

Now that you have an account with a name that says you with a bio what next?

Tips I have learned along the way.

Hashtags are a good way to help yourself out. The symbol is # with the key word after it. This is used to mark words or topics when using Twitter. For example when I started to use Twitter where my book was concern I would use #JasperAmazonParrot or different variations of that. If I am looking for help from other writers I sometimes use #writers #authors #advice and again other variations are incorporated.

Try to not use to many hashtags per tweet, use the ones that are pertinent to what you are writing about. Two great programs Hoot Suite and Tweet Deck are programs where you can follow multiple hash tags at one time.

Users who place the # with the keyword in the search engine of this media will get hits from people who are using similar topics. It is a good way to meet people with similar interest. By doing so I have come across publishers, authors, bloggers and editors to name just a few.

When writing someone in Twitter using their DM , Twitter’s form of email, again you are restricted to a character count. It’s another good way for us as writers to write what we want to say in as few words as possible but getting our points across.

What is considered a nice following? According to people in this media anywhere from 2000-3000 is a good start. But that is really up to you. At the moment I have 3812 followers. But from that number I can say 90 percent are from people who are in the writing industry in one form or another. So to me that is a nice following.

How did I get to this number? Most users I have found will follow back, especially if they have similar interest to you. Using hash tags is one way or doing searches on the topics you are interested in is another. It took some time to get to where my number is at, and for me that works just fine.

From your followers you can place them in different groups. For example I have a group of people I know, writers from NC, publishers and editors and so on.  How often I tweet varies. If I am helping a user out by helping promoting them then my count goes a little higher. I try not to flood my users with too much information that might turn them off. Remember you are trying to build a platform that looks positive on you.  Twitter is a great social media that can be one of your best friends as a writer if you let it. It is never to soon to start getting yourself out there.

 

What I have covered is the very basic format of Twitter. If you have any questions just holler.