Neil Gaiman has announced he'll be taking a six month social media sabbatical starting in January 2014. When I read the story in the Guardian this morning, I couldn't help but cheer for him. 

Every year, during Lent, I take a social media sabbatical. I preload a bunch of links, I warn everyone I'll be gone, and I disappear. I've done this every year for the past three, and each year I write somewhere between 50-70K works (1/2-3/4 of a normal sized commercial novel.) So I know that social media impacts my time, dramatically.

I have a love/hate relationship with social media.  

Succinct title, eh? I first wrote the bulk of this blog in June 2008, and now, 5 years later, after finding myself in another  reaaaaaally awkward situation, I've decided to do a quick update and post it again. Because I'm Emily Post. Get it? Emily ... Post? HAHAHA!

I've been struggling mightily with this post, because it discusses behavior -- and as such can be misinterpreted, or twisted, and I don't want either of those things to happen.

I was put in an awkward situation the other day by a "pre-published" new author. The author introduced him/herself, then announced that I would be receiving the manuscript for an endorsement, and wanted my agent's number (right then) so he could be called directly using my name as the in.

A major capital M Moment in my mythology. Catherine Coulter and I have just finished the revised version of our first novel together, The Final Cut. We started the research in June 2012, writing began July 15, 2012. Nine months and three days later, we've birthed a massive, intricate international thriller, introduced a whole new cast of characters for the 'A Brit in the FBI' series, and created a new iconic male lead -- Nicholas Drummond -- a man whose skills and repartee rival James Bond. 

So what do you do when you've just sent off a behemoth of a novel that's consumed your every waking moment for the past nine months of your life?  Here's a glimpse into my 24 hour post-partum period: