#HASH TAGS, STATUSES, UPDATES AND POSTS

Have you become obsessed with social media? Are you always posting a status, an update or a #

Do you find yourself talking in 140 characters or less. What does 140 characters look like?

In the time it takes you to read the next group of words you will have read 140 characters. Our lives are becoming short bursts of information that make our points quickly.

Those last two sentences were exactly 140 characters. The problem with this is, that our children are not able to communicate with us properly. They have lost the ability to answer in complete sentences. They have lost the ability to speak clearly on the telephone. In fact they are losing the ability to spell words correctly.

For example; have you gotten a text from your child that says. B Home Soon or I C U L (I'll see you later)

Studies have shown that more children are diagnosed with ADD or ADHD.

In my younger days no child was diagnosed with this and if a child were, their parent was the expert and knew what to do for it. It was called, 'sit down until I tell you to move" . Nowadays we are given quick information and if you have to 'think' about it, you become frustrated and give up easily. This is due to the hash tags, the update of statuses and the posts on social media. All of the things that are scrolling up the screen so quickly we don't have time to digest the information

We want everything right now, at this very second, and if we don't get it; we move on to the next one.

So I ask you, has social media taken over your life? Do you need an intervention?

My prescription is; sit down, and write a letter. Yes, a good old fashioned letter. Write it to your parents, your children or your best friend. Then put it in the mail.

Trust me, they will love a piece of mail that doesn't require payment but makes them feel good.

STILETTOS, STETSONS AND STORIES

This past weekend, I attended the +Bay to Ocean Writers Conference on the Eastern Shore and when I normally attend there is always a good time to be had.

This year I took publicity photos with +KRRaye +Dee Lawrence +DBCorey +Austin Camacho. You see we are the people that make up the MysterWrite and Book Divas tour groups.

Yes, they are boots and comfortable

It was the brainchild of Ramona and myself last year. Of course being called a Diva is what led to the name becoming Book Divas

Now on Feb. 22, we met up with other authors and I am so well know for my +stilettos that everyone wanted to see what pair I had on and I didn't disappoint as you can see on the right.

I never go anywhere without my 'brand'. I didn't set out for it to be this way but I'm glad that it is.

B. Swangin Webster, KRRaye and Dee

Now, since we are divas, we needed publicity photos, right. so we grabbed our camera's (OK, camera phones) and posed and got some really great shots. Of course we grabbed others into our photo session and we were actually able to get two of the MysterWrite tour group to take a photo with us as well. Now if you notice DB Corey has on a stetson. This is becoming his brand, his trademark. I first saw him at the +MDC3Conference last year and he wore a really nice Fedora and I commented. Well, I think you found your brand. He wasn't so sure and I said, "there isn't a lot of times that a guy can rock a hat, and you are ROCKING that hat". I guess he listened and now that is what people will begin to recognize.

Dee, DB Corey, B.Swangin, Austin, KRRaye

 We all have stories to tell about how much we enjoyed the Bay to Ocean conference and I am sure that the next time we all get together we will share them. But until them, I will continue to rock my Stilettos and DB Corey will continue to rock his Stetson.

What have you made it into your brand? What? You haven't done that yet, what are you waiting for?

As you can see, DB Corey and I are camera ready, him with his Stetson and me with my Stilettos, all of the time.

CATS, DOGS AND FISH....

My house has turned into Wild Kingdom.

First we only had a +Cat

The cat strutted around the house acting like a PRINCESS, hence her name (Princess) and she ruled the household.

Not only did she have her owners trained to jump whenever she started to whine but she climbs all over them while they are watching TV, whining if she can't get her way and finally hiding if they left her alone for longer than what "Princess" felt was acceptable.

I finally had enough of this behavior and proclaimed that I wanted a +Dogs

This wasn't going to be easy since my dog of choice is and has always been a +Rottweiler Fans or +PitBull however they are against the law in the county I reside in so the hunt was on for a dog that caught my fancy.

Little did I know that the dog that would melt my heart would be at the local +HumaneSociety of +CharlesCounty. Mocha was a little scruffy dog who had been abandoned and needed a home. He put on quite the show for me and of course I had to take him home. It's been four months and we all love him except for Princess.

She totally ignores him; well that is what we thought until one day she decided to set her foot (paws) down and scare Mocha have to death. She came at him, standing on her back legs, paws raised high in the air and making some kind of noise that would have scared any other animal senseless but not Mocha. He sat there, un-amused and turned his back to her.

Princes thought bubble
"I will not be filmed with him"

However, the dynamics are such that now whenever Princess comes around Mocha dare not move! It's almost like she has telepathically told him to keep still and he does. Normally lying there like a slug with his eyes wide open and breathing very slowly as if not to make the "princess' angry.

This is such foolishness that now even the +FISH , yes all four of them barely swim around their tank. Secretly I think Princess has gotten on top of the fish tank and hovered over them just far enough that the KNOW they better not mess with her or she will yank them from their watery homes and eat them or at the very least let them lie on the floor flopping around like...well fish out of water.

So you see, my house has become animal kingdom and now I feel like I need a REAL dog to come in and put Princess in her place or at the very least, protect Mocha from her.

LOVE IS MURDER AND I LOVE IT

Two weeks ago I went to Love Is Murder and had the best time ever.

I got to hang out with my great friends, +Hanley Kanar and many others. Love is Murder is the best conference in the Mid-West that you can attend and it is the conference where you make life long friends.

The conference starts on a Friday and runs straight through until Sunday afternoon. We eat, laugh, sit and discuss writing, promotional ideas and best of all we enjoy a few drinks at the bar!

This is why I attend conferences. I meet people! I like to be around other authors and I think I learn more than I would by just sitting home and 'hoping' that someone notices me.

We exchange business cards and we laugh at the, sometimes, share a drink or two or three...OK, four at the most! But most of all we like to sit down with the fans that attend.

I shared my dinner table with the most interesting pair of women who come to LIM every year. They are two retired librarians and they always come to Love is Murder (LIM)

The reason? Because they feel that they can talk and be a part of the literary world without going to far from home. They leave with plenty of new books from the newcomers and they share lots of stories about their days in the library. Those two women are always a pleasure to see.

The other reason is they give out awards, voted on by the fans of the conference. This year, a good friend of mine +Christine Verstraete won the LOVEY for BEST HORROR novel of 2013.

This is her first novel and she won! She was shocked and were we all but why were we. She was up against, +Heather Graham, who is a NY Times Best Selling author! and Christine brought home the LOVEY!

So if you ever get the chance to attend a conference, check out ones close to home first. You will be in for a treat.

If you need a few ideas, here are a few but if you know of any in your area, please feel free to share

Creatures, Crimes and Creativity
Love Is Murder
Malice Domestic
Bouchercon
Thrillerfest

WHAT IS MY NAME

A lot of people ask me...what kind of name is B. Swangin Webster?

Normally I let them imagine whatever they want. Hey, it doesn't hurt me any for them to think it means something totally different from what it actually is.

Actually my name is actually MY NAME. Yes, B. Swangin Webster is my legal name. Well not my entire legal name but it is still my name.

I'll break it down for you.

First the letter B. That is because I was married and my legal last name began with a B and that is all I will say about that.

Secondly, Swangin (and that is pronounced SwA-gen) is my mothers maiden name. Now I know that might be hard to believe but its true. All you need to do is look on Facebook and type that name in. All of the people that come up with that name, and trust me it is not that many, are my family. Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, etc.

Third, Webster...that is my maiden name, my dad's last name. Now don't get me wrong. I like those of you that thought it meant because I was a writer I used the dictionary a lot, (hence the name WEBSTER)

Nope nothing that elaborate, it's just my name

Swangin and Webster (aka my parents)

You see, the people in this picture are Swangin and Webster. Swangin is my mom and my dad is Webster. They have encouraged me like no other when it comes to my writing. This picture was taken last night, as we celebrated my moms birthday. The FIRST word out of her mouth wasn't hello and thank you for taking me to dinner, it was 'when's the next book coming out?" That was all the thing that brought tears to my eyes. You see, my mom is losing her sight. By the end of the year she will be totally blind and she "wants to read my book before she can't see it."

Priceless is the word that I use to describe the loyalty and encouragement that I get from my parents ever day. They offered to pay all of my bills while I was working on my first novel and they have kept that offer on the table.

When I say that I love my parents and wanted to honor them by doing something for them, I couldn't think of anything better than making my author name be something that they could see.

Yes, I proudly say I am B. SWANGIN WEBSTER,  The author and even if I never make millions of dollars, I already have the most priceless gift ever.

My parents support!

.....AND SO I'M OFF

Well, not in the sense you are thinking of.  Although sometimes the voices in my head make complete sense.

This time I'm off to another conference. This is one that I started attending three years ago. Love Is Murder is held in Chicago every year.

It threw me off this year because normally it is held during the +SuperBowl 2014 but this year it is the week AFTER. If I wore pearls, I'd be clutching them right now!

So after getting my head wrapped around not being in Chicago during the Super Bowl; I had to find something to do with my Sunday. Watch the game? you say...gasp! I'm not used to being in MARYLAND during that weekend so I had to entertain myself and that went very well. But I digress.

So, this weekend I will be in Chicago, just as the +PolarVortex is leaving or still there, who knows anymore; in any case. I will be there.

Hopefully I will have the courage to go outside but that is totally dependent on how cold it is when I arrive.

Besides, the Love Is Murder conference is used to seeing me in my cute shoes and this year I am researching a murder scene for #TheStilettoStalker. All I will say is: It involves the ice machine, dragging a body and not making noise...yeah this should be interesting.

So if you are in +Chicago this weekend, anywhere near the airport and pass by a place that sells the best burger, I heard it was +RockitBurger, feel free to bring me one and chat about the murder that will be committed there.

Oh and don't forget to say hello to +Intrigue Camacho because they will take pitches for new novels and one of their authors, +Christine Verstraete is up for a LOVEY award.

Hope to see you there!

THE JOYS OF SNOW DAYS

Nothing causes such joy in teachers as the words, SCHOOLS ARE CLOSED.

Don't get me wrong, we teachers love teaching but sometimes there comes a time when parents push those buttons or the students just don't want to be in class. In those moments, we want to scream, or at the very least have a drink. Makes me wonder why most teachers are not alcolhics because goodness knows we could be.

Dealing with the parents who don't want to believe that their 'little darlings' could ever talk that way to a teacher. For those parents who never see their child bring home any books or do homework for that matter and just 'can't understand why their child isn't passing" or "why you can't give him makeup work to do." 

Hmmm, how about because he/she had over a week to do the first assignment, chose not to do it and yet you believe that he will do something in one day because it's 'extra credit'. So we hope that the snow predictions are right and we get that great day from work called a SNOW DAY.

Ahh, the joys of snow days.

When we don't have to face another classroom full of disrespectful children. Another day we don't have to make that dreaded, "your child didn't do their homework" phone call. Another day we don't have to prepare the students to take a hour test that will measure if they have learned something new in math or reading or social studies.

Ahh, the joys of snow days.

When we get to sleep in without fear of over-sleeping. When we get to get up and realize that we have NOTHING to do that day except eat breakfast, turn on the TV and maybe, just maybe, walk the dog. (Cat lovers don't have to worry about such things) When we loaf around all day in our favorite footie pajamas, hair not combed, the shaver still on charge and the bed still crumpled from us laying in it all day. 

Ahh, the joys of snow days. 

But with the joy of snow days comes the dreaded, 'make up days" because we took to many snow days. 

But for now, we are just going to enjoy our snow days and worry about the rest later.