Oops, I’ve Come to Care About these Virtual People

Author Malcolm R. Campbell created a weblog to make a few dollars and sell a few books and ended up making a lot of friends whose real names he doesn't know.

Jefferson, GA (PRWEB) July 9, 2006 -- When Georgia author Malcolm R. Campbell started a weblog 21 weeks ago in a new blogging community called WritingUp.com, he expected to dish out writing tips and satire while earning a few dollars from the Google ads displayed on the site.

“The blog was just another way of maintaining my writer’s presence on the Internet,” said Campbell. “While I didn’t want to change the world, I thought it would be fun to spin a few yarns, talk about books and writing, and indirectly keep the name of my novel 'The Sun Singer' in the public eye.”

Blogs come in all shapes and sizes, from personal journals, to political and social commentary, to news and opinion. Some are signed and some are anonymous. Some allow readers to add comments and some do not.

The community atmosphere at WritingUp.com encourages bloggers to comment on each other’s blogs, sometimes to the extent that the ensuing dialogue becomes longer than the original messages.

While most WritingUp.com blogs are posted under screen names such as Barely Awake in Frog Pajamas, Believin’, Celebritytalk, Dancelover, Deorre, Familyfunandfaith, Gracepub, Merryone, Keywoman1, Montucky, Pinhole, and Skouba, other bloggers such as Ed Butts, Sharon Hurley Hall and Seth Mullins use their real names.

“I picked the name ‘Trick Falls,’” said Campbell. “It’s an obscure waterfall name in Glacier National Park that I used to visit as well as a good pseudonym for my satire and parody posts. My trickster nature tends to attract double entendre names like that.”

Readers logging onto WritingUp.com will find the usual variety of material: political rants, personal stories, commentary about books and movies, how-to articles on a wide variety of subjects, philosophical speculation, and writing tips.

The WritingUp.com book group discussed Campbell’s quest adventure novel “The Sun Singer” in June. Campbell will lead a discussion of Oregon author Seth Mullins’ mythic epic “Song of an Untamed Land” in August. The group has also delved into “My Antonia,” “On the Road,” and “The Boys From Brazil.” The readership numbers for the book discussions are very high.

“I didn’t intend to become involved in a virtual family,” said Campbell. “True, I don’t know the real names of most of them, but I know what they think and feel about a lot of things. They began as a diverse collection of crazy screen names. Then, one day, it dawned on me: oops, I’ve come to care about these virtual people.”

About "The Sun Singer"

"The Sun Singer" (ISBN: 0595316654) was published by iUniverse June 24, 2004 as a 320-page trade paperback. The mountain adventure novel, which was a named finalist in the 2005 ForeWord Magazine “Book-of-the-Year Awards,” is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and booksamillion.com, and can be ordered by neighborhood bookstores.

Campbell’s address is: http://www.writingup.com/blog/trick_falls

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