S.W. Lothian – Author

So … this is a really self-indulgent spur-of-the-moment post that’s short on content but big on content at the same time. As with most people in the bookish world, I’m a huge J.K. Rowling fan and she has been the single biggest inspiration and role model as a writer. I have a little story to tell.

Rewind a little over 24 hours and I’m sitting on my couch flicking through my Twitter feed (as you do) and J.K. tweets some news about what she’s up to.

“I’m editing #LethalWhite (Strike no. 4) right now and it’ll be out later in the year.”

Hmmm… I think… that’s brilliant news – I love the Cormoran Strike series. So I retweet with a few of my own simple words added… “I’m loving this news.”

So … time starts to pass (as it does), then a short time later I pick up my iPad to check Twitter again (as you do) … then it happens. A Notification pops up in living color…

“J.K. Rowling liked your tweet”

Luckily, I was sitting on the couch at the time, I started to hyperventilate and tried to contemplate what had just happened. J.K. liked my tweet. In a world of 7 billion people, she liked my tweet. It’s a fact – I’m now just one degree of social media separation from the most influential person in my writing, ever. I stood and ran to my kids like a fanboy and told them the incredible news. They (as usual) smiled and looked at me like I was an alien … “Great job, Dad. Well done.”

“J.K. liked my tweet,” I repeated.

“Yeah, we heard. That’s awesome. Well done, Dad.”

So, I rushed back to the couch to check the tweet again and send the response that I was sure she was waiting for (as anyone would). “OMG …I’m hyperventilating @jk_rowling … you liked my tweet … OMG again”

Then, I rechecked my original tweet again. The ‘impressions’ were ticking over as I watched … 500 … 1000 … 2000 … 5000 etc. One simple ‘like’ and my tweet had become bigger than big. The ‘impressions’ have been steadily increasing ever since… at the last check and it was up 16,500+ and still ticking like a clock.

“Wow,” I hear you say.

“Wow,” I say back. “Yes, it’s true. J.K. likes me.”

End of Fanboy rant.