Thursday, August 16, 2007

My virtual "stalkers"

So I sign into World of Warcraft last night (from a friend’s house since I still have no internet!), log onto my character Allora, and see that I have in-game mail. I wander over to the mailbox and look inside. The letter says “Moongazer.” Intrigued, I open it. It’s a reader letter from a WoW player who read the book! They looked up my character’s name (who I mention in my bio) on the Armory (where you can find every WoW player by name), figured out what server I was on, then created a character on my server just so they could mail an in-game letter to me to say how much they liked the book. What effort! I was so pleased. I think it’s my favorite fan letter yet!

Okay, but then it gets even weirder. A few minutes later, I suddenly get messaged by DawnGrey. Now, for those of you who haven’t read Moongazer, Dawn Grey is the book’s hero. Yes, another reader has found me. This one is a high school boy who got the book in the Houston airport while waiting for his flight. He read it, loved it and since he’s a WoW player, decided to create a character on my server so he could “meet” me…virtually, of course.

My friends were teasing me that I now have virtual stalkers. But I think it’s kind of cool. I love that people would put that much effort into finding me in-game instead of just being content with sending an email or MySpace message. It really says a lot about the growing online network we’re weaving around our lives and how the world is shrinking. And that I, as a person, can really represent myself and exist in the form of a virtual character. I can “meet” anyone from around the world, face to face.

Mar
PS I also think it's cool that Shomi is enough of a hybrid to interest teenage boys.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is very, very cool that fans would go to that much effort to find you and chat.
Except... I just watched part two of The Guild on You Tube, and I can't decide if WOW online stalking is very very funny or alarmingly creepy.
Here's the link to The Guild part 1 if you haven't seen it before - it's only about 3 minutes, and OMG LOLZERS funny - the mom on Vent with her kids behind the kiddie gate? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grCTXGW3sxQ )

TJ Brown said...

That is so cool...maybe someday I will have virtual stalkers too! (the good kind:)
Teri

Heather R. Holden said...

Very cool. Not every author can say they have a virtual stalker -- and you have two! I'm not surprised, because I recently read Moongazer and loved it.

Unknown said...

I saw the books yesterday ta Walmart and picked it up!!! Its next on mt list and it looks really good. Hah if you have stalkers then this must be a really good book!!
-shantel
charmedshantell@yahoo.com