Guest Blogger Nicki J Markus

Today I'm happy to welcome my friend and fellow author, Nicki J. Markus. Her second story with Wicked Nights comes out tomorrow, Dragon's Heart, first in a series.  I can't wait to read the next one.  Good morning, Nicki, and thanks for being here! The blog's all yours!

Thanks to Julie for inviting me here and hello everyone. This is my first time guest blogging and I am feeling a little overwhelmed and not sure what I should write. So, I shall start with today and go from there.

Today is hot. The weather this summer in Australia has been bizarre to say the least. The sudden drought-following floods that engulfed Queensland and parts of Victoria didn’t affected us here in South Australia, but we’ve still had a cooler than normal summer ... until today. Today it hits 39oC with 42oC forecast for the next two days.

As an English girl who has lived in Australia for less than four years, I still tend to find anything much over 30oC rather unbearable. I vowed not to take a step outside the house before dusk today and so you now find me tucked away in the coolest corner of the house that I could find with the laptop plugged in.

My fiancé had a night shift last night and is currently sleeping; therefore I am being as quiet as a mouse. A perfect time to write, you might think. I would agree; although it never seems to work out that way. It is now 4 hours since I got up and preparing this blog entry is the closest I’ve come to doing any writing. I did make a video for a short story I have coming out in April, but that’s about it. What have I been doing all this time, I hear you ask? Well, the answer is simple and boils down to one word: Internet.

Ah, how I love the Internet. My parents resisted getting it at first when I lived at home back in England. They only gave in when I started University in 2001 and they decided it might be useful for research for my studies. Since then I haven’t looked back.

So many plus points: communicate with friends and family around the world; quick research tool  to check a fact or date for my writing; check the TV guide; check the weather; shop for books. The list goes on and on. But then there is the dark side where the word ‘addiction’ comes into play.

How many hours of my life have I wasted in online chatting and games? How often do I pause in the middle of my writing to check the email account that I only cleared twenty minutes before? You never know – maybe someone sent me something in the last 10 minutes. How often have I been distracted by YouTube or been sucked into Googling a favourite actor?

You may well think there is an easy solution to this: turn off the Internet while I write. I have tried, believe me, but invariably I then find that I need to look up a detail for my writing or print a page and then on it goes again.

Still, while I have been out of work these past three months, I have written over 60,000 words between different projects, even with the lure of WWW, and two of the four hours this morning was used to conduct research on accommodation for my honeymoon in Tasmania later in the year. So, I guess it’s not always a complete waste of time.

In the past three months, I have also launched my writing career thanks to the Internet. I have wanted to be a writer for years and yet I found myself saying it again and again without doing anything about it. Finally, when I left my last job in November, I realised I had to just go for it or I’d never know. I was writing some shorts to submit to competitions, but it was Julie who suggested I venture into the world of e-publishing. I have now had several works accepted for e-book publication by Wicked Nights Publishing, the most recent release being Dragon’s Heart - a fantasy novella. I have another longer novella in the editing stage right now and I write non-fiction articles and reviews for Suite101. None of this would be possible without the power of the Internet.

It may be an ongoing distraction, but without it I wouldn’t be able to call myself a published writer.

To see me wasting more time online, come and visit me at my own new blog (http://nickijmarkus.blogspot.com) or check out my current releases at my author homepage (http://www.nickijmarkus.org.uk).

Thanks again for inviting me, Julie and I hope that my entry wasn’t too painfully boring for you all!

No Writer is an Island

Yes, I'm paraphrasing John Donne, who said that no man is an island.  And neither is a writer, despite the fact that we do what we do mostly as a solo activity, and that we inhabit worlds that we bring into existence from our own minds.  Even so, every one of us needs help to take what we do and make it ready for the world to view, because no matter how good you think you are, you need someone else's eyes, another point of view, to take what's good and make it even better, because face it - none of us is perfect, are we?

I can remember in my younger days having total konniption fits if anyone dared to even think of touching my words, because don't you know, they're sacrosanct, they're written in stone, they're untouchable - they're....

Ah, the arrogance of youth.  Utter bullshit.  When I first started sending out my work for submission, and received back rejections, well, they were wrong, naturally.  They were fools who couldn't see that my writing was wonderful.  Of course, I was the one that was wrong.  I even went so far as to give up writing for some ten years, before I dared to take pen in hand once more (not literally, we did have typewriters, I'm not quite that old).

I wrote my first novel, Dark Love, presented it around, and again - rejection.  So I set it aside and began to write other things, short stories and poems, and I took a creative writing course.  I started to gain some acceptance.  I found myself published in small magazines that no longer exist, long gone - and for no monetary recompense, simply to gain exposure.

Times have changed.  Although I was slow to embrace epublishing, after I wrote my second novel, To The Max, and was rejected in the conventional quarters, I was convinced to give it ago.  I was working as staff at the first Bishie Con here in St. Louis in 2009 and it was suggested that I submit my work to Dreamspinner Press.  I did and the rest is history.

When I write, I send my WIPs to my friends to read.  They read what I sent and tell me they like it, which is good, but it's hard to expect subjective criticism from one's friends, unless they write too.  By sheer accident, I met someone who invited me to join a critique group, and that has been a very invaluable chance meeting indeed.  Everyone needs someone to read their work - to critique, to beta, to look at it with fresh eyes and point out things that are easier seen by someone else.  I beta for a few people, and I have a few betas myself. I've learned not to take criticism personally, and to be willing to accept it.

That's the hardest part, I think, setting aside one's ego and admitting that one's writing isn't perfect.  Learning to overcome some bad habits.  Everyone has them, you know you do.  For me, I tend to be wordy, although I do consider that my style - up to a point.  Even I find that I need to chop some of those paragraph long sentences down to manageable length.  With some people, it's spelling.  I'm lucky in that I'm an excellent speller.  But I did discover some of my grammar habits were horrible - I made nasty looking ellipses and misused the hyphen abysmally.  It's all good - I'm learning.

Where do you find such people as betas and critique groups, you ask?  Writer friends are a good start.  Face it, writers tend to accumulate writer friends, so that is a great source of obtaining a beta.  Maybe talk to those writers whom you feel comfortable with hearing about your mistakes from, or who you would be willing to beta for - it is a two way street, after all.  Most publishers have groups online for their authors - that is a good place to make queries, so who needs what, who is willing to do what.  Also, there are general author groups, such as ones on Yahoo, where you can actually meet authors outside of your own publisher, and form mutually satisfying beta arrangements, or even look for critique groups in need of new people.  I am blessed with a most excellent critique group.  Margaret and Cate have proven invaluable to me, and I can even laugh at some of the comments that they make.  After all, you should never take yourself too seriously.  My betas are wonderful too.  Just don't forget about reciprocity - never expect more than  you are willing to give.

You know the saying that it takes a village?  That's what it's like with writing.  No one does it completely alone, not for publication, anyway.  It's an ongoing process.  And the more you get done before you submit your precious baby to the publisher, the better your chances of acceptance, and the less editing the publisher will have to do, which is always a plus.

No writer is an island.  I love my critique group, I love my betas - I could not do what I do without them.  I even love my daughter when she makes fun of things I write, and calls one of my characters a douchecanoe - and then she turns around and tells me I did a good job on something, and I just melt. Find yourself betas - talk to your fellow authors.  Look for a good critique group.  And most of all, be willing to give in return.

Do any of you have experiences with beta and/or critique groups that you'd like to share?  I'd love to hear them!

The Face of Sonny

Last week, some of the authors of Silver Publishing began a new segment on our blogs which we call the Silver Flash - and every Wednesday, some of us will be "getting our Flash on", as Ryssa would say.  The roster will probably fluctuate from week to week, as not everyone is participating on a weekly basis, and some will come and go, no doubt.  I hope to stay for a long time, and I'm aiming at weekly for my flashes.

My first story is part of a series I call Yes He's My Ex.  The challenge is to make the prompt work with the new segment of the story.  I think I can do that.  I wanted to show you all the inspiration for my Sonny, what he looks like.

And now here is Tim.

Finding the right picture for a cover, though, isn't as easy as this - I didn't get these guys from any stock photo place, and wouldn't even know how to approach them to seek photo rights.  They're just for my private inspiration.

There are a number of sites that you can search for pictures for covers - eg Dreamstime, iStock, FotoSearch and more.  It's still a difficult process, I know - I'm looking for the main characters for Revelations.  Namely, Judas and Jesus.  When I find them, I'll need to find robes too, no doubt, as I want them fully clothed for the cover.

I'm always open to suggestions for new sites to try, as long as they don't cost an arm and a leg.  For Jesus, I'm seeking someone preferably of Middle Eastern derivation, large dark eyes, either smiling or even pensive. Long hair, but that can also be added.  Judas is blond, blue eyed, also long hair.  Both are lovely men.

So, back to working on my flash, hope you enjoy these glimpses behind the scenes.  Ta ta for now!

When is an ending also a beginning?

When it's the end to the story you're working on, once you've marked it with those infamous and self-satisfying final two words - The End.  And even though the story is done, the rest of it is just beginning.

There's so much to be done, even when you think you're finished just by marking your story done, but truth be told you're just beginning.  Even assuming you've been editing as you go, you  need to do it again.  You can never go over your manuscript too often.  Has anyone else read it, besides yourself?  A beta and/or a critique group are both invaluable tools to possess.  I have both.  It's usually easier to present them with WIPs in chapters than as one lump sum presented as a fait accompli - you're bound to garner their appreciation, as well as a more timely reponse.

Many new writers make the mistake of thinking that once they've written it, those words are etched in stone, sacrosanct, not to be touched - a notion which you better disabuse yourself of right here and now.  It took me a while, I admit, to get over the idea of someone changing my words, and now I understand that it's done to make them better.  Objective eyes can see things that your subjective eyes might miss.  Especially if you've been reading and re-reading your own words.  Where do you find a beta or critique group?  Other authors are a good place to look, and that generally becomes a reciprocal agreement.    I fell into my critique group, invited by an author whom I began to chat with on a Yahoo author group.  That's another good avenue of exploration, the various author/publisher groups on Yahoo - you can learn quite a bit from them.  Things to do, things to avoid, people to connect with, etc.  Even if you're unpublished, you can join these groups.

For newcomers to publishing, a good way to get your foot in the door is through anthologies.  Granted, they don't pay particularly well, but that isn't what you're looking for at first, it's exposure you want.  So check among the publishers who deal in what you write, see who's offering what, who wants what.  Keep in mind that before you submit to any publisher, you need to check them out, google them thoroughly, see what other people are saying about them before you commit - they may not be someone you wish to deal with.

Even if you aren't angling for an anthology, check out any prospective publisher.  See what they like, what they publish.  Are they both print and e-pub?  Or just e-pub?  Important things to know.  If you're set on seeing your words in print, then some publishers are eliminated right out of the starting gate. Some publishers have sample contracts on their site- check them out. Look at percentages, length of contract, stuff like that.  It's pretty standard for e-pub royalties to be around the 35-40% mark, with print at about 15%.  Silver offers 60%.  Two years is good, three isn't bad, but any longer is something to really think about. I was offered one for seven, but didn't take it.

Elementary, but I'll say it anyway - if you write m/m fiction, don't send it to someone who doesn't want it, just cause you think you can get them to change their minds - you can't, and they won't.  Be sure they accept your genre, and be sure  you don't write things that they are against - most publishers have lists of don't touch subjects.

Look at the covers on the site - that says a lot about their books.  If you find their covers cheesy, then maybe they aren't the one for  you.  You don't want to look at your own book cover and cringe, do  you? The cover is the first place a prospective buyer stops to look - it can be a real dealmaker or dealbreaker.  I have seen books I'd never touch based on the cover alone.

I shouldn't have to say this either - run spellcheck.  No matter how good you think you are, it's just common sense.  You still gotta do a visual, because spellcheck won't pick up on misused but spelled correctly words.  That's why  you have the grammar check too.

Be aware of how long the publisher gives as a response time.  If they say they don't accept simultaneous submissions, then respect that.  I never sub to more than one at a time, not with the same story.  I would be annoyed if I accepted an author's work only to learn that they subbed it out to XYZ Publisher who's taken it, after I've taken the trouble to read it.  Be courteous and respectful of someone you want to publish your work.

And their guidelines for manuscript submission?  Follow them.  Don't be innovative - there's a reason for the things they ask for.  Follow them.

So you see that marking The End is not the end at all, but the beginning.  And a glorious beginning it is!

What do you all do to celebrate when you send your story in?  Do you have any particular rituals you follow? Tell me about them, I'd love to hear them!

Not Every Character is Meant to be Loved

I find a great deal of inspiration in the programs and movies that I watch for my writing.  And I don't mean in the plots or the characters per se, but rather in the writing itself, and the development of the characters and the plots, and in the way they are utilized.  Lessons which can be translated and implemented in my own writing, lessons as valuable as any offered by a writing teaching, made more effective by the visual mode through which they are conveyed.

Point in case today - Rome.

Rome was a short-lived series which ran for two seasons on HBO, 2002 and 2003 I believe.  I only recently began to netflix it and am currently well into the second seasons.  This is a most excellent series, and it combines a number of my personal interests into one well-done and entertaining bundle: great stories, writing, acting, characters and - one of my favorites - history!  These are real people whom are often portrayed in our lackluster history classes as names and dates and deeds long dead and forgotten, but here they are given life and shown for what they really were - actual people.  This is the sin of which most history teachers, in my opinion, are guilty - not impressing that the people of today are tomorrow's historical figures; that the ones that lives before us were just like we are now, except they lived first.  But they were all human, with all the quirks and desires and foibles that people possess, and thus worthy of our interest, rather than our dismay at reading about them.

So are our characters, the ones we write about, real people - in our heads.  It's up to us to convey them as living people upon the printed page, as it is the job of historians and teachers to do the same thing with their charges, although sadly many fail to do so.  Rome does it well.  I can't possibly look at Julius Caesar the same way any more, and his murder, in the Senate of Rome by those he considered to be friends and wellwishers was never more vividly impressed in my mind, despite Shakespeare's dramatic portrayal.  Sorry, WS, but the series drove it home in a way in which the play never had.

The first season of Rome takes place during Julius Caesar's reign and ends with his assassination.  At the point where I'm at now, Octavian has become consul.  He now calls himself Caesar, having been adopted by JC before his death.  Things are a bit bleak, though.  Octavian has demanded that the Senate brand Brutus and Cassius as murderers for their actions in the death of Julius Caesar, a divisive act as many in the Senate are yet their friends (these two fled long ago, by the way, and are lurking outside of Rome, with their forces). Cicero sent word to them of what has happened, encouraging them to return with their forces to oust Octavian.  That put him in a pretty pickle - he was told they had 10 legions to his 4, and even if the numbers are exaggerated, Octavian knows his is the weaker force.  So, being the very shrewd and intelligent young man that he is, he does the only thing he can - he has to make nice with Marc Antony, who is still beloved by the common soldiers, who flock to join him.  Well played, young Octavian, well played!  For those who don't recognize him by that name, later he'll become the Emperor Caesar Augustus.  Ring a bell now?

Now, how he does this wooing of Antony is simple - he uses his mother, Atia, who is Antony's lover.  Today's episode ended with Octavian and Antony embracing like long lost friends.  If you'll remember your history, they will become co-consuls of Rome.  For a time, anyway.  My point here is not to give a history lesson, per se, but to talk about the characters involved.  On the surface, it would seem that Atia is a loving mother who only wishes to help her beloved son.

Wrong.  Atia is and has always been all about herself, which is evident from the beginning.  She's a very narcisstic selfish bitch who only wants what is best for herself, and to be on the winning side.  She is Julius Caesar's niece, and she does not hesitate to reap all the benefits of that relationship, nor to wield whatever power she can from the Julii name.  She treats everyone abominally.  Even Antony.  And yet  her character serves definite purpose in the plot, and that is my point.  Having people to hate is important.  So many books have villains we love to hate but actually love that having one we can unabashedly hate and despise is important.  You can't like everyone, and you shouldn't.

Then there are the other characters, the ones that different people will see differently because of their own perceptions.  Brutus - he was Caesar's friend, but he agreed to off him because he was too weak not to.  We see that he isn't a bad man, but a weak one, who has seen his own ideals for what Rome should be twisted and turned against him, until he is left with only one way to go, and so he went that way.  Marc Antony - another very selfish man, but he's more true to his own purpose, and he remained Caesar's friend to the end.  I can read  his most famous speech in Shakespeare's play now with a better understanding of what is actually happening, the cunning behind the lines which don't outwardly condemn Brutus for what he did, but there the truth is, just below the surface.  Such masterful writing, so incredibly dramatic.

There is just something about watching people we hate, getting ourselves and our emotions and our knickers all twisted as we curse them - silently or otherwise - and root for their destruction.  The important thing to carry away is that the writer, as well as the actors, have brought them to life for us and we feel.  This translates to our own writing.  Our goal is to make our readers feel for our characters - love them, hate them, everything in between.  To make our readers feel something.  If they aren't feeling, chances are they've nothing vested in the story, so why continue reading?

By creating hate for some, I think we enhance the love for our other characters, trigger a protective mantel, so to speak.  Without those villains, I don't think those feelings would run quite so deep.  In other words, there'd be no conflict, and what's a story without conflict of some sort?  True, conflict does not always have to be other people.  Remember the three basic types of conflict?  I still do, even after all these years, having learned them in grade school:

1) Man vs Man
2) Man vs Nature (or God)
3) Man vs Himself

Personally, I find that the last two only go so far to keep my interest; it's an exceptional story that can do that, especially when it's a man and some animals, such as Call of the Wild (sorry, it bored me), and while I like psychological dramas, there is just something more satisfying in pitting man against his fellow man.

It's natural to want your characters to be loved, but not all of them should be.  There will be people who don't even like the ones you'd think they would, because everyone has their own point of view, and one person's hero is another villain.  But it's all good, so don't be offended.  Hey, they read the story, didn't they?  They don't have to agree, as long as they took something away with them.  Isn't that the point?  If they care enough to feel something for your characters, then you've done something.

I have a character in a novel which I am about to submit to Silver of whom I am very fond, not surprisingly, but my daughter Sarah delights in referring to him as a douche-canoe.  But at least she remembers him.  I may complain at her characterization of him, but secretly I am delighted to know she cares that much.

There is a lot that can be done with these characters, to make them multi-layered and unexpected, at least to a degree.  At the end of today's Rome, as Atia led the reconciliation between the lover she'd not seen since he fled Rome without her and the son whom she had allowed that same lover to mistreat and abuse,as she had never been a good mother to him, I couldn't help but think that she hadn't changed - still the same selfish creature she'd always been.  Characters can and do change and evolve, and I love when that happens, but there does have to be logic involved, not just wishful thinking as in I want Character A who's always been evil to be good now - you have to know why, and show it, so we can embrace it.  But it's okay to have a serpent remain a serpent, and that's what I think Atia is and always will be, and I'll continue to despise and hate her (I'm waiting for the fallout when her daughter Octavia marries Antony, though I'm not sure if that comes out in the series or not)

In conclusion, although we love to love our villains, despite how dark we paint them, we need to have characters we'll never love, because they serve purposes too. That is a lesson we can take away from watching well-done series, which allow us to watch the character development, the interactions, and the growth.  All things we can carry back to our writing, so that we can make it come alive as much as possible upon the printed page and in the minds of our readers.

Do you know of characters you hate and could never love?  Your own or those you've seen?  Share them here!  I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Silver Flash Fiction #1: Yes He's My Ex - He Has to Behave

Some of the Silver writers have formed a group which we call the Silver Flashers.  The very generous and talented Reese Dante made us this beautiful badge. Thanks to Reese for her exquisite art, and to Ryssa Edwards for the idea!   It's Wednesday and time for our first Silver Flash.  Mine is from a series which I'm calling Yes He's My Ex and the first story is . . .

He Has to Behave

Sometimes I think that Sonny forgets that he’s my ex.  As in past tense.  Done and over.  Finished and moved on. In the past. And by ex I mean ex-boyfriend, not ex-husband.  If it had been legal for us to do so, would I have ever married him and made that particular legal commitment? Taken that big step and harnessed myself to him heart and soul, in for the long run, the whole for better and for worse thing?

God help me, I think I would have.

Luckily, I saw the for worse thing happen before my very eyes, even as the for better thing shrank into a reality so infinitely tiny it would have taken the largest emotional microscope in the world, with a magnification capacity that even I did not possess, to find it.  It shriveled up and died and submersed itself somewhere deep inside my chest, within this over-abused, under-appreciated muscle known as my heart.  Unfortunately, it’s still there, ‘cause I can feel it and it hurts a helluva lot.

So let me get back to my point.  Sonny is undoubtedly my ex.  If I don’t make that clear, then nothing else I say will ever make any sense, and for a writer, that would be the supreme tragedy indeed.

Well, other than the whole broken heart thing.  But I think I just covered that.

Who am I? Timothy Austin Mansfield, but don’t be thrown off by that whole moniker thing.  Just call me Tim.  My mother, whom I love dearly, and whom I wouldn’t trade for the world , although at times I’d consider renting her out—just kidding, Ma!—has more variations on my name than I can count, but I let her get away with it, just because. Father Michael is allowed to call me Timothy, and he does. But honestly, I prefer Tim.

Sonny, during our baker’s dozen of years together, acquired the unfortunate habit of calling me Tim-tim. When I was flush in the throes of our heated love, I ground my teeth and bore it, but deep inside I truly hated it.  Now that we’re done, I don’t allow it.  I’m a grown man, I think I should have a say in what people call me.  Sonny never seems to get that particular lesson through his thick head.  At least that’s what I have to assume, ‘cause I tell him that constantly.

I know, you’re thinking he’s your ex, as you’ve made painfully clear, why do you talk to him so much?  Or at all?  Not like we have children together, right?  Of course not.  Neither one of us is physically equipped for that.  We did have a dog, a beautiful dog.  He was a Doberman Pinscher, a pure bred, complete with papers. The gentlest dog I ever knew.  There are so many stereotypes about Dobermans being cruel and vicious creatures.  Not true. Jared was sweet and loving and affectionate.  He got old, though, as animals and people are wont to do, and I had to make the difficult decision to put him out of his misery.

It was shortly after that that Sonny became my ex.

He moved out of our apartment, and back into his mother’s house.  She was overjoyed, believe it or not, to have her little boy home again.  Maybe that’s part of his problem.  At the age of twenty-eight, Sonny’s hardly a little boy.  And trust me when I say he doesn’t look like one either.

Sonny’s real name is Mario, but he’s been called Sonny since he was a small bambino, as his mother puts it, so Sonny it is. Sonny stands almost six foot tall in his bare feet, which are surprisingly small for a man, almost dainty. He has chocolate hair that grows thick but not long, and generally looks tousled;  blue eyes so dark that sometimes they look purple in the proper light,  framed behind silver wire spectacles;  a generous nose and wide sweet lips which have been known to give the most amazing head this side of anywhere. Put that with the body of an Adonis, and you have Sonny.

I had Sonny, but not anymore.  He seems not to realize that, most of the time.  Hence the part where I see him more often than should be considered normal for someone who is my ex.  Which is where I began.

Sometimes I think he forgets that he has indeed attained that past participle ex-boyfriend status.  Granted it’s only been six months.  His mother tells me he just needs time to adjust, please don’t be too hard on her boy.  Yes, I still see her too.  On a rather regular basis, in fact.  Hard not to, when she’s my mother’s best friend.  Lucky me. Lia is a nice lady, I love her to death.  But she has this deep-seated belief that Sonny and I are going to get back together again, a belief which he seems to share.  Along with my mother.  And most of our friends.

No one seems to listen to me when I tell them snowballs rolling along the floor of Hell have a better chance of survival than our relationship.  Least of all Sonny.  I guess that’s why he keeps coming over here, because in some strange deranged naïve corner of his mind, there is still an us, and he isn’t an ex. So he wanders over whenever he wants.  Sometimes he calls, sometimes he doesn’t.  Today he called.

Sometimes I just get tired of telling him no.  Some days I don’t even get that far. Today I didn’t want to waste my breath, so I just said, “Fine.  As long as you promise to behave.”

By behave, I mean quit assuming we’re going to have sex.  Even if sometimes we do.  I know, I know, he’s my ex, right?

Sometimes I just don’t know where to draw that fine line, I think.  No wonder the boy’s confused.

*For more bite size fiction and big time fun, check out these Silver Flashers:

RJ Scott

Ryssa Edwards

Guest Blogging with Kitty

Today I'm turning my blog over to my very good friend Kitty.  Thanks for being here, Kitty, take it away!

Social media. 

First I want to thank you, Julie, for letting me write in your blog. This is a first for me, writing my own blog is one thing but writing in someone else's… Thanks! 

Let me introduce myself, the name is Kitty and I live in the Netherlands. I am sort of a nerd and I love anything computer… and internet. That fact brings me nicely into the topic I want to natter about today. Social media. I have accounts at several of the sites that are the place to be… Twitter, Facebook, Blogspot… I have them all. Sometimes I wonder why, but that is besides the point. There is a lot of ways to blog about this but I decided to take you all into the world of Animals and Social media.

When I made my account on Twitter I noticed that animals were on Twitter too. Of course, I had to check this out and I made my Dobermann, Evgeni, a Twitter account too. Within a week he was getting more followers then me, his followers actually read his tweets and replied to them too. They check out his pictures on TwitPic, check out what he does on Blogspot and Tumblr which are connected to his Twitter account. Beginning of last year he was no. 1 in the top Animal Twitters in the Netherlands and no. 2 for Europe. Who are his followers? Mostly dogs, cats and teddy bears… but also bunnies, mice, birds… even some humans. 

Now compare this to my Twitter account. If someone wants to follow me they usually want to sell me something, they don't respond to my tweets and pictures and coming to my Blogspot would be asking for too much. Is Evgeni's life more interesting? Probably not, he is blogging/tweeting about squeaky toys and walks in the park. Do I mind he is more social at the social media then me? No, I don't! The reason: I have found out that the animals on Twitter have virtual parties to support a good animal cause every month. 

When Evgeni has time he joins into the party and helps promote the good cause of the month. There are a lot of things to do on social media and not all  of them good, sadly a lot of spamming is going on but in all that madness that is social media there are great things. Not all on there are just into it to get more followers or to sell you things you don't need/want, some is just good fun. Fun to help out animals who are not as spoiled as our pets, animals who don't have a warm home with good food and vet care. 

If you are on Twitter or any other social media it might be nice to check out what the animals and teddy bears are up too… they might just be raising money for your favorite animal cause.