his Dog Ear comes on the end of a bit of a dilemma. Had an interesting thing happen to me (maybe today, maybe a couple of days ago, and remember these blogs are posted well off the actual dates of occurrence). Anyway, the short of it – someone flirted with me, to the point of hitting me up.

I won’t say I didn’t like it.

She was just nice, about my age, and we had a lot of common. Turns out we had youthful shared experiences. So next thing I know, I getting that gentle touch as she made her point, a twinkle in her eyes, all that. And she’s admitting to passions in her youth, which was interesting.

The point was, it occurred in a business where we were alone for a bit of time.

I thought to laugh about it on Facebook or post it to the blog, it was so sweet (I’ll admit, someone taking an interest in you like that puts a spring in your step as you make the door chime tinkle). However, as I drove to my next errand, I realized I couldn’t. Why? Big data.

See, if I said where I was or what we were doing, even hinted about it, data sniffers might pick it up. I’ve read articles on just how good data sniffing tools are, how you might say something of Facebook or a blog that might get picked up at a later date. And I’m not worried that my corporation might throw me out of my job (hell, look at the highjinks our own executives are capable of, and the staggering divorce rates they inflict on their string of exes) (okay, there’s a risk to me here). But I’m not going to risk someone else’s job.

And it’s too bad, since it was a sweet story.

The ironic thing was, my mentioning that I was a writer got her to tell me that someone else (another self-published wonder) had put her into a book of his in a very ribald way. I told her it was a dumb thing for a writer to do. Yes, you might see an archetype you want to use, a person who appears so perfect for your story that you want to put them in. Fine. Just camouflage them and change them but let them muse you, all the same. But don’t tell them.

But that’s even more important now, especially with how much data straining is going on out there. Everything you write (or say – think of Donald Sterling) can be easily captured, duplicated, multiplied, and broadcast. It goes for Facebook, and I’m certain that it goes with self-published books.

When you write, think that someone is capturing every keystroke and looking for ways to make a buck off it.

Because they are.

>>>AT GREAT PERSONAL RISK, I OFFER MY OWN THREE BOOKS HERE. HAVE A LOOK AND TAKE A CHANCE. YOU MIGHT LIKE THEM<<<