Brave New World

 RHYS BOWEN: Our recent Facebook trials when we tried to do a Facebook live event for our group REDS AND READERS highlighted how annoyingly stressful modern life can be. We all are suddenly required to be more tech savvy than we want to be. Mastering Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, not to mention Canva and learning how to create images with stars exploding all over them. Who would have thought it when I sat down with a pan and pen to write my first book?

Every time I have to do a Zoom, Streamyard, Chime etc etc I'm stressed that I won't be able to connect, that I'll freeze, that i'll suddenly notice my bra-strap is showing or I look as if I have no chin. I suppose the positive aspect of all this is that we can connect with readers in a way not possible before. I now speak to bookclubs anywhere in the world. When I do an event for the Poisoned Pen we get about 2000 watching the video , not just from America but from Australia, Sweden, you name it. It is mind boggling how one can have fans from across the globe.

But it is also so time-consuming. I reckon writers these days spend half their time writing and the other half in social media. I try to interact on Facebook every day. I post blogs, I do podcasts and interviews. On Monday I had two Zoom interviews, one after the other. Total of over 2 hours. When I went upstairs I said to John "My cheeks hurt from so much smiling." You can't look grumpy for a second on a Zoom!

So I'm thinking that Shakespeare and Jane Austen didn't have to spend half their time interacting on social media. Okay, that wasn't a good example. Shakespeare's works were performed so he was able to assess the success or failure of his words. Dickens's novels were published in weekly installments so he was also able to get feedback from his readers. but they didn't have to spend half their lives smiling on Zoom.

Of course it is lovely to meet many more readers than I ever could on bookstore visits. But it's made writing into a celebrity thing--that it's not just the words they like, it's the writer they follow. I find it strange and mind boggling that I have about 400,000 followers across social media (Facebook, Bookbub and Amazon). Did I ever, in my wildest dreams, imagine that my words would reach that many people, across the world. I should add that some of those followers are creepy guys from Nigeria, but then some are real African fans so it's hard to weed them out. (but that's why I started the private group TEA WITH RHYS as they have to be admitted and can be booted out if they do anything inappropriate).

I suppose I should be grateful and embrace the convenience. I still remember the days when the copy edits from my publisher came in a large envelope and I had to edit and reprint and send it back. Now it can be done in a day in the review mode. And I get a lot of fan mail because it doesn't require a stamp and a trip to the post office. And Google can alert me to any time my name shows up in the media. All good, but...

Maybe if I were younger I wouldn't have a hard time keeping up with technology, but it seems as soon as I've mastered one thing, something new replaces it. I'm still coming to terms with email. I'm not quite sure of the correct protocol. Should an email be considered a letter and therefor start 'Dear X?" and end with a yours sincerely etc.

Should it start like a chat with a friend? "Hi X! and end with kisses xxxxx

Or should it need not intro and conclusion at all since the recipient can see who it is coming from?

And then there is texting. Don't get me started on emojis or all of the acronyms. I haven't got past LOL yet. I can't see myself ever communicating with things like Wsg? hyd? NTG ISTG etc.

Even more baffling: 459 apparently means I love you!

39 means thank you (three and nine in Japanese apparently)

Do you think that humans are reverting to cave man speak and will lose the art of large vocabulary and polished sentences. No matter, there is always AI to do it for them. And that's another whole discussion.

So who here feels comfortable with technology and is glad of the conveniences we have? And who would like to return to the good old days when we sat down with pen and paper and wrote a letter instead?

How's your acronym IQ?

HALLIE EPHRON: I recently posted on Facebook a snapshot of part of a Walgreens ad emblazoned with BOGO. It was only when I read the trailing words, “...50% off,” that I realized BOGO is an acronym.

I posted the snapshot and wrote, “Duh... and all this time I thought BOGO was a brand name.” 

Turns out I’m not alone. The post generated a ton of comments. 

From my friend Patty Jo: “Me, too! Double DUH!” From Edith Maxwell, “I still don’t know what it is!” From our own “Oh, Kaye” (Kaye Wilkinson Barley): “I can tell you guys were not raised by my momma!” 

 My favorite comment came from Margaret Park Bridges, a talented children’s and mystery author who used to be local and has sadly moved away and works for a high tech company (which shall not be named): “This discussion is so funny to me. Having a job for the past year working with almost exclusively Millennials, I have had to learn a million acronyms just to keep up. OG, YOLO, ICYMI, JK, FOMO, BAE, FWIW...!! I may be the hippest 60-something-year-old I know.” 

 I think I know OG and and FWIW. The others? No clue. 

 So how’s your acronym IQ? Been stumped by any lately? 

JENN McKINLAY: I did know BOGO but only because some helpful store put the definition below their ad a few years ago. The Hooligans are 18 and 19, consequently my vibe is so dope, I’m practically lit (at which point, there is an eye roll and a Hooligan says “Lit is so 2017, Mom.”) 

LOL - I know y’all know that one. 

I’m hip to yours, Hallie - You Only Live Once, Fear of Missing Out, etc. and here’s some new ones - T (gossip), TBH (to be honest) - although, nothing good ever follows that one. And then, of course, there’s GOAT (greatest of all time). 

You don’t want to know how confused I was when the dudes kept calling Tom Brady a goat. LOL...er...I mean, I’m “dying”. I’m “dead” (the new slang for LOL). 

RHYS BOWEN: it took me two years to know what POTUS meant! And FLOTUS sounds like something disgusting going down a river. I’ve managed to master BFF, IMHO and even WTF. ( which will not be explained here). 

Are you really concerned that language is going backward to caveman grunts? Writing to hieroglyphics? 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I don’t think it’s that new, Rhys - the Romans invented SPQR, after all! 

I use a few acronyms in my conversation (“BTdubs” is a favorite) but I confess, despite having a just-turned 20 year old, I’m still stumped by some of the acronyms I see. I think Twitter has spread them even more than emails had previously, since YKINYK and IIRC take up a lot fewer letters than “Your Kink is not My Kink” (formerly known as chacun son goût) and If I Recall Correctly. 

Fortunately, for all of those well above the age of hipness, there’s the Urban Dictionary, which is a wonderful resource for all sorts of acronyms and expressions. Be forewarned - if you’re faint of heart, the Urban Dictionary is exceedingly blunt. 

 And my mother and Kaye’s must have been soul sisters, because my mom’s favorite phrase in the world, after “70% off clearance,” was BOGOF. 

HANK PHILLPPI RYAN: I love to guess them, KWIM? 

What’s fascinating is that IRL, they are all only used on social media. We never say them out loud, except for LOL. It’s only on line. Amirite? It’s kinda efficient. 

But it’s a new language, for certain places only. I just google them, and don’t worry about it. I know other stuff. (I did have to look up ICYMI.) 

LUCY BURDETTE: I agree so strongly on FLOTUS Rhys--it’s a disgusting nickname and probably why I discouraged John from running for prez LOL. 

If I need a word for a character I’m writing, I definitely turn to Jenn. I had some 20-somethings look at the boat next to Miss Gloria’s in DEATH ON THE MENU, and she advised me to have them saying the houseboat was “lit,” which was cutting edge at the time. 

Funny I thought your boys calling Tom Brady GOAT meant he was an old goat, which face it, he probably is:). 

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Help! It's Urban Dictionary for me. Although I've had to explain BOGO to my hubby.. I spend all my time trying to be current on British slang. But as I have a teenager in my books, I'd better upgrade my acronyms! (And I agree, FLOTUS is disgusting. And POTUS is pretty bad, too.) 

HALLIE: Yes, I agree, anything ending in OTUS should be abandoned.

So what about the rest of you? Are you double-duhing along with Patty Jo or rolling your eyes at our collective cluelessness? I'll be a lot of those young farts don't know this one: TK. It's what writers put in our manuscripts when we haven't clue what to say.