Even Cooler Than Face and Space

I don’t like January. Some people, usually gym-rat types who have half an ounce of holiday weight to lose, find the month stimulating and exciting as they embark on new regimes of health and fitness and perfection. To me, January is cold, dark and isolating. After all the excitement and warmth of friends and family during the holidays, suddenly it’s just you and your Snuggie, or in my case, several oversized cats laid strategically across my body, trying to keep warm as you peck away at your keyboard and listen to the freezing rain pelting against your window.

Thanks to our fabulous webmaster, Greg Fishbone however, January 2009 will be different! Greg has not only upgraded and relaunched our website at www.nescbwi.org, but he has added MY NESCBWI, a brand new online social networking site just for children’s writers. It’s like having a seat at our Whispering Pines Retreat or the Spring Conference without risking your life on ice-slick roads. You can pop in for a minute, or you can spend hours wandering around, adding images, text and friends to your page or chatting and blogging.

Facebook and MySpace are okay, but I am absolutely fascinated with MY NESCBWI. Once I signed on, which was easy, I was able to customize my own MY NESCBWI page with images, text, friends, blog posts, and events. I was able to connect up with other friends that had already joined and invite others who weren’t members to come by and visit. MY NESCBWI also has discussion forums, a countdown to the Spring Conference up in Nashua and a place to form groups, including critique groups, book discussion groups, professional development groups, genre groups, or any other kind of group you can think of.

So stop by, look me up and check out the photos of inspirations for past columns, like the Deranged Hydrangea, and the Renaissance Faire, leave a message, start a group, start a discussion and enjoy networking and socializing in your Snuggie! Get Thee Behind Me, January!!!