Apparently I needed an online presence to get my book out to a wider audience. Easier said than done!

I had no presence. Online, that is. I typed my name into the internet browser and found that there was absolutely nothing about me. It all seemed scary… but then the unknown often is.

Is this what people felt when Galileo declared that the world wasn’t actually flat? If I take the leap will I fall off the edge of the world wide web?

Like a modern day explorer, I set out off into the maze. I joined Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. That seemed easy.

Now for a webpage. I heard about WordPress. It seemed straightforward, but it was a minefield of inhospitable terminology. Well, for me anyway. For goodness sake -what on earth is a widget? I got as far as I could on my own and then got stuck. I sought help and luckily, my friend’s son, Theodore knew all about it. After a few pointers I got back on track.

It was exciting to set up my page. Like decorating a new house, I chose colours, pictures and themes. Now what?

I had to write something. What was I going to say? I looked at what other writers were doing. Some were writing about their daily lives. Some wrote stories; others wrote poetry. In fact, people seemed to write just about anything.

Finally, I typed my first post. My finger hovered over the publish button. I moved my hand away. Once I published where would it go? I was invited to make it sticky. What did that mean? Uncertainty and fear plagued me. Like Scarlett O’Hara, in Gone with the Wind, I too decided to think about it tomorrow.  I kept my first draft for a day or two or three.

After a week or so of procrastination, I took a deep breath and  pressed the publish button. Then waited and waited. Nothing. Funnily enough, I was relieved – there was no expectation, no feedback and it didn’t come crashing down all around me.

No news was good news as far as I was concerned so I decided give it another go. My next post was published. I got some likes and then some followers. Then I posted again and again.

It seems so long now since that first post but if you haven’t read it here it is… https://sckarakaltsas.wordpress.com/2015/05/19/the-letters/