Michelle Miles Author

Adventure Awaits

Facebook

Social Media Fatigue

By

I had a woman on Facebook tell me how I should be feeding my cat (“use a plate, not a bowl”). It was a comment on a picture of my cat—A FUNNY picture, mind you. I like to share pictures of my cat because he’s fun. When I called her out on it, she called me a bitch and then unfriended and blocked me. So be it. She’s clearly not someone I want to associate with anyway.

However, I’ve been thinking about this a lot. Because it really burns my butt.

Since when did Facebook become the place to tell complete and total strangers how to take care of their pets, live their lives, etc? I guess I don’t understand that type of mentality because I’d never do that to someone else. Especially someone I didn’t know personally. Is it a self-importance thing? Do they think they should police all of social media and push their own agendas on people? It hacks me off. And then I wondered why I was friends with this person anyway. She wasn’t a writer. She was an attorney.

I don’t go to FB to have people tell me how to live my life or feed my cat. I don’t care about your political or religious associations. I have my beliefs. I don’t expect them to align with everyone on the planet. I keep them to myself, like any sane, normal person would. I live by what I was taught: if you don’t have something nice to say, shut your pie hole. Why is this such a hard concept in life? Or have we become a society that lives in a fishbowl for all the world to critique?

At any rate…I think I have social media fatigue. Dealing with people has become a chore. It’s bad enough we have to deal with them in person, but now in the virtual world? It’s exhausting and I’m not sure I have the stamina.

Been a while!

By

Wow. It’s been a while since I’ve posted on my poor neglected blog. Life has thrown me some crazy curve balls lately but that’s okay! I’m still here and kicking. I’ll get through it all.

I’ve also been doing a lot of reading on self-publishing. I’m learning a lot. One of the things I’ve learned is to not spread yourself too thin when it comes to social media posts. And so I’ve decided to put the blog on official hiatus and focus all my social interaction on Facebook and Instagram. I’m also in the process of building my newsletter list and respond to all emails from readers. If you want to interact with me directly, signing up for my newsletter is the absolute best way.

Of course, I’ll continue to post updates here of upcoming releases and other book news. But you’ll see it first if you’re a subscriber to my VIP Reader’s list. 😉

Facebook Hop Starts TODAY!

By

ffl2

Hi all! I’m participating in a Facebook hop this weekend. You have a chance to win lots and lots of books plus gift cards! I hope you’ll check it out! Start at my Facebook page by clicking here and then hop to the other pages to gain more entries into the giveaway! I’ll be giving away a digital copy of TEMPTING EDEN, book 1 in the Guardians of Atlantis series.

See you there!

Inkwell Guest: Mona Karel Rants

By

Today I welcome anothe inkwell guest, Mona Karel. She’s here to talk about social media, the IRS and Social Security. Heavy stuff! 🙂 Stick around for the end of the post where she has an excerpt of her latest. Take it away, Mona!

Has This Facebook Thing Gone Too Far? 

In my non writing work life, I’m admin and bookkeeper for a small innovative solar related firm. Which means I do the non techie stuff–trust me what I understand about solar trackers was learned on the job, and resides in that small fuzzy space in my brain not reserved for writing or dogs. VERY small fuzzy space.

Even so, when I’m working, I’m working. That’s my personal contract concerning any job. So when I am sitting in my chair at PSTC, I’m concentrating on purchasing, bill paying, payroll and filing (the last only under duress, when I can no longer find anything.) Part of payroll includes filing state and federal taxes and reports. Lots of reports. At the end of the year, those W-2 forms everyone receives come from a bookkeeper or payroll admin filling out the little blocks, and the W-2s have to go to IRS along with the W-3 overall report. Goody, more paperwork to keep us all busy.

Fortunately there is SBO-that’s Small Business something with an “O” that allows us to file that paperwork on line, a blessing for part time bookkeepers who can get overwhelmed with deadlines. So, here I was at the end of January, merrily filling out the SBO forms, printing off the reports for our files, then clicking the “submit” button to send it all off to the government. And what do you think popped up on the screen? “Like” us on Face Book if you enjoyed this experience.

Really??? “Like” a government agency? Since when did Social Security become a social networking entity? Sure enough, Social Security has a Face Book page, complete with silly pictures of people in Star Trek uniforms. (https://www.facebook.com/socialsecurity)

But seriously, do we really want to get warm and fuzzy with the IRS? Which, by the way, does have a Face Book page, with 3,746 likes even though the page is only a definition from Wikipedia. What in the world is there to “like” about the IRS? Do people really think clicking that button is going to get them leniency in an audit? Even more interesting, the SSA Face Book page has 32,387 “likes.” For sure very few of those people are commenting on the postings. In fact some of those comments can be pretty funny.

What does this have to do with writing Paranormal Romance? Well, it was pretty surreal to see an autographed photo of George Takei on the SSA page. But more to the point, social media has become a major part of book promotion in this brave new world of boutique publishers, self publishing, and smaller budgets for the larger publishing houses. Whether we like it or not, we need to have an author page as well as a blog to keep our names in front of the book buying public. Problem is, with the barrage of information thrown in the faces of our readers, sometimes our messages can get lost in the shuffle. Especially when most of us would really rather be writing.

All we can do is the best we can, which is why I’m visiting today with Michelle–THANKS for inviting me! Having gotten that rant off my chest, let me use the last few words of my blog to introduce you to Mykhael and Kendra’s story “My Killer My Love.” Mykhael is an immortal enforcer for the Atrahasis, overlords of the sacred places in the universe. Unfortunately there’s a power struggle among the Atrahasis, and Kendra is singled out as someone who has desecrated one of the sacred places on Earth. Nothing could be further from the truth, but it’s pretty hard to argue with immortals who have unlimited power. Until love steps in, giving a jaded immortal a second chance at happiness.

EXCERPT:

Once the woman slept he moved more freely. With the stealthy tread of a stalking wolf he searched the darkening rooms, letting his senses hunt for a specific location. He settled in a corner window seat, bathed by the moonlight inching its way toward her bed. Many puzzles existed here, and he knew he was not yet prepared to face them.

He breathed deeply, then more slowly, his body becoming motionless. The atmosphere around him thickened, a silent wind lifting his hair away from his face, then dying abruptly. After a long moment of hushed tension, he emitted a sound of exasperation. The answers had never come to him easily before, why should now be any different?

He studied the woman. Even in her sleep, her thoughts spoke to him in unclear muttering, a not unpleasant sensation. He wondered about the part he had been sent to play, and knew the ending would not be as originally planned. He could no longer think of her as he had been instructed.

This small, fearful female had given him something he had forgotten existed. She had given him back his laughter. For that alone he would protect her beyond life.

Blog/Website
Twitter
Facebook
Black Opal Books

Long Lost Friends

By

If you missed Nathan Bransford’s blog yesterday, you should go over and take a read. It’s good stuff as he talks about the Ten Commandments For the Happy Writer.

And here’s a quote from the above mentioned blog post:

You don’t have to quit your job to write. There is time in the day. You may have to sacrifice your relaxation time or sleep time or reality television habit, but there is time. You just have to do it.

I couldn’t agree more!

Anyway… It’s Friday! I love my Fridays. It’s the best day of the week.

With all the controversy of Facebook (I had my say, too), I thought I should post a little something that sheds some positive light on the social network. I know some of you won’t go there, and I totally respect that. But for me, it’s been a really fantastic connecting experience.

Long ago, when I first starting writing there was The Writing Life, a message board on iVillage. I met several people through this forum that have since become long-time friends (Leigh and Devon, for example). At the time, I was a very green writer, starting my first novel. It was a magical fantasy and I hadn’t a clue as to what I was doing. This was all before I joined Romance Writers of America, before MySpace, Twitter and Facebook. When the Internet was barely ten years old.

The moderator of the board was a really awesome lady with whom I became friends. Eventually, I became a co-moderator. And while I was moderating The Writing Life, I got my first paid gig: writing a serial for Keep It Coming ezine. Eventually, I had to give up my moderator duties. I moved on to other things. I started to get published. But I remained friends with the moderator for a while. We lost touch which usually happens when you only know someone by their email address.

But then…Facebook comes along. And there’s my long-lost co-moderator! We finally reconnected after…oh…nearly ten years. I’m not sure if The Writing Life is still around (Update: JudyB tells me she’s still at the helm of TWL hehe). But it sure was good to “see” my old friend JudyB again.

Since being a member of Facebook, I’ve networked with a lot of other writers and high school chums. My ballet teacher whom I haven’t heard from in, oh, twenty years, found me. Facebook may not be right for everyone, but it’s right for me, right now. I enjoy reconnecting with people I haven’t talked to in years. I’ve found it much more useful than the virus-infected MySpace.

In other news… <segue> I’ve been working away on Phoenix this week. I realized I need a map of my city because I need to really describe it when they people are in it. So I’ll be sitting down with some library books of Ancient Rome and sketching out my city. I love the way the story is going. It reminds me that yes, I’m still a romance writer. I can’t help it. Despite the fact I’m dying to write Fantasy, Romance just keeps creeping into my stories. One of these days, I’m going to yield to that and fully embrace it. 🙂

Board meeting tonight, soccer game this weekend. We’ll be busy. Gotta love that. More edits on the horizon, I’m sure!

Happy weekend, all. 🙂

You Are Being Watched

By

There’s more Facebook hoopla, wouldn’t you know it? In fact, there’s a really good article here called Didn’t You Know? Facebook Is Forever, if you’re so inclined. If you’re not, let me sum up.

Basically, this author warns against the hazards of Facebook and that our privacy is no longer ours. And really, he has a point. Let’s say Nancy in Accounting posts pictures of you and some co-workers at happy hour at Joe’s Bar & Grill. The next morning, John, another co-worker – who wasn’t invited – says they saw you were at Joe’s last night. Creepy, huh?

But let’s take it one step further. What if John, who wasn’t invited, gets jealous? And what if he starts scouring the internet for everything about you? And let’s just say, hypothetically, that John knows you have a website and a blog. And then John starts reading all your stuff and going through your archives because he’s ticked off he didn’t get invited to happy hour at Joe’s.

And then John sees something on your blog that he thinks is about someone in the same office so he prints it and holds on to it for that perfect moment when he can blackmail you or drag your name through the mud because he has this sick fascination with you and your friends.

I guess John has nothing better to do with his time but look for and cause trouble. (And in that case, Trouble will come back to haunt John.)

Scary.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot over the last few days. The Internet is not a safe place. I think we all should know this by now. But it’s not just the Internet. Big Brother is everywhere. Most companies track your Internet usage and your email. At any given time, they can pull up what document you’re working on. Some of the more Corporate sneakiness involves putting key loggers on machines to see exactly what you’re typing and to whom.

And those public documents? They’re all on the Internet. You can go to any county appraisal district online and pull up a record by someone’s name. You can find out where they live, how big their house is, how much it’s worth. Then you can use Google Earth to find out exactly where it is and what it looks like.

Don’t believe me? Here’s another example. The ex and I married in Las Vegas several years ago. Our marriage license? It’s on Clark County’s website. Yep. You can look up people. All you need is a name.

And now we have cameras a nearly every major intersection in town, supposedly to stop red light runners.

The Internet? It’s a Stalker Playground if you ask me.

The article goes on to talk about the privacy settings Facebook offers. If you’re on Facebook, you should really take a look at the article and learn more about it. He even posts a link to get to the page to delete your account.

Just this past week, I deleted one of my MySpace pages and my Linked-In profile. I think there needs to be a limit to having an online presence. Sure, it’s good for the books. But the question is, is it good for me?

So, what, you may ask, can we do to safeguard our privacy? Here’s a few tips I came up with and personally use.

Limit your social networking to a minimum. Make sure you have your personal information (address, phone number, email) set to private on those sites so only you can see it. Whether you’re a member of Facebook or MySpace.

If you’ve registered a domain name for your website, make sure you pay the extra few dollars for the privacy (hiding your contact information). That way, people can’t pop into WHOIS and get your personal information.

Leave work at work. As much as we like to make friends at work, sometimes that’s not the best idea. You need a life outside work just as much as your co-workers do. And, in my opinion, crossing over into those personal relationships with people you work with can be dangerous and backfire on you. Even if you think you know them well, sometimes they have their own hidden agenda. I’ve been in that type of situation before and, trust me, it’s not a pretty thing.

As for Facebook and MySpace…I’m still a member. I probably will be for a while. But Nancy from Accounting can look at my profile all day long if she wants to. I’m not hiding and I’m not ashamed of anything on there. Just as I’m not ashamed of anything I write on this blog (or any other ones).

Facebook Bows To Pressure

By

I’m blogging today at Miss Make A Movie about movie nostalgia, if you want to check it out. It’s here.

So, becuase of all the outrage of Facebook’s new Terms of Service, they decided to go back to the old ways of doing it. I guess there was too many folks upset about the new TOS and who can blame them. I certainly don’t want Facebook to claim my stuff for all eternity.

You can read the official post here, if you’re so inclined.

I’ve been sort of on fiction-hiatus this week after finishing the book. But that’s not to say I haven’t been writing. Not at all. I’ve been writing articles like a madwoman for the various places I blog. (I’m blogging on Friday and again next week at various places.) Plus I’m reading blogs and soaking in the information. I’ve been getting ideas for some things I want to do in the coming weeks.

It just takes so much time and planning, of which I don’t have a lot of in the evenings. So I have to be super organized when I get to my desk at night. The first hour is about getting through all my email and cleaning out the inbox. It’s starting to drive me crazy to have more than 100 messages there. 🙂 And that’s just my inbox. That doesn’t include the various filters I have going on the email to filter out the messages into their respective folders so I can give them the necessary attention later.

Plus I have contest entries to judge. Five for our contest and I have more on the way from others. This is the busy time of year I suppose.

And the DVR is waiting to be watched… Perhaps this weekend I can get some of that caught up.

At least the bills are paid for the week! Whew.

Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy