Social media platforms make for an interesting storytelling medium. In the early days of Twitter (now known as X), its limitations—at the time—to text only, 140 characters at a time was an exciting creative outlet. Those limitations became a vehicle for me to develop the story of James Bond the Dog.

I based the account on my beagle, James Bond, and how I imagined the life of an international dog of mystery (incidentally, he truly was international, having lived with me in Paris for a stint). The fictional antics of my K9 spy character came to life over the course of each short post.

What began as a side project I started one weekend became so much larger than I ever could have imagined. For one thing, the account took off. It entertained people and eventually earned me an invitation to speak at a social media conference in Atlanta. It was around the time of this conference that a news crew approached me to do a story about the account. That piece took off, getting picked up by, CBS, CNN and media outlets around the globe. Suddenly, followers from all over the world were tuned into James Bond the Dog, leading to more press and even a TEDx talk.

In addition to having a fun outlet for my own creative writing, this experience taught me a lot. It showed me the power of storytelling, even in the most unexpected of places. Having the ability to communicate back with followers also broadened the type of story this could be. James Bond the Dog always stayed in character while responding to private and public messages. It was also incredible to me how many people reached out at various times and told me that seeing the news story about the account prompted them to sign up for a Twitter account. Those anecdotes came from pockets across the world, showing the power of community and a fun story.