This holiday season, I got a Christmas card from a friend in England. It was handmade, with a cartoon drawing of two characters from a TV show we both used to watch (and was the reason we first “met”online). While the show was running, she created a series of cartoons based on the characters that became a YouTube sensation, even coming to the attention of one of the actors involved in the storyline.
I first started watching this show because another friend, who lives in Beirut, tweeted me about it when a new actor was hired. “He’s fantastic!” she told me. “You have to watch it!” (For the record, the show was As The World Turns, and the actor was Eric Sheffer Stevens, who played Dr. Reid Oliver.)
Over the course of the eight or so months I watched ATWT (up until its last episode on September of 2010), I discussed it with viewers from the UK, Germany, the Philippines, and all over the US. It’s currently airing in the Netherlands, and I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to relive the experience with viewers there.
And when I was getting ready for the ebook release of Take a Chance on Me, I asked my cartoonist friend in England to do the book trailer for me.
One of my favorite things about the internet is how it makes the world bigger and smaller at the same time. I’ve met some of my favorite people via the internet, connecting with them over shared interests and mutual fangirling. When the aforementioned actor landed a new gig on a sitcom, a group of us from all over the country flew to LA to watch the pilot being filmed. It was fun seeing the filming process (and meeting the actor), but even more exciting to meet each other in person after spending so much time together online.
Writing can be a solitary process, but the internet has helped alleviate that somewhat for me and, I suspect, many others. It’s connected me with readers, other writers, and fans in various fandoms around the world. I’ve discovered soap operas in Germany, England, Spain, and the US. I’ve made friends in Europe, South America, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Lebanon, and the Far East. And I’ve re-learned that despite our differences, there is far more that connects us.
So what’s your favorite experience on the Internet? Who have you met/what have you discovered that’s made a difference in your life?
Kate’s latest release, Take a Chance on Me, is now available in print. If you’d like a trading card for TACOM, just email your address to kate AT kate-davies DOT com.
About the Author:
I’ve been hooked on writing ever since my third grade teacher singled out my desert island story for praise in front of the class. (Lots of palm trees and coconuts, plus a quirky monkey for comic relief…) And my mother is fond of reminding me that she still has my first self-published effort, a personal picture book from around the same era titled, “When Mommy is Cold, I Have to Wear a Sweater.” Since then, I’ve dabbled in everything from poetry to playwriting to short stories to personal essays. For a while, I even wrote copy for an online shoe company from time to time. Sadly, free shoes were not part of the contract. But my heart belongs to romance.
I’m a member of Romance Writers of America, both National and my local chapter. I’ve served as newsletter editor and president, and was thrilled to receive the first-ever Lucy Award, given for consistent pursuit of a career in romance writing. (And getting a contract four days after earning the award was icing on the cake!) I can’t say enough good things about RWA. Not only has it been an amazing source of industry information and craft knowledge, but the friends and mentors I have met through RWA are ones I truly cherish.
On a personal level, I live in the Pacific Northwest with my husband and children.
Congrats on the release, Kate. I love browsing and shopping
online and I’ve also “met” some great people on the various
blogs I’ve visited.