Tolkien's Birthday Toast, and Insecure Writer's Procrastination

elcome to the first Insecure Writer's Support Group of the new year!

Today, I've got two items for insecure writers - like myself.

The first is a toast, to an accomplished author, linguist, subcreator, and so much more.

A toast, to The Professor!

The toast works like this: "On the 3rd January 1892, J. R. R. Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa. To celebrate this event, on this day each year Tolkien fans around the world are invited to raise a glass and toast the birthday of this much loved author at 21:00 (9 pm) your local time.

The toast is "The Professor".

For those unfamiliar with British toast-drinking ceremonies: To make the Birthday Toast, you stand, raise a glass of your choice of drink (not necessarily alcoholic), and say the words 'The Professor' before taking a sip (or swig, if that's more appropriate for your drink). Sit and enjoy the rest of your drink."

You can join in by filling out the entry form. I'll be having a wee dram of Lagavulin.

My second feature is... writers' procrastination tools! Sure, why not? Before we all set our goals for the year ahead, we can take a short break. There are a lot of procrastination opportunities nowadays, especially online...

I've got ten boards on my Pinterest so far. I do try to keep it mostly writing and reading related, but cats will creep in...

Of course, I never started out trying to make my tumblr writing-related. Though I do post character images and inspiration, a lot of the time there are Neil Gaiman and Doctor Who images on there. Or images from vacations. How can one resist?

also Oreos...

Twitter has been lots more fun than I expected! I thought, at first, that it would be a major time waster, which is why I avoided it for so long. Then I friend gave me her old iPod (my first apple product!) and the first thing I did was join Twitter. I must say, it's a lot easier to keep track of it on a separate, dedicated device, without having to check in on the computer. And authors will reply to you!

This has left less time for Facebook, but I'm happy to say I haven't played that ridiculous farm game since last summer. I'll play Scrabble with you, though, if you like!

Which ones are your favourite online procrastination tools?

Or have you already started on your writing and reading goals?