@KarenCollum

Yes, I’ve finally succumbed. I have joined the ranks of tweeters. To be honest, I’m not sure if I really need Twitter in my life - I spend more than enough time on Facebook as it is. I have decided, however, that I am tweeting for my professional good. I want to get to know other people in the writing world. Due to my limitations in actually getting out of the house minus children, the cyberworld seems to be the perfect solution for me. I have started by going off Jonathan Crossfield’s Top 50 Blogs list and becoming a follower of just about everyone on his list. (I reckon Twitter should have used the word ’stalker’ instead. Isn’t that what we’re essentially doing?? Camping outside someone’s virtual house, waiting for them to drop a piece of mail as they walk from the letterbox? ‘Follower’ is only minutely less frightening and implies some sort of religious zeal…)

I have considered whether it’s really necessary. Do I really need to know what some obscure person ate for breakfast? Probably not. But I figure that a lot of people on Twitter are there for strategic reasons, among others. I know that getting to know other writers is a good career move for me, but I am being totally honest when I say that for me, that’s not the main reason. The bottom line is that I’m curious about how other people go about being this thing called a writer. I want to see how they work, how they overcome writer’s block, how they handle disappointment and success and generally be a voyeur of their creative endeavours (of a very non-scary description) .

I am not a person who has moved in literary circles. I can count the number of writers I know on two hands, and the number I’ve actually met personally on one. And being the social butterfly that I am, these social networking sites work for me. I get a peek inside the life of other writers and hopefully in the process, will get a chance for them to get to know me a little more too. I get a ready-made list of books I want to read and an idea of how amazing some of these Australian authors are. I’m not sure if my tweeting will last, but for now, if you want to ‘follow’ me, you can find me on Twitter @KarenCollum.

And in honour of my newfound tweeting ability, I will close by singing at the top of my lungs, a very old song from my husband’s (who is American) favourite childhood movie, Follow Me, Boys.

Follow me, boys (and girls), follow me. Pick ‘em up and put ‘em down and follow me…