Facebook Sold Me a Book

On Christmas Eve, I checked my email and found one of those ubiquitous reminders Facebook is so good at. I usually get enticing versions of the following: “You have more friends than you know” or “Do you know so-and-so?” Maybe I know the name. Maybe I don’t. I usually don’t pay much attention to these. But before I deleted this one I took a minute to search my memory and recognized Wayne Sapp as a fellow writer from a novel writing workshop I’d taken at the Midwest Writing Center.

His novel used the lingering legacy of the Exxon Valdez oil spill on the fate of Stellar sea lions and fishermen in and around Seward, Alaska to build his mystery. His work was much further along than mine. Almost done. I remembered admiring his descriptions of mist-shrouded trees, craggy coastlines, and hulking animals—both sea lion and human. He made it feel very real. 

I did a Google search for him and his name came right up on top of the first page along with information about his book, Arctic Lions.  

Unfortunately, so did the other Wayne Sapp. I made a mental note to include Wayne’s middle initial “K” in future searches.

I kept going and found him on Goodreads.com and on Amazon.com. When I told my husband about the results of my web browsing I was surprised by his observation, “So, you’re telling me that social media works.”

I had to pause and admit he was right, and, at his suggestion, I gave Wayne an early Christmas present—I bought his book.

Then, also at his suggestion, I joined Twitter. A move he’d been encouraging me to do for some time.

Now, I’m engaged in three platforms for social interaction on the Internet: Facebook, Blogspot, and Twitter.

I am just so “with it.”  LOL