On Getting Disconnected

JAN: There were a lot of terrific things about spending a month in southern France. The food, the language, the art museums, the friends, the clothing sales.

But surprisingly, the biggest benefit was this: There was no Internet connection in the condo I was staying. To check my email, I had to walk to the school where I'd studied in college and use its library.

At first, I hated it. The streets were hot and it was all uphill. But soon, I realized it was a bonus. I was no longer spending my day responding to electronic information, but was out in city talking to real people. If I wanted to find a boulangerie open on Sunday, I didn't google it. I walked over to the little market where I bought roast chicken and asked the owner to help me.

So, I made an important decision while I was over there. That I don't care what the stakes are: I'd actually rather not be a successful writer if it means I have to spend my limited time on earth twittering. I'm also reassessing Facebook and all those strangers who friend me from California so they can sell me their novel or their winery.

So is this too radical? OR does anyone else think that all this social-media connection is disconnecting? And that possibly, the only way to reconnect is to disconnect?

ROBERTA: Right now I may be too sick with jealousy about your month in France to answer, but I'll try! If you read the interview from the publicist that Hank brought to us last week, you'd hear that Facebook is the most important social networking tool, Twitter maybe not so much.
But that aside, I definitely think there's a cost to the constant online connections. Maybe even more so with the next generation. I sound like an old fart, but it bugs me to see kids text-messaging while they're at the dinner table with other folks. If you're with people, you should be with them, right?

I think the question is definitely worth asking, Jan. Though I'm not convinced that Twittering can make a bestseller. Nor am I ready to renounce that possibility:). The secret is balance...if someone could only tell us how to find it!

RHYS: I can't believe how naked and lost I feel if I can't check the internet all the time. I even have to check my Google updates every day to see what people are blogging about me. It's a sickness, isn't it? And all those people from my past who friend me--they weren't ever my real friends. If we had little in common then, why would we now? I'm actually going to be experiencing total cut-off from electronic communication in September when John and I will be in the Australian Outback, visiting Uluru and Kakadu National Park and other such remote places. Will I suffer withdrawal symptoms? Probably. But it may be a good thing.

JAN: You might be surprised how good it feels.

RO: I was looking forward to being disconnected in Africa. And I was..for the most part. I didn't rush to the internet cafe when I was in or near a hotel. There were more than a few e-conversations going on among people I know that I would have gladly left the country to avoid, if I hadn't been gone already. Then one night in a mud brick building in central Tanzania, I heard some buzzing. A giant mosquito? Nope. My Blackberry (which is all of three weeks old so I didn't recognize the sound.) I was able to pick up emails from underneath a mosquito net in Mvumi Makula. On one hand, I thought, you gotta love technology. Then I was reminded of the time that Bruce's boss found him on Lake McDonald just to tell him someone was leaving the company. Or the time we were in Granada and he got a fax that the company had been sold and he had to return home.I turned off the phone and went outside to look for the Southern cross.

HANK: Guilty guilty guilty. Rhys, I'm with you. I can literally *feel* when I haven't checked my email. I mean, that's--bad! I have to say I'm not a devoted Facebooker--I like it, it's fun, I learn intersting things. I love to read what my pals are doing. But I'm not addicted. And it is SUCH a time-waster. You feel as if you're doing something---you're typing, right? So it feels like working. But most often it's nothing. But not always. Wait--just gotta check one thing over there... Twitter..gosh. I'm just not sure it matters. But what if it does? Ah...back in a moment.

JAN: I think that's why we writers are so vulnerable. We THINK we're working.

HALLIE: Anyone take Psych 101? Pigeons who received INTERMITTENT reinforcement (they didn't get a food pellet every time they hit the button, but every so often) became much more addicted to hitting that button than the ones who were fed every time. That's what the Internet does. You don't get a nice new message every time you check, but often enough that you become addicted to checking. I've gotten to the point where I have to disconnect my cable modem in order to buckle down and write. And even then... Hope I never break down and get a Blackberry or an iPhone.

On Internet Resources for Writers with Sal Towse

Internet-Resources.com/writers contains a treasure trove of lists within lists of links especially selected for writers. Writer Sal Towse is the brains and sweat behind it.

Sal started collecting links back in 2001. The site gets more than 1400 visitors from all over the world each week. It was named a top web site for writers by Writers Digest Press, and a couple of months back someone offered to buy her beautiful ad-free site. She turned them down.

Sal also blogs on http://www.internet-resources.com/writers/blog/

JRW: Welcome to Jungle Red Writers, Sal! Thanks for letting us pick your brain. Can you give us a quick overview of the range of links a writer finds on Writers’ Resources?

SAL: Internet-Resources.com grew from writing-related links I used to post to the Usenet newsgroup misc.writing. Folks there encouraged me to setup a separate site. As the collection grew, I realized for it to be navigable, I needed to sort it and breaking it into subject specific areas: networking, business, reference, fiction, non-fiction, word stuff, markets, publishers, agents.

JRW: Where would you recommend for writers looking to network with each other?

SAL: For mysteries: rec.arts.mystery and DorothyL are the grand old parties. Mystery Writers Forum, Short Mystery Fiction Society and others are also busy. SistersinCrime has a mailing list. There are Yahoo! mailing groups like CrimeSceneWriters and 4_Mystery_Addicts.

Facebook is also a good place for networking. There's a lot of chatter and connecting going on there. "Friend" the writers you know. Meet others in the comments threads and connect with them. Make plans to meet up at conferences or chat in e-mail. Most of the mystery writers I know, I first met at conferences or SinC or MWA meetings.

JRW: Where would you recommend for writers looking to connect with readers?

SAL: rec.arts.mystery and DorothyL, again. Other mailing lists. I first heard of Keith Snyder and Karin Slaughter on RAM (and then met them and heard them talk about their work at Bouchercon). Get out there. Behave yourself. Be interesting.

I've been intrigued by what writers like Barry Eisler and JAKonrath have done with their Facebook pages and blogs, encouraging readers to get involved, to show up for their signings and to look forward to their next book.

Laura Lippman has her fascinating Memory Project. Sometimes she's just talking about being on the road flogging her latest book. Other times she talking about memories and asking her readers to chip in their own memories. The discussions are far-ranging.

I meet and discover writers at Left Coast Crime, Bouchercon, and other conferences. If you can afford to go, do. You'll meet readers like me, and other writers too. My ace #1 hint for conferences? If you're new to all this, go by yourself. If you go with a buddy, it's far too easy to hang out with the buddy and not connect with people around you.

JRW: What about some prime places for folks researching and writing novels to know about?

SAL: I have a collection of links to media resources and experts -- for writers who need background or want to know whether their facts are accurate. I have a subsection specifically for Mystery/Crime Fiction which has links to forensic entomology sites and crime scene investigation, forensics, true crime.

Zeno Geradts' Forensic Site has an amazing collection of links. Gillian Roberts has her online tutorial HOW TO WRITE A MYSTERY. The Police List of Resources has information on ballistics and forensics. If you're writing historical fiction, the Web is awash with information for almost any period. You can also read contemporary works and, if the period is right, see contemporary photographs. The Library of Congress has amazing photographic resources.

Use Google Maps. Streetview is amazing. If you're in the right city, MapJack is even more useful than Google Streetview. I was reading a recent book that had the protagonist slipping into a hard-to-find parking space on Grant in front of Moose's. Moose's is no longer there (no fault of the writer), but Moose's was on Stockton at the edge of Washington Square Park. Grant is one block further east. Little errors like that are like nails on a chalkboard. Search for the restaurant's address, if you want to name a real restaurant, and make sure you place it on the correct street.

JRW: How about for the business of writing?

SAL: Business information comes in three flavors. You need information about contracts and copyright. (I toss e-publishing and POD publishing in this category too.) You also need to know about submissions -- the nuts and bolts, queries and synopses, markets. I have links to agents that are accepting manuscripts and another section with links to publishers that accept unagented manuscripts. And, after you have your book accepted, you need to worry about book signings, publicity, Web sites, blogs -- what can you do to market, publicize and promote your book when it's published.

JRW: I love that you have, on the same page, links to “Games and Distractions” alongside “Time Management and Procrastination.” What’s your favorite oddball category and web sites?

SAL: Ah, yes. My "Writer's Life" subsection. Chocolate. Pens. I'm a fiend for Sudoku and crosswords. I have a link to the Degree Confluence Project. Ever heard of it? The site encourages photographers to visit latitude/longitude intersections and take photographs, which they then post at the site along with a description of what the site was like, whether they were able to get EXACTLY to the confluence, what dangers they encountered. Angola has 106 confluences, of which six have been visited. I think there might be um. problems getting around in Angola. The USA has 3/4ths of its confluences covered. The site is a marvelous distraction, if you're looking for a distraction.

I also highly recommend sites like http://ifoundyourcamera.blogspot.com/ and http://www.moderna.org/lookatme/, sites with "lost" photographs to trigger your what-if bone, if you're looking for a creativity nudge.

JRW: Will you be adding to your lists?

SAL: I'm planning on adding a collection of links to blogs (writers, agents, publishers) at some point but that can get dicey. Hard to tell someone that their blog won't be included because it's not meaty enough and I'm trying to keep the number of links manageable.

I'm for sure adding (maybe this week!) a link to Janet Reid's QueryShark blog. Have you seen that? It's marvelous.

JRW: Sal will be hanging around Jungle Red today so this your chance to get your questions asked about Internet resources for writers. Ask away!