Anyone who knows me in real life knows that I am not someone who ever spends a great deal of time on social media. I’m the type of person who knits a close group of friends, who stays away from conflict and controversial issues, and who hates having to type out anything on the phone. Yet… here I am, now juggling accounts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and a website to boot.

I thought about writing about my journey up to this point, for those who might want to listen, or for those who might be following a similar path.

I treated my entry into this online world like a person who dips their toe into a frigid lake. Eventually, it started to feel more like going for a swim on a warm, crowded beach.

It might surprise you that I made it a rule not to invite anyone I knew in real life to follow me as JF Marshal. I had decided that I wanted to keep those two worlds separate. For this reason, I didn’t get to hop on Twitter with an instant hundreds of followers. Though a couple of friends did catch on and manage to track me down, that number has remained the same as of my writing this post.

 On that first day when I set up the accounts, I went through what I felt was a mundane task of following celebrities and topics that interested me. Next, I thought, ‘Well, I guess it’s time to say hello and send out my first tweet’. What surprised me was the feeling I got when I got my first follower. Again, this wasn’t a friend or anyone I knew, but just someone who saw the picture of my painting that I posted, and who thought I was worth thumbing the follow button.

Exhilaration. I went to my fiancée and began singing, ‘Honeeyyy I got a follower!’

‘Oh, that’s awesome! Who is it?’

‘Some photographer.’

She replied with a brief bewildered look, but smiled again and cheered me on.

The next ‘achievement’ was to have a celebrity follow me. Anna Smith Spark, the author of The Court of Broken Knives, was that celebrity. She might not identify as one, but I say so since I own one of her books (do you think I have the bar too low?).

 The cover and title was all it took for me to want that book.

Then, I stumbled upon a community. The #writingcommunity was the gateway to an online Shire of writers, I finally found a foothold where I could meet others like me (and very unlike me too—which was equally fantastic), and form a web of relationships in the world of authors. I got to connect with interesting people, learn about struggles akin to mine, and pitch in to help others where I could. A steady stream of new followers came next, who I followed back not only out of gratitude, but also to support their interesting works. To any aspiring author, I recommend you join this community; everyone is welcoming and supportive.

Welp, I think I will leave it here for now. I only wanted to share with you that first couple of steps, and I hope that you liked it.