Who, me? Waste time on Facebook? You bet!

Since my writing projects are on hold, I decided to tackle Pinterest tonight. When I first discovered it. I spent too many hours scrolling through. I created duplicate boards. I mean, really, what’s the difference between Judy’s Bookshelf and My Bookshelf? Both became a mixture of my own books, other books I liked, and clever quotes about the world of books. But mostly I found recipes—oh, I pinned and copied like a mad fool. And then one day I decided this wasn’t at all an avenue for marketing my books, and I dropped it.

But I read about authors who created boards for each book, using Pinterest almost as a way of keeping notes. I envied their ambition and went on my way. There’s only so much one can do with social media, I told myself, a sentiment echoed by other authors on various lists.

Facebook? When others scorn it and rant because they keep changing the rules, I am an unabashed fan. Sure I use it to tell people when I have a new book, but it is so much more—I post my blogs on it, I comment on other people’s posts, I make observations of my own, sometimes political. My morning ritual consists of reading emails, followed by the newspaper on the days I take it, and then by Facebook. I can easily spend an hour on Facebook and then wonder where the morning went. But Facebook is often the place I learn about breaking news; it’s where I read a lot about politics and politicians—although some of my family will howl, I’m pretty judicious about what columnists, etc. I follow. And friends—I’ve made so many new friends, kept in better touch with acquaintances, reignited old friendships. If I’m going to spend time on social media, Facebook is it.

Twitter not so much, although once in a fit of creativity, I fixed it so my Facebook posts go to Twitter—I have a son-in-law who does it the opposite, so that his FB posts are usually incomprehensible to me. But other than occasionally retweeting, I don’t do it. Linked In is, to me, for people who want to advance their careers in the professional world, and I don’t know about Google+ though I always follow back. Same with Goodreads. Instagram? What’s that?

Now I read that Pinterest is second only to Facebook in terms of traffic generation and way ahead of Twitter or Google+. So that’s why my concentration on Pinterest tonight. I did post a couple of new book covers but the main thing I got was a recipe for smoked salmon dip with bacon and jalapeno. I posted it to Potluck with Judy.

I don’t think I’ll ever master social media, but who really does?

Legal tangles and an exploding computer

For about ten years, I held power of attorney for a cousin in Canada. I hadn't seen her since I was twelve--which, believe me, was a long time ago. But she was incapable of handling her own affairs, and I was the only close relative. I remember my father years ago saying, "If anything happens to us, you will take care of Jenny, won't you." It was like a legacy.
Jenny died last May, intestate. I don't think she ever had a happy life, but she was perhaps the happiest she'd ever been in the provincial home where she lived the last few years. I grieve for all that she missed in life, but I'm glad she was comfortable, well cared for, and had a sense of being cared about.
Finally this month the Canadian courts named me as executor and sole heir. I had meantime arranged a funeral, burial, headstone--all the details that go with death. And I thought I was through. Today my computer exploded with emails from the Toronto lawyer and the trust company tax preparer. It's complicated enough when a person dies in this country  with a will--take away the will (I never would have asked her--it would have scared her) and put the only relative in another country, and it gets complicated beyond measure.
I apparently have to file two returns--one with the Canadian Revenue whatever (the trust company will do that--for a fee, I'm sure) and one to meet a new requirement of the Ontario judicial system (the lawyer will do that). We're not talking about much money here, and I can see it rapidly diminishing with legal fees. We had some discussion about filing under the new requirement--the lawyer said she didn't think I was required to but it was a risk. Seemed like a small risk until she mentioned the minimal fine is $1000 (okay, not the end of the world) and/or two years in jail (oops! the end of the world). We're filing.
But I got so I hated to check my email--and each time I heard from either of these wonderful people (they really are most helpful) I saw dollar signs spin before my eyes.
Meantime I got into another computer dither, trying to apply for a Twitter widget for my newly designed website--Twitter refused to accept my URL as valid. The web designer finally said she'd do it herself, and of course it worked the first time--after I'd tried ten times. At least I was glad to have that chore taken off my hands.
By the end of the afternoon, I needed a break desperately. The morning's snow had melted and the day turned gorgeous. My dining adventurer friend Betty and I went to the Tavern...and ended up across the aisle from my son-in-law who was having a drink with a client. We split an odd combination for dinner--the appetizer of deviled eggs (love them) and a bowl of rigatoni Bolognese. The Bolognese was neither the rich red sauce I expected nor the cream-added sauce I sometimes encounter, but it was meaty and good and I suspect pretty authentic. Good food is always a solace.
 

Dry spell

While much of the country freezes with subzero temperatures and the East labors under a heavy snow fall, North Texas is getting off fairly easily. This morning I bundled for extreme cold in jeans, my warmest sweater, and a quilted down jacket. And I really felt cozy. Well, at least at first. I swore when I came home at 10:30 it was colder than when I left at 9:00. And tonight it's to be 18--that's really cold for us. But by Saturday? Sixties. As someone said, Mother Nature seems to be off her meds.
For me, this funny weather is a dry spell, though I'm not sure the two are connected. I wonder if most writers don't go through these dry spells. Oh, I've been busy--writing blogs, guest blogs that are scheduled after Murder at the Tremont Inn launches Feb. 27, editing the neighborhood newsletter, making my presence known on Facebook and even exploring Twitter and Pinterest a bit, though I've ignored them for weeks, even months.
I've been busy socially. I'm a big believer in keeping up friendships and in the fact that it takes an effort--so I've been out to lunch and dinner a lot. In fact, tonight is the first night since last Sat. that I've had dinner at home alone. You know what? Eating leftovers (even from last Sunday) is kind of fun. I'v got a fire in the fireplace and a book to read.
I have 10,000 words done on a new novel...but then I got distracted by another project I really wanted to move ahead on. Besides, I have no contract on this newest one, no deadline. I don't usually write to deadline so that doesn't bother me, but I feel that I'm resting, gathering strength to plunge into a new novel. My horoscope said today that news in the next week would give me a burst of new energy. I guess I'm waiting.
There's another stumbling block--I've got a 450+ page novel to review, and I don't like to plunge into my own novel while my imagination is caught in the world of the one I'm reading. As is not unusual for me, I started this one thinking Why did I agree to review this? Now, almost a hundred pages into it, I'm getting hooked on the story. Don't know if that's good or bad--shouldn't take a hundred pages to draw me in.
Enough rationalizations about why I'm not writing. Do you have reasons you put off doing things? I think we all do. But if you'll excuse me, I'm going to spend the rest of the evening reading my book.