Networking on the Net

Posting about fellow blogger l. lee lowe's most recent online novel got me thinking what a marvelous boost the Internet has been for networking among writers. Writing has often been called a solitary undertaking, and it can be even more solitary for those of us who labor away in middle class suburbia, where we can go years at a time without making contact with another writer. There are only so many pricey conferences one can attend, and a 45 minute commute on a crowded train is a lot to go through for the privilege of running into someone in a center city coffee shop.

Thanks to the Internet, I am now in touch with other writers just about every day, in forums, on their blogs, or through e-mails where we exchange news and ideas about our work. When a writing friend has a novel published or a new story coming out in a literary publication, I always link to it here on zine writer. And they do the same for me. If I want input on something I'm working on, I always have a few names I can call on.

Then there are the friends who provide ideas and inspiration like Kimberly Davis who writes Kim's Craft Blog. An accomplished writer and instructor, Kim never fails to provide me with food for thought. Of course, the blogs of my friends and former R&T colleagues Angie Ledbetter (Gumbo Writer) and Kat Magendie (Tender Graces) are always a nice place to take a break. There are others I've mentioned often here, and you can find them all in the sidebar of my favorite blogs and favorite sites.

Some of us share other things in common as well as writing. For example, my blogger friend Cashew Elliott at Open the Vein inspired me to start my other blog Cross-Examine on a topic that is extremely important to me both personally and politically––healthcare reform. That and canvassing for signatures has taken up a lot of my time lately and caused me to post less here and neglect visiting some of my friends' blogs. I hope you'll forgive me. I'll be back when this d--d thing is passed. In the mean time, if you live in the US, I hope you'll stop by Cross-Examine. I make a point not to spew empty rhetoric and I know enough about the subject that you just might learn something you are not getting from the media––then, that's not hard to do.Okay, I'm slapping my own face.

Back to the point. The Internet is a great place for writers to self-promote and to promote others. Do unto others benefits us all, so I hope all of you also frequent other writers' blogs or post their successes. You'll get it back three times over.