Many are quite familiar with Twitter, and probably don’t need much on an introduction, but just in case it’s new to you, Twitter can be a great way to find people talking about just about anything you’re interested in. It can also be a way for you to share your latest book or publication with others.

After you’ve joined Twitter, which is easy to do, along the right side of the page there is a search box. Just now I put “author” in the box, and you can click here to see the search results for author.

You can search for anything, then start “following” people that seem to share the same interests as you, and reply to what they are saying using the “reply” feature.  Before you know it people will be following you if you actively participate, set aside a little time each day to send out a few “tweets” it doesn’t have to take up a lot of your time, and is another way to promote yourself and connect with like-minded people.

Related Post:

Using Twitter to Promote Your Book

[Update January 31,  2010, I have removed the word “fre….g” from the title of this post, cannot change it in the url, I am a rather innocent person when it comes to some words that refer to things that are indecent in nature, and quite embarrassed, so forgive me for the oversight…this post is about an event promoting preserving the earth, “going green”.]

I’ve learned a new European term or two today when reading about the Glastonbury Festival, and have had a bit of fun doing so.  One of those terms is “fag butts”, hmm, I’m thinking, what could that mean?  So I did searches on Google and Bing, and found that they are used butts of cigarettes that can either be nicely disposed of, or thrown on the ground causing an unsightly mess.  One thing leads to another, and I find myself reading about Green Police and looking at pictures like the one to the right.

It’s all kind of funny, the way they are handling the whole “going green” concept in the UK, they are doing it with humor and more through the Save the World Club. The group is an active one! There are lists of events throughout the year, but a big one that is coming up is the Glastonbury Festival which approaches conserving the environment and preserving our natural resources in a fun way. You will need a Green Police application as soon as possible…and if you haven’t a clue about who the Green Police are, you will find a lot to read and learn about that, too. I think this sounds like a cause worth getting behind, and like the idea that it’s done all in good fun.

Raj Patel tackles the subject of saving the planet….but maybe not the way you’re thinking, more like saving the planet from financial devastation.

The news is full of talk about big government, government overspending, the desire for government to be by the people and for the people, and not the people being controlled by the government. Raj Patel shares a refreshing perspective on how people need to organize themselves in ways so that we the people, not the governments, can decide how to share our world and it’s resources. The book “The Value of Nothing” with a big zero the cover, which fittingly opens with Oscar Wild’s quote “nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing,” is available now…you can find out much more about it through any of the links in this post. Be sure to listen to the author on the video below.

As a matter of fact, you may just be able to win a copy of the book.

Other books by the author include such compelling titles as “Stuffed and Starved: Markets, Power and the Hidden Battle for the World’s Food System”, “Promised Land: Competing Visions of Agrarian Reform”; “Food Rebellions: Crisis and the Hunger for Justice” and “Voices of the Poor: Can Anybody Hear Us”.

According to his son, the author, who lived a rather reclusive life, died at the age of 91 of natural causes in his New Hampshire home.

I remember Catcher in the Rye being a subject of controversy, one of those books that my parents didn’t want me to read, it was about a rebellious teenager during the 1950’s (I was born in 1951) and had things in it they didn’t think I needed to fill my mind with.  I did eventually read it, and I suppose they were right.  Filling the mind with a story about a character, Holden Caulfield, who tended to have a self-destructive personality, experienced periods of depression, suffered a nervous breakdown, could be fairly vulgar at times, and explored sex, to name a few things, was probably not the best thing to be filling my mind with…and to imagine what teens are filling their minds with now…well don’t suppose I want to go there right now, that’s a subject for another day.

The book is still widely read today, I think (but am not sure) it may even be on reading lists, and read as part of English classes in public schools.

The author chose to live a life out of the public eye to the extreme, not doing interviews and fighting against biographical writings about his life.  That life has now ended at the age of 91.

Because of their weight, books are not easy to move.  This may be a good argument for downloading eBooks or audio books to your MP3, but many of us love “old fashioned” books with pages that you turn, one by one, each page bringing us along on a journey, or teaching us, guiding us.  Someone who has a large home with a beautiful collection of books is going to want to find the best moving help that they can…someone who will appreciate your love for your collection, pack it with care, and make sure the books arrive safely to their new home.

But before the movers come, here’s a few tips to prepare your books for moving:

1. Go through your collection and weed out books that you know you will never read, donate them, give them away, or sell them, depending upon their age and value.
2. For very valuable books, wrap in bubble wrap or brown paper
3. Pack so that one book will not damage another on the side of the book that opens
4. Pack similar sized books in the same box, it will be easier to arrange them
5. Don’t forget to mark the box with what is in them (books) and what room they will go in.
6. It may be best to have movers pack the books for you, but if you pack the boxes, make the weight reasonable.

If you are moving, and many are these days, we wish you the best!

I want to take a moment to introduce you to a site a friend is putting together related to books called “eBook Tree Saver“, a nice name for a site, because of the paperless nature of ebooks.  It’s still under construction, but I like the concept.  eBooks, and audio books alike are paperless, and save trees.

Right now she has a partial listing, including free ebooks, some nice recipe ebooks and more, so take a look and see what you think.  Bookmark it, as it is still under construction with lots more to come!

Reading is not one of my husband’s favorite things to do.  If he has read through even one book in our 30+ years of marriage, I’d be surprised.  He loves working on a computer, but even e-books aren’t his favorite thing.  For a little while, years before there were mp3 players, he took an interest in books on tape, audio books, they are still available that way sometimes.  More often they are in the form of a CD, but the thing that really finally grabbed him was the ability to upload audio books to his new iPod, now he is a listening “reader”.  But I still don’t think an audio-book is something I’d be inclined to buy him for the big day coming up next month, Valentines Day.

So here I am in my usual dilemma as to what to give him as a gift, this time for Valentines Day.  I’ve purchased him watches in the past, and he doesn’t have one now.  He’s partial to pocket watches as he doesn’t like something on his arm unless it’s very comfortable.  I’m guessing that if I were to get him something really nice, it would have to be something like a Seiko kinetic Men’s watches, something with bells and whistles because he does like things with gadgets or extras. I did take a look at the Seiko watches, they were nice, but knowing my husband I looked through the many styles along the left of the page and found pocket watches, then I saw there was one made by the Swiss Army Knife people. That’s one that may interest him. The prices were sharply cut, almost so low that I was suspicious…so I read through the faq and liked what I saw, and think you might, too.

Wishing you fun as you shop for Valentines Day for the special person in your life.

Sponsored, please see my disclosure policy.

No, I haven’t written a book, publication or article, but I have been doing a good bit of writing to benefit Haiti.  Since I heard my first report about the earthquake, I put together a site called Natural Disaster Relief - What Can I Do?  Doing this site lead someone to ask me if I would do another that is getting a lot of attention called RocketMoms Help for Haiti.

The second one, RocketMoms Help for Haiti, is a place where anyone who has written what they call a lens on Squidoo can add their lens to a growing list of lenses, all of which benefit Hope for Haiti 100%.

The first lens, Natural Disaster Relief - What Can I Do? is more of a personal site, with information about Haiti and relief organizations.

If you are already writing lenses on Squidoo, please feel free to add your lens at RocketMoms Help for Haiti, if you are not a member of Squidoo, join here.