Guest blog: Beloved book characters on Twitter
There鈥檚 only one celebrity I regularly check out on Twitter, and that鈥檚 a semi-fictional one. I double up laughing at 鈥�Half-Pint Ingalls,鈥� a tweeter adopting the voice of Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the 鈥淟ittle House鈥� books, who died in 1957.
鈥溾�� isn鈥檛 the only literary character sending out 140-character missives on Twitter. Mystery author Laurie R. King tweets in the voice of , heroine of 鈥淭he Beekeeper鈥檚 Apprentice鈥� and its sequels, for instance. tapped out a few notes, though she鈥檚 apparently gone dormant. (There鈥檚 even another pseudo-Laura Ingalls Wilder, at .) But no one I鈥檝e found even attempts 鈥淗alf-Pint鈥檚鈥� deadpan conversations, a virtual Cuisinart of insouciant, anachronistic humor paired with modern Twitter conventions. References to 鈥淭he Rules鈥� and Swiffers and Banned Books Week scatter her literary trail, along with salt pork and threshers and claim-jumpers.
Half-Pint鈥檚 鈥淭wittergraph鈥� posts began in July of 2008 with the note 鈥淎nything more than 140 characters is a waste of lamp kerosene anyway,鈥� and moved on to unauthorized comments like these:
鈥淗ate covered wagon trips. Playing Travel Bingo to pass the time, but since every bingo space is "PRAIRIE" it's not much fun.鈥�
What am I doing? TWISTING HAY INTO STICKS. Thanks for asking, Twitter!
鈥淚t'd be a riot if I dressed up as a grasshopper plague for Hallowe'en, wouldn't it? Or is that "too soon?"
More than 5,000 people now 鈥渇ollow鈥� her tweets, listing her under categories like 鈥渇unny鈥� and 鈥渞andomly awesome鈥�. It鈥檚 hardly Ashton Kutcher鈥檚 millions, but large enough that I鈥檓 always relieved to see she hasn鈥檛 been shut down by the long arm of whatever legal department guards Wilder鈥檚 legacy. In the sea of PR and 鈥減latform-building鈥� and salesmanship that pervade Twitter, anyone who clearly loves the same characters I love 鈥� and makes me laugh about them in an entirely new way 鈥� is welcome, at least in my book.
Want to hear more? 鈥淗alf-Pint鈥� was interviewed on the website. The American Booksellers Association that author Wendy McClure is the face behind the tweets. McClure explains that she is working on a first-person book exploring Wilder鈥檚 life and fandom.
The laws and customs of Twitter are being figured out in as slow and cumbersome a way as those in the pioneer West, so we can only guess what the future holds for Half-Pint鈥� but there is, at least, now a , Laura鈥檚 daughter (1886-1968), with an account all her own.
Rebekah Denn blogs at eatallaboutit.com.
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