Posts filed under ‘Sandra's Comments’
Red Mirror furlough turns into rebirth of SandraOfftheStrip
I had decided to take a month off between the printing of Athena of the Red Mirror Trilogy and the start of Elektra, the third book. I planned to catch up on reading, seeing friends, painting my bedroom and doing lots of research and daydreaming in preparation for the Roman Egypt novel.
But first Egypt, then Libya happened and I was caught up in the birth of new nations. It’s irresistible for me. I love this part of the world. North Africa was my home for a few years. There’s not much about it that I don’t find fascinating.
I had kept http://www.sandraoffthestrip.com barely alive for a couple of years. But I had good standing with Google cause the site has been up since 2007. In my heyday, I had thousands of unique visitors a day from all over the world. I had lost most, of course, but surprisingly still had 600 a day – mostly search engines and spam.
It took Egypt for me to use Facebook. It took Egypt for me to tweet. I’m still not into the phone thing with Twitter, but read hundreds a day online. I’m right on the ground in Libya, following all the news – trying to sort fact from rumor. There are some great tweeters from all over the Middle East.
At the moment, I am concentrating on Libya, while still following events in Egypt closely. Yemen and Bahrain are not far from my thoughts, but I am only one person!
The exciting thing for me personally is that I’ve written over 100 articles since Feb 2. So much for a furlough from writing! What’s immensely gratifying is that my last dozen or so articles are on page 1 of Google. I have two or three that are #1 on page 1. My piece on the Gaddafi sons and their interview with Cristiane Amanpour comes right after ABC news and before Huffington Post.
Of course, it’s all about keywords. But “Saif Gaddafi Amanpour” brings me right up as does “Saadi Gaddafi safari” and “Gaddafi drug jokes.” I’m right at the top with “Safiya Gaddafi wife” and “Gaddafi Amazon Guard.” I could go on, but we all know the internet and Google is fleeting fame, so here today – gone tomorrow.
I didn’t start out reactivating the blog to get high Google rankings. It’s just a pleasant and surprising outcome of a labor of love.
FREE LIBYA!!!
You can follow me on Twitter @LVworldview.
I just read Stieg Larsson’s The Girl Who Played With Fire
I wanted to see what all the buzz is about. I wanted to see what readers like – what turns them on for the trilogy to stay at the top of Amazon’s best sellers.
note: I chose the second book because my daughter said it was better than the first – “a real page turner.”
elements:
computer hacking
defection of Russian spy
inner circle government conspiracy
criminal and journalistic investigation
sex trade
brutality towards women (even in Sweden!)
child pornography and abuse
explicit violence and implicit sex
motorcycle gangs and drugs
heroine has unlimited money
heroine is a dominatrix-type who ties men up (there’s a lot of tying up over all – bondage theme)
lots of video game type action that goes on without relief
Wow – no wonder it sells!
What struck me most was that the female protagonist Lisbeth Salamander gets rave reviews from men. I wonder if that’s because she is as little like a woman as possible, while still having all the right parts? Is it a fascination with girl-women? Or are men secretly attracted to a dominatrix who puts them in their place?
I’ve been doing a lot of research for Elektra, exploring the Roman fascination with death in the arena. “Kill! Kill! Kill!” Nothing was apparently too horrible or bloody for them to cheer and enjoy. They, too, liked lots of leather.
That dark part of our psyche is now channeled into shooter games and TV shows like Criminal Minds. We love the graphic autopsies on CSI. Law and Order Sexual Victims Unit had higher ratings than plain old Law and Order. How many crime and police programs are on every night? We want to hear all the details in sexy murder cases. We really love Nancy Grace if a child is both missing and abused. A movie like Inception gets nominated for an Academy Award when most of the film is permutations of automatic gunfire.
Is it because we can’t all go to war and experience the horrors firsthand that we want to watch others suffer through a protective veil of fiction? What is our fascination with vampires, werewolves and creatures of the night? Why is the human psyche so dark? We know it can be light too.
By the way, I’m not knocking Larsson’s success. I would love to emulate it. He does great character development; his players are real, although they do fall into the white hat and black hat categories. But that’s ok. He’s not literary fiction, but a good read if you like to teeter on the edge of the dark side.
Athena off to the printer
I finished the first reader edition of Athena of Korinth, the 2nd book in the Red Mirror Trilogy, and will email the pdf version off to printer today. It feels really good. I’ll have twenty “first reader” copies printed, wait for their arrival, get them out, and then sit back, biting my nails, waiting for feedback.
Athena of Korinth
The most important input – besides whether they like the story, of course – will be whether or not I should tone down the sex. By “tone down,” I don’t mean eliminate it, but make it less explicit. It’s been a very interesting experience for me. I had no idea there was so much fear and discomfort about sexuality. But I don’t want sex – even though my scenes are often described as tasteful and sensual – to interfere with readers enjoying the story.
I know a couple of women who have not read Isis out of fear. I had thought of giving them a redacted version with black lines through those scenes. It is really very few pages, or even paragraphs, in both Isis and Athena.
I’m looking not only at possible revisions to Isis and Athena (toning down), but also at my approach to Elektra, the third book set in Roman Egypt. The Romans were not nice people in many respects. They certainly had voracious appetites for both sex and violence, often at the same time. The character of Elektra – as I envision her – is a woman fully in charge of her sexuality. She has not revealed herself to me, but I have strong hints of a dominatrix type. But the sex is only part of the story. It’s about empowerment and a woman using everything she has to survive and control an environment where women have very little value. I’m not that sure things have changed that much.
2011 – It’s a new year and a new incarnation for Isis
I’m starting my “out loud read” of Athena today. It’s the last step before putting it in .pdf and sending to print for my First Reader Edition. The cover is done; the map, the glossary and the layout are done. Book Two of the Red Mirror Trilogy is almost there – at least the first go round. Having said that, who knows how long a first read through can take. You can really get stuck on the first few chapters or so. You really weren’t in the swing; you didn’t really know the characters yet. It’s all kind of stilted and artificial compared to the rest of the book.
I like her – Athena’s smarter and more directed than Isis the party girl. The modern Isis is evolving; she’s learning to take charge of her own life. She’s learning about her own power. She learns from Athena, but Athena learns from her. Athena takes a lot more risks than she would have.
As soon as Athena’s back from the printer, I’ll get it out to my select group of First Readers for input.
Not until then can I let myself start on the third book – at least the mental part of research and daydreaming.
Elektra has been knocking on the door and I keep pushing her away – “Not yet! Too early! Can’t go to Rome now!”
I work from such an intuitive level than I can’t really write unless I am channeling. It’s too forced otherwise. I can’t channel two characters at once – at least, I don’t think so.
Elektra scares me a little (actually a lot). I’m going to have to dig deep into places I don’t know about – or have only heard of. Will I find my black swan?
The Red Mirror
Here it is – the real thing – the Red Mirror. And that gorgeous guy waiting for you in the looking glass is none other than Antinous. Is he not as beautiful as a marble statue – just like I promised!
The Red Mirror
Great Workshop with Catherine Ryan Hyde
I went to another workshop yesterday with Catherine Ryan Hyde (author of Pay it Forward and about 15 other books.) What an intellect and great teacher. Catherine and Patricia Fripp of the National Speakers Association are the best I have seen to take a mishmash of information and condense it into something cogent and interesting – on the spot – using superior auditory skills as well as visual.
This workshop was especially privileged. We were 4 – y es – 4 authors who had her to ourselves the whole day, from 9 to 5. Working on our pitch, our synopsis and query letter, each of us got the advantage of her long career in one dose. (Even Catherine still has to write a synopsis from time to time.) It was totally worth the $175. Stop apologizing Catherine – you are worth it! (I’d say “and more” except I don’t want her raising her fees…)
The other workshop on self-editing was two day on a weekend with 7 authors who each brought the first couple chapters of our novels. Excellent as well. As Catherine edited each manuscript, I learned a lot about the technical alone – especially commas, semi-colons, dialogue and shortening sentences. Of course, the group gave valuable input too. It was especially fortuitous for me as I had just “finished” Isis. I went home and immediately started the first round of editing.
I would highly recommend one of her workshops in Cambria CA if you have the opportunity. She truly is a wonderful group leader and teacher (not to mention a skilled author with a beautiful command of language.)
Who do you write like?
A friend sent me this link: http://iwl.me/. (you can link from here.) The site analyzes your writing and supposedly tells you who you write like. I tried it by pasting in the 1st chapter of Athena, the second novel in the Red Mirror Series that I’ve just started.
It came back in microseconds with Chuck Palahnuik. I don’t know his work at all, except that Amazon lists Fight Club. It doesn’t seem like me from the titles listed, but I’d have to read one to see. I suppose content has nothing to do with it – so I could write like Palahnuik, but our content would be completely different.
I would like to know more about how the program works – or if it is a scam. It says it analyzes word choice and writing style. It seems unlikely something so complex as writing style could be analyzed that quickly. Word choice could, of course, be linked to keywords.
Maybe I’ll plug in some different excerpts and see what the results are…
Okay, I did it. I pasted Chapter 2 of Isis and it came back Dan Brown. Now we’re talkin’! Would I ever love to be the female Dan Brown.
I do write with two styles and that’s on purpose. One is modern, in Las Vegas – the other is in the distant past, more archaic. Interesting that I write like a man in both instances. I’m betting I’d get a different answer every time…
OKAY -PROMISE I’m done now, but I couldn’t resist seeing the answer to my favorite sex scene in Isis – Chapter 11. Apparently I wrote it in the style of Vladimir Nabokov. Maybe the program IS looking at content!
I think I may be looking at the wrong agents – none of these comparisons speak romance novel.
First Reader comments for Isis
Besides a lot of really good editing suggestions, I’ve gotten some fun feedback from my First Readers of Isis. One great idea was to include some of those comments in the newest printing.
I’m going for a second printing, Second Reader Edition, and have incorporated many of the changes my readers wanted to see. I listened to everything everyone told me and believe that all of the feedback shows up in the new edition. By the way, this will also be a limited edition. Isis is not for sale and has not been “published.” I’m just taking a different approach to the manuscript concept and having a lot of fun with it. As I design my own covers and do my own layout, it’s really cheap for me to produce a book.
Here’s what First Readers are saying about Isis.
“Adventure! Mystery! Egyptian culture and history! Sex! It sure kept my interest!”
Leslie – Ann Arbor, MI
“Chapter 11 – Whew! Gimme a cigarette!”
Joan – Fresno CA
“I loved the Egyptology details. It’s great to feel that one is being educated while having such a good time.”
Elaine – Easton PA
“I hard a hard time finishing. I kept reading certain chapters over and over. And when I came to the end, I was bummed. I wanted more. Where’s the next book?”
Suzette – Paso Robles CA
“Isis sizzles. It had me squirming in my plane seat.”
Suzanne – Boston MA
“Isis is a real page turner. It’s a great adventure story for anyone – not just women.”
Eric – Las Vegas NV
“I’m fascinated with the Isis story. I really like the way Isis goes back from Vegas to Egypt and blends the souls.”
Terry – Kauai HI
“I’m a big Gabaldon fan, but I like Isis better. The Red Mirror uses a time travel device that I’ve never seen before. The story comes alive in both modern and ancient times. Isis is a strong, unforgettable character who adds an eroticism unusual in historic fiction. Can’t wait for Athena.”
David – Shell Beach CA
“I loved it. It’s exciting and romantic and gave my boyfriend ideas.”
Marilyn – New York, NY
“The sex scenes are terrific. I want one of those guys!”
Ann – Los Osos CA
“Isis was flat amazing. Towns along the Nile, jewelry, weaponry… Sandra paints a vivid, sensual picture of ancient Egypt. She makes it so interesting.”
Curt – Las Vegas NV
Map of the Nile for the Odyssey of Isis
Here is the map I created for the Odyssey of Isis. Only relevant cities are noted.
Athena of Corinth and Alexandria is born
I can’t help myself. I love to have a cover up on my second screen that keeps me in touch with my characters.
My husband and I created the character Athena over the weekend. She’s the new woman for the second book of the Red Mirror Series. Elektra for one day, the name Athena better fits her intelligence and spirituality. She’s plenty sexy though, but different than Isis – less party girl and more ancient world woman executive.
Elektra will likely be the the third book which of the Egypt trilogy and set in Rome and Egypt and revolve around Antinous, the lover of Hadrian.
Athena is head priestess at the Temple of Aphrodite in Corinth and runs a sacred prostitution cult of 1,000 women. (That part is NOT fiction!) Athena will travel to Alexandria Egypt during the Ptolemaic Period – exact year soon to be determined. My research is opening some new doors and I haven’t yet decided which one to enter. And so the next adventure has begun!
Final draft (sic) of Isis of the Red Mirror Series
It seems like it has taken me almost as long to do the 2nd and 3rd drafts of Isis as it did to write the original draft. But it’s a better book now, thanks to a workshop I attended with Catherine Ryan Hyde on self-editing. We were seven aspiring novelists who bared our souls to the group by bringing the first 25 pages of our books and listening to Catherine read them out loud. I learned a lot about my propensity to use the verbs “was” and “were.”
Some of the chapters have had only one re-write while others took two. I spent almost two days condensing the first 5 chapters to 2. I have gone from 100,000 words to 95,000, so believe you might call that progress.
I also have designed a book cover which acted as an inspiration for me as I wrote. I highly recommend creating a cover and keeping the image in front of you.
Catherine encouraged me to go the traditional route and send out to agents. She told me I needed to get a lot of rejections before I gave up. That part comes next!
The next problem is genre. Catherine intimated that I may have created my own. I’m pretty sure that’s not a good thing. Not really romance because Isis has three gorgeous men in her life that any woman could fall in love with. There is lots of action and adventure, plenty of sex but always with passion or purpose, and lots of information about the wonderful period of history called the Late Period of Ancient Egypt. My goal was to take the reader back and so far, everyone who has read passages from the book, agrees that I succeeded. But it’s not totally historical, because much of it takes place in glamorous Las Vegas. Then there is the paranormal aspect of reincarnation, visiting past lives and the mystery of the Emerald Tablet. I packed a lot into these pages!
I am going to use Sandra Gore for this book. I had thought Sabrina Gee, but it turned out not to be that racy, after all. I’ll put my name on it!
note: If you want to see a photo of the actual Red Mirror, go to The Red Mirror in my pages section: Excerpts from Sex and Zen.
Finished First Draft of “Isis” – first of Red Mirror series
Sandra celebrates finishing 1st draft of Isis in the Red Mirror Series with husband Jesper and Garden Dude David Georgi at writers bench
Yesterday afternoon was a first in my life. I had finished the Egyptian part of my novel on Saturday: plot strings tied up, emotionally satisfying ending.
Isis was set to go back to Las Vegas and I had this panic that I wouldn’t be able to do it – to finish the book.
I needed to get several characters to the right place, set everyone up for the next book, and leave the reader feeling good.
Over dinner my husband and I discussed the men characters as they are incarnated in Las Vegas.
Thanks to his suggestions, I fleshed them out solidly in my mind. They became real.
I let them germinate on Sunday, played around with some scenes and dialogue, and had Easter dinner with friends. Then Monday, April 5, I sat down and put them in the scenes I had envisioned and let them go at it. By 5:00 pm I finished.
99,539 words – 6 weeks
Isis ended up with a different guy than I intended, but she made her choice. And there’ s always the next book and the next visit to the past to get another.
I actually cried. It was crazy, but I just had to cry. It was the emotional release of childbirth. No kidding, it was that profound.
My husband and I went for a walk along the ocean and then up to our local cafe for fish tacos and a Corona. They have a Taco Hour special, everything 2 bucks.
Then I put on my Egyptian wig (check out photo) and we cracked a bottle of Veuve Clicquot with our neighbors Carol and David, who have lived Isis with me. David and I meet at the writers bench almost every sunset.
Joy, great joy is the best description I can give.
David is really Tony (Antinous)
Bust of Antinous in Berlin
David in Sex and the Zen of Shopping
The real identity of “David” is Antinous, lover of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. If interested in knowing more, go to the daughter page under “Sex and the Zen of Shopping.” Use sidebar for navigation.
The Yacht I hitched a ride on
Here are some photos of the Silvretta, the yacht that I hitched a ride on and wrote about in “A True Love Story” published in Life Choices: Navigating Difficult Paths. Boat people will recognize that she’s a ketch – 75 foot long. Really a small ship. There was a crew of 9. I had my own cabin with a blue bathtub. Can you imagine how great that was after sleeping in a hammock in a grass hut for months with only salt water showers?
note: photos are from 1973, Pacific Coast of Central America
The Silvretta, 75 ft ketch
The British captain who gave me my break - and Tom, fellow crewman, at the wheel.
The Silvretta by day
The Writers Bench or How I attune to the Universe
The Writers Bench photo by Carol Georgi
This is where I watch the sunset. Most days my neighbor David is already there with his evening cocktail in a urine sample bottle (he likes to be discrete). We have rousing discussions on writing and the environment (not connected subjects.)
My husband Jesper joins us just as the sun is setting. He’s a publisher with an engineer mind and doesn’t like to waste time.
David’s wife Carol is our local nature photographer; she chronicles the impacts of development and rising ocean levels on the ocean and wildlife.
As you can see by the photo, she also records the beautiful sunset that the Universe provides almost every evening. (It does rain in California some years.)
Carol contributes to my other blog sandraoffthestrip.com in the series “Carol’s Critters of the Sea.”
How I get in the mood for reincarnation and romance in Ancient Egypt
Just in case you haven’t read enough about my writing space, you can log onto Life in the First Draft. I go more into detail about the research and what else I do to get in the mood to write about reincarnation and romance in ancient Egypt.
http://lifeinthefirstdraft.blogspot.com/2010/03/getting-in-mood-by-sandra-gore-nielsen.html
This is a new blog spot that features authors and their writing experience. When you’ve had your fill of me, you can see what others are saying about their writing.
Sandra and Sabrina Writing Space
Sandra and Sabrina writing space
I’ve had several people ask me where and how I write – “how” meaning the creative process. The “practical how” is that I use a laptop connected to a larger screen so that I can work off of two screens at once.
This photo is of my writing space. As you can see, a lot is going on.
Egyptian stuff is part of my getting in the mood to write my novel which takes place in modern day Las Vegas and in Ancient Egypt during the Late Period.
You’ll see:
- colored map of the Nile
- a photo I took of the shore from a boat on a Nile Cruise
- several books, including English translations of ancient Egyptian literature and art books on Pharaohnic Egypt
- the necklace I wear which is a copy of an original Late Period piece
I’m working on a new cover for Sex and the Zen of Shopping.
- You will see a couple of printouts hanging above, plus the front cover on the big computer screen which is displaying Photoshop.
- I’m also considering a slightly new title – something shorter. Sex Zen and Shopping: Live Rich by Shopping Smart
- I’ve been working on the interior and cleaned it up a bit. It will have less of a “homemade scrapbook” look about it.
The screen saver on my laptop is the view from the front terrace of our house in Shell Beach California.
I love boats. That’s pretty obvious from the photo.
The bookcase contains:
- My library of cookbooks in English, French and Danish. You might be able to just see Julia Child’s “Mastering The Art of French Cooking.” I bought my copy in 1973 at a garage sale in Los Gatos California!
- copies of “Life Choices: Navigating Difficult Paths.” This is an anthology of great stories put together by Judi Moreo and published by her new publishing company Turning Point International. She’s already at work on the next anthology which will be about putting the pieces back together again. My contribution to Life Choices is the story of how I met my husband and shamelessly pursued him. It’s a true story of hitchhiking on land and sea, taking chances and going after what you want.
- My many copies of the I Ching
- Books by female authors written for the female market which I have read in the last few months. The genre is pretty much romantic fiction of all kinds. This is part of my research for my new novel.
- On the top shelf I have copies of books of authors that I know or have met.
- The small orange book with black binder that’s turned on its side is the scrapbook I kept of my world travels – especially North Africa, Paris, England and Mexico/Central America. Most of the entries are from the early 70’s. I’d like to put it into a memoir form. But right now I am really loving writing fiction.
Non-book items on bookcase:
- The stone statue on the bookcase is Toltec and over a thousand years old. It was a wedding gift when we married in Mexico City the first day of spring (March 20) 1975.
- The briefcase on the top of the book case was a gift from my First Reader (Sex and the Zen of Shopping) Barb Johnston which she gave me at the book launch of Life Choices in January in Las Vegas.
- The name plaque Sandra Nielsen is from my days as a School Board Trustee 1994-1998. It reminds me that trying to do good can be very costly personally. It keeps me from getting involved. It’s time for someone else to play Joan of Arc. I admire all politicians even though their politics can make me crazy. I once heard it said, “In the world of politics, friends come and go, but enemies collect.” Amen.
You probably didn’t miss my Japanese Zen priest who sits directly over my head and hopefully guides my spirit. I bought him at a little “antique” shop in 1999 in Shell Beach. The owner loved his stuff so much and had so much of it that you had to stand at the doorway and point to what you wanted to see. He also wanted a $20 deposit before he would bring it to you! Needless to say, he didn’t make a lot of sales. He was found dead at his desk one morning by his son. He hadn’t come home the night before. 89 years old and he died of a heart attack in the midst of his beloved treasures. From the position of his body, it seemed that he put his head down and went to sleep, never to wake up again. We should all be so blessed!
My Inspiration for Sex and the Zen of Shopping: Live Rich by Shopping Smart
Sex and the Zen of Shopping author Sandra Gore Nielsen with bargain purchases: BCBG pants $11, Victor Costa jacket $25, Nine West knee-high faux python boots $30, Chinese vases $10
I’ve been shopping in exotic places most of my adult life. But what used to be just a fun and adventurous addition to “normal” shopping turned to necessity when our world suffered a financial meltdown. It’s the same story being told over and over again by hard-working, smart people who carefully researched their investments and never considered themselves wild speculators. We were lied to and we got robbed.
But we were “lucky” to sell a furnished high rise condo in Las Vegas with only a $90,000 loss. We made it out on the beginning of the slide, but before the fall over the precipice. We rented a 1,000 sqft condo, moving in with clothes, coffee table, kitchenware, artwork and air mattress.
With a budget of $2500, I furnished the condo in style and comfort. I was surprised that everyone didn’t know how to do that. I was more surprised there are people who think buying “used” or “discount” is beneath them. I suspect those numbers are dwindling. Reality is that we all have to change the way we live.
“Why not write a book about surviving the economy in the style we deserve?” In fact, the first working title was “Surviving in Style” because that is exactly what I feel I’m doing – surviving. My Saturday mornings were spent on shopping safari’s with my shopping sister Esperanza, always with a strict budget and always coming home exhilarated. I felt especially poor one weekend and took only $15 to the Swap to return with a silk kimono, silk peignoir and a flat of fresh, ripe mangoes.
I began to carry my camera. I wrote my ideas, not only about what you could find where, but about the mindset to let go of inhibitions and hang-ups –to get over yourself! Sex and Zen of Shopping: Live Rich by Shopping Smart grew from a hope that I could help others, that I could share a fun (and practical) alternative to feeling down and broke. That’s not a state that I enjoy and don’t think is a place anyone should ever be. I do sincerely hope that Sex and Zen can help you live rich, look good, have fun and be happy.
New cover for Sex and Zen shopping book
S. L. Gore 
Twitter with Purpose
But it’s on Twitter where I’m supercharged. Tweeting your point can be challenging; it requires new skills. You have to get creative. 140 characters isn’t much. No space or time to babble on. Get in. Make your point. Get out.
It’s not as hard as it might seem; think of it as techno-Haiku. Need some examples?
“Seems like one long blur with spikes of joy. Can’t imagine what it’s like for ppl of Libya.” Still 50 left.
“The right chemistry needs a movement w/ a leader. A leader can make a movement. But can a movement succeed w/out a leader?” 18 spaces short of 140.
Or here’s a tweet not directed to everyone, but to a dear follower in Holland.
“@hilliewelp Here’s a pic of the strawberry meringue tarte from last night.http://twitpic.com/4iwujz.”
Still 40 spaces left and Hillie can link to a photo of the pie I uploaded to twitpic.
Some people tweet about their dogs, their next seminars, their thoughts for the day. But for me, the power of Twitter is my chance to help shape the world, one tweet at a time. Twitter with purpose.
I touch the world and the world touches me. Twitter connects me to news articles, websites, blogs, maps, poems, songs, Facebook pages, YouTube, Livestream, Audioboo – all the tools that get the message out, whatever that message is. Weight loss, daily prayer, marketing ideas, or nuclear disaster in Japan? Earthquake and Tsunami? I didn’t wait for American TV, but went straight to the source and followed English Japanese TV HNK through a tweeted link with live feed.
Because of a tweet, I watched a young man named Mo start a pirate TV station in Benghazi on his laptop. He moved every couple of hours those first days to elude capture. When TV Libya Alhurra linked to satellite hookup, I was there in the international chat room. And I got the heartbreaking tweet the night Mo was assassinated by Gaddafi snipers one month to the day from his first broadcast. A future leader, a courageous young voice silenced forever.
My Mo story was the first on the net. That’s how my blog and Twitter work together. Material for my posts comes from Twitter. Google gives my blog high ranking for original content and I also drive traffic to my site by tweeting links to my blog.
I didn’t write Mo’s story for web stats, but because I cared for him and what he stood for. I had watched him every day and followed his bravery. I had watched him grow. His loss was deeply personal. Many of my twitter connections are closer in an odd way than to the people I see in the real world. We share the same interests. We have the same passion.
I’m just one of thousands of “citizen journalists” who tweet. My followers come from every continent – all ages and all professions. Some of them are most unlikely, but they follow me because they like what I say, learn from my connections and trust me as a reliable source. Trust is always a huge factor in human relationships, virtual or real.
Active followers “retweet” my tweets to their own web of followers, sometimes adding comments. Passive connections are readers who just want to be in the know. But active or passive, there’s a place for everyone in the Twittersphere. What are you passionate about? Get a handle. Change the world a little. Start tweeting with purpose.
Follow me at my handle @LVview. Note: Although Twitter was designed for cell phone use, hence the 140 character restrictions of texting, you don’t need a Blackberry or iPhone. I tweet on my laptop.
To read some of the hundreds of tweets from all over the world the day after Mo’s death go to: Twitter Tribute to Mohammed Mo Nabbous | Off the Strip for free thinkers and adventurers.
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Here’s link to the original article “Twitter with a Purpose” published in As the Pages Turn.
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July 15, 2011 at 9:50 pm Leave a comment