Thank You, My Internet Friends

It’s my birthday and I’m allowed to be emotional today.

I wanna talk about the gift that the internet provides. That’s connection, in one word.

Sure, it might distance us from some people. I’d argue that it would have happened anyway, that’s a different chat for another time. But it also brings people together, people who wouldn’t have ever met otherwise.

Writing a story and sharing with others is always scary. ALWAYS. I don’t care if you’re George RR Martin or Stephen King, there’s always a wrenching feeling, a pit in the stomach when you publish.

Because it’s intimate. In RPGs, crafters spend experience points when they make something, because they pour part of their soul inside the item. This is exactly what writing something is like. A little piece of me, my life, my feelings, my experiences, tied in a neat little bow, naked for the world to see.

I’m not complaining for my real-life friends, because we’ve carved an Athens Science Fiction Club that is having lots of fun every time we meet. But without them, I’d have no one else to share my stories with. And if I didn’t have the internet, I don’t think I would. Half of the sci-fi stories are what-if scenarios, so I sometimes wonder what I’d do if I lived in a time without the internet. I’d probably do something very different, definitely not this. Maybe I’d be a blacksmith. Still creating stuff.

I put out the audiobook version of my first novel, and it came back with some nice reviews. I got an email from a fan who says he wants more Eris in his life (So do I, PK. So do I.) I put up stories in my patreon and people pay actual money to read them before anyone else.

I love this thing.

But yeah, the internet brings people together in nice little groups. Interests, hobbies, kinks, all together, all over the world. Put your stuff out there so that it serves as a beacon for others to find you.

Dare to put it out there. Actually completing something is half the task. Dare to show your favourite things. Show your internet friends that which inspires you, and they will show you theirs.