NOTE: In the spirit of full disclosure, this was originally posted on my website Who We Are and How We Got This Way on February 23, 2023. I forgot about it, so I’m pretty sure if you read it, you did too!
In February 2023 I participated in Lynn Palermo‘s Family History Writing Challenge. Lynn, a writing and accountability coach challenged us to write something—anything—each day for the 28 days of February.
Recently, I was cleaning up my hard drive and I came across my submission for February 23. The prompt that day was:
Imagine it’s a hundred years in the future and an archeologist has somehow discovered the entire contents of your digital life. . Write a scene that reveals what the archeologist learns about you as a result of the digital footprint you left behind.
My hairdresser was running late that day, so I passed the time by responding to the writing prompt. I completely forgot I wrote that little piece. Now that I’ve found it, I’m posting it here for your enjoyment. Perhaps it will be a foreshadowing of my success as an author!!
“What is it with this one? Dollhouses, genealogy, meal prep kits, travel, writing, snarky Facebook posts, hamsters… man, she’s all over the map- as they used to say!” Phillipe, the newest cataloguer at the Library of Congress, pressed the screen on the tabletop, closing the site, Who’s Who in American Literature.
“You’re nowhere near done,” said his supervisor, Anise. “Make sure you check the Wayback Machine on archive Internet Archive. She may have some old sites hanging around cyberspace.”
Phillipe drew a deep breath and moved to a more comfortable location, an enclosed pod chair. He settled back into the upholstery and switched on the speakers located just above and behind his head. It was bound to be a long night. His newest assignment, known most often by the name Deborah Samuel Holman, seemed to pop up all over the Internet. He voiced her other names aloud, causing the computer screen to pop up from the floor of the pod. “Deb Holman, Debbie Samuel, Deborah S, Holman, Deborah Joan Samuel.” Geez, he thought, how many names does she go by?
He started with Facebook. Three accounts – a personal page, some food thing called What’s for Dinner, a profile for Petite Princess Books, and an association with the Jewish Genealogical Association of Connecticut. Phillipe made cursory examinations of all the Facebook profiles, spending the most time on her personal page. “What a goody-two shoes,” he said aloud. Why do I always get the boring assignments? He almost closed out of Facebook when he saw another profile listed for his subject, Nothing Really Bad Will Happen. Ha! This might be more interesting, he thought, clicking on the link. Instead of some incriminating information about her life, which is what he hoped for, the profile turned out to be an accounting of her progress writing one of her most famous novels. It was about the Holocaust, an awful period in world history. No need to examine that further, he thought. Everyone knows the story. That novel had secured the author her own place in history, the reason he was now cataloging her entire digital presence.
He next visited the YouTube site hosted on the Wayback Machine. In 1997 and 1998, she appeared on TV with her family several times, all on some obscure reality shows. He clicked on what seemed the most interesting, Wild Rescues, a long-defunct TV show on something called cable TV. Her family was saved by a hamster? Phillipe looked at the clock. No time to watch this now. He voiced a message to watch later and heard the ding in his ear, indicating a reminder had been recorded on his calendar. Better check the other shows, he thought. Clicking through,he noted she appeared on some show about miracles hosted by famous singer Melissa Etheridge and something called a “Talk show,” with a man called Maury Povich.
“Did you check that old search engine, um… what was it called… Google?” asked Anise, popping her head into his pod.
“Um… just about to,” he replied, trying to hide his annoyance. I know I’m new, but geez, give me time! He input all the variations of the name he was researching, careful to always add the search term Connecticut to focus the results on his intended subject. 4,970 hits. He was right. It was going to be a long night!
Since writing that piece, my novel has been published and I am beginning to fight through the remnants of “imposter syndrome.” (See my post about that here.)
I am far cry from being a New York Times Bestseller, but I’m pretty happy with the response to my book thus far.
Follow this blog as I continue on my adventure. I plan to post a variety of content of interest to both writers and readers. And, as always, thanks for joining me on my journey!
deborahsholman.com 
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