Twitter Addiction

When I joined Twitter, the social networking application that has you answer the question, "What are you doing?" in 180 characters or less, I swore not to let it become a time-waster in my life. I joined Twitter under the moniker "Lucy_Cat," the idea being that I'd use Twitter as a marketing tool for Kiss My Kitty Butt and Lucy as the book's lazy, sarcastic book spokesperson.

That part worked fine. What I didn't count on was becoming invested in the lives and postings of the 180+ people/animals I now follow on Twitter. My day is no longer complete unless I know what BoogerTheCat and Dingowannabe are up to. (My favorite post of BoogerTheCat is when he said he enjoys hiding in the bushes because it forces his owners to stand in their front door and yell, "BOOGER!")

Darth Vader's posts are hysterical and there are several writers I follow and take comfort from when I read that edits or new writing is/is not going well.

Has it turned into a time-waster? Ummm... okay. Yes. But I scan quickly and limit my time to 5-10 minutes per day on the site. And I frequently walk away chuckling at some saracastic or insightful post. So all in all, I'd say it's worth it.

If you Twitter, follow Lucy_Cat and I'll follow (stalk) you in return.

Radio Show Ideas

Blair and I went out for dinner last night (Mexican--don't tell my running group!) and brainstormed ideas for my radio show. After some hilarious ideas ("Church Chat with Dena Harris') we came up with this:

How Did You End Up Here? This is a community focused AM radio station, so my idea is to just pull people from around the community who didn't grow up here and quiz them on how they ended up in Rockingham County. Then go on to talk to them about their lives - what they do for a living, for fun, family, type car, hobbies, last book read, etc. A voyeruristic peek into people's lives. The joke being, of course, why on earth would you want to end up in Rockingham County? I joked I should call the show, "How Did You End Up Here... And Why Won't You Leave?"

If you've ever seen Inside the Actor's Studio, you know host James Lipton has a set series of questions he asks guests at the end of their time together. I could do something like that here. 10 fast questions about favorite restaurant, favorite shop, favorite celebrity, biggest pet peeve, etc.

That's the thought. Our next door neighbors are from Ohio and run a B&B. They'd be good guests. A coffee shop in Reidsville is run by a couple from California. My yoga instructor was born in Japan, raised in Hawaii, and now lives here. Why? How did they land in this part of the country and this part of the state?

What do you think?

Back On The Air - Seeking ideas for Radio Show

I used to host my own radio show on 1420 WMYN, Madison/Mayodan - 1490 WLOE, Eden/Reidsville . My show was called "People with Passion" (I know, I know... I cringe just hearing it) and I interviewed people from around Rockingham County who were doing unusual things, or had jobs/hobbies they were passionate about. I stopped doing the show because it got to be too much work--finding someone to interview, convincing them that yes, it would be fun to be on the radio, coming up with questions to ask them and filler in case they froze and didn't talk enough, etc. My writing schedule was filling up and for the payoff, I didn't feel like the timing was right for the show.

This morning I received a call from the station manager (who, btw, is the nicest man in the world), stating they had a time slot to fill and would I be interested in coming back? I've still got a lot going on but, for promotional reasons, this might be a good time to start the show again. And I can pick whatever focus/topic I want for my time slot. It needs to be somewhat community oriented but they're pretty lenient with that aspect.

So here's my question: What should be the focus of my radio show?

Ideally, I'd love for the show to focus around pets and/or writing. The show is monthly, which helps in that I don't have to come up with fresh content each week. But it is a 30-minute program to fill. People do call in, but it can be a challenge. Older audience (am radio) demographics. I'm blanking on how I might talk about pets for 30 minutes per show. Writing is a little easier, in that I could invite different authors to the show to talk about their work, their writing process, etc. That's an option. But if any of you have ideas, I'd LOVE to hear them. Post here or e-mail me at ddharris@triad.rr.com.

Cheers!

The Great To Do List

I haven't posted one of my famous annoying standard to-do lists in some time, and I worry your lives are lacking for it. Therefore, today's post is a look inside the cluttered "to do" mind of your world-famous (kinda sorta) cat author friend:

• RSVP to an April 26th Foster Friends of NC luncheon.
• Call the running store and see if I can switch my half-marathon race to the 5k on the 26th in order to attend above luncheon.
• Figure out who's home I can shower at in GSO on the 26th after the race so I can go to the luncheon.
• Write first draft of an article for www.Dogtwist.com.
• Call the event coordinator for the 2008 National Women's Music Festival. The event features women in the arts and there is an "animal lovers" series for which I might present. But I need to know if there is a travel stipend, can books be sold, what I'd speak on, etc.
• If I do sign up for above event, pull together speech/workshop--pronto!
• Write outline for a May 14th presentation on writing. Send to my co-host for comments/reviews.
• Remember the ding letter I got on a book proposal? I e-mailed the query and the agent has expressed an interest! She wants details on chapter structure and outline and what I plan to do with the book. Sigh. If only I knew...  Must get to library and do research and start writing sample chapters!!!!
• Organize my research for article I'm writing on canine glaucoma.
• Call my next door neighbor and see if he wants to attend "Free Friday Yoga" with me.
• Work on book proposal for "Kiss My Kitty Butt."
• I'm considering a "Kiss My Kitty Butt" calendar -- look into details on how to accomplish this.
• Trademark "Kiss My Kitty Butt?"
• Set out tape recorder hooked into phone so I can be ready if my canine glaucoma interviews call unexpectedly.
• Buy a graduation card for a friend's daughter.
• Call everyone I know because I've shamefully ignored them for weeks and am lucky to still have those who will call me "friend."
• E-mail friend about a book I hope she has on publishing that I want to borrow.
• Quit making lists and go do some actual work.

Cheers!