Social Media Spotlight

Thanks for joining me and my fellow writers for:

ЖЖЖ

ЖЖЖ

Good morning! How are you? Please, let me know in the comments how your May went, I'd love to know. I am still pounding out my first draft of the first book in the Sons of the Dead series. Some of the characters are giving me grief, but that's how my characters can be. Especially the "borrowed" ones like Ricoh, Mikkayl's twin brother. I'll have to explain that one of these days, but sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. That is where this month's Quills comes in.

As promised, we're beginning a new Quarterly Quill Feature: Social Media Spotlight. This month, we're talking about Pinterest and what a clever and valuable tool it can be for writers and readers alike. If you've never heard of Pinterest, here's how Wikipedia describes it:

Pinterest is a visual discovery tool that people use to collect ideas for their different projects and interests. People create and share collections (called “boards”) of visual bookmarks (called “Pins”) that they use to do things like plan trips and projects, organize events or save articles and recipes. There is also a like feature to save certain pins that may not fit with a board. The site was founded by Ben Silbermann, Paul Sciarra and Evan Sharp. It is managed by Cold Brew Labs and funded by a small group of entrepreneurs and investors.

I'll let you enjoy what the other Quills Authors have to say and I'll meet you at the end of the piece.

Enjoy!

ROBIN LYTHGOE

Author of As the Crow Flies and two short stories

Robin's Website



Authors + Readers + Pinterest = Connection and Creation

I love Pinterest (http://www.pinterest.com). If you haven’t been to the site, it’s an awesome visual discovery tool. Sometimes I spend more time on the site than is practical, but it’s such a nifty, exciting site for so many reasons: You can admire beautiful pictures, learn amazing things, find heart-warming photos and stories, laugh at memes, and collect all kinds of ideas. ALL kinds.

For readers and writers it’s an excellent place to share ideas.

As an author, I gather visual story research: interesting places and people, buildings, maps, customs… The neat thing about this is that readers can look through these pictures and gain some insight about the world where a book is set. How cool is that? Check out my board for “As the Crow Flies” and you—yes, you!—can see what Crow and Tanris look like. You can see the moors they crossed, and the dragons atop the temple pillars. Go look, I’ll wait. Here’s the link: http://www.pinterest.com/robinlythgoe/novel-as-the-crow-flies/.

I also have inspiration boards for characters, landscapes, armor, castles, dragons (of course), and fantasy-related things. When the reader looks at these pictures I’ve collected, they get a peek into the way I’m thinking. What’s more, they can contribute, too, and get involved in the process of creation. How? Pinterest has it covered. They’ve provided a button at the top of a pin (picture) that says “Send.” Click on it, add a message giving your thoughts (“This would fit as the temple in Hasiq perfectly!”), and type in the author’s name or email address. Voilá. Couldn’t be easier. And many authors have a “follow me on Pinterest” link on their websites, so you can track them down even when they’re using tricky names.

I love looking at the pictures people send to me and hearing their ideas. It’s wonderful to discover how they’re seeing things, and it’s a great help for developing even more stories. So what do you think the Temple of Nadimesh looks like? Show me! I can’t wait to see!

ЖЖЖ

PATRICIA REDING

Author of Oathtaker

Patricia's Website

ЖЖЖ

KRISTIE KIESSLING
Author of the short story Sanguis Dei and the poetry collection: Light and Dark  

I have a bulletin board in my office. One glance at it and I can SEE college class schedules letting me know who is where any time of the day. I don't have to rifle through manilla folders in a file drawer for my dog's next vet appointment. I can always see the flower my daughter made for me when she was ten, the pictures of my kids I don't put in frames, the doohickeys and special things I like to keep in view. I even have an embroidery hoop and one of those magnetic gyro rail toys pinned to it.

My Pinterest boards are like that. If you look at my open boards you will see some of the many and varied things that I like to keep "before my eyes." I use this amazing tool to supplement my writing much the way Robin does (we are partners in this game, after all). I follow many white rabbits and fall down many virtual rabbit holes to leap out in places I never imagined I'd wind up. That is its beauty. As a writer, I see things in my head in brilliant technicolor before I write them down. Sometimes whole stories flash by and I can't type fast enough. I express myself in written words, but I think in images, in scenes and facial expressions and Pinterest helps me capture them. I have always wished that I could let others see just exactly what is in my head. Pinterest lets me do that. It also lets me wander the minds of artists who post their work on their boards. I can utilize their talents to show others how I see things in my stories and promote their work at the same time.

The process of discovery that goes along with the mechanics of saving pins to my boards is akin to working with art directors, special effects geniuses and award winning maestros. I am the producer and Pinterest my secretary. To pin is even easier than saying, "take this down." One image can be a place marker for reams of information. It's free to use and it is absolutely fantastic. I've only just begun to explore the endless realms of possibilities.

As for the trouble I mentioned that my characters are giving me--if you look at the faces of the twin brothers on my Sons of the Dead board, you might understand why.