An Interest in Pinterest

Debbie Millman

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: Back in March, we had Glenn Miller (not the "In the Mood" composer) as a guest on Jungle Reds, discussing “Social Media Profiles for Writers.” His post was about authors and bloggers using social media — namely Google+, Goodreads, and Amazon — to promote their work.

But what about the social media we do simply because we enjoy them? I like Facebook and come around to Twitter — but one social media platform I adore is Pinterest. Now, I don’t think I’m reaching all that many people — and I certainly don’t think I’m selling any books there.

No, Pinterest is just for me. (See my boards here, if you'd like.) 

And as the writer of the Maggie Hope historical mysteries, set during World War II, it's been invaluable.

Gosia Herba

First, I love being able to post all sorts of different pictures to a board. I have one board per novel, and when I find a particularly inspiring photograph, I pin it. Later, when looking for inspiration, or just to immerse myself in that world, it’s wonderful to have the images (of maps, flags, ephemera, drawings, photographs, you name it) all in one place. 

Susan Elia MacNeal

One image, a door knocker that I snapped a photo of in Berlin, was instrumental in inspiring a lot of the cat and mouse imagery I used in Maggie Hope #3, HIS MAJESTY'S HOPE. 

(Here's the whole board.)

SEM

To the left is a photograph I took in Scotland of Arisaig House, where the real World War II SOE spies trained before being dropped by parachute in Europe. It's the setting for much of Maggie Hope #4, THE PRIME MINISTER'S SECRET AGENT. 

Robert Heindel

And this is a photograph of a ballet dancer I felt expressed the beauty and eeriness of the two ballerinas  whose murders Maggie Hope investigates in the novel. (My board for upcoming THE PRIME MINISTER'S SECRET AGENT here.)

White House Christmas Tree Lighting 1941

Since my work-in-progress, Maggie Hope #5, MRS. ROOSEVELT'S CONFIDANTE, takes place in Washington, D.C. during the 1941 holiday season, this image has become something of a touchstone for me — the 1941 White House Christmas Card. 

I also love this sketch of the Mayflower Hotel (where some of Churchill's staff stayed):

Ingrid Thompson

Here's shot I took of a detail of the floor of the lobby of the Willard Hotel:

SEM

Also inspiring is the original Wonder Woman, who made her debut in 1941. (Entire board is here.)

H.G. Peter

Amber Interior Design

I also like the other boards, that have nothing to do with writing. Home décor has been useful. With the addition of the Kiddo and now Miss Edna moving in, we’ve been redoing rooms. Pinning different images has helped me figure out what exactly I like and how to research it. 

Lupita Nyong'o

And I have a board for fashion which is a bit of a joke (I'm happiest in sweats and tee-shirts) — but I love it because it's not the images fashion magazines are trying to sell me, but photos I find personally inspiring. 

Zandra Rhodes

And, of course, I have a board for Books, which includes favorites, amazing covers (many out-of-print), and images of readers, bookstores, and libraries. 


And the Art board is my favorite. This discovery was surprising to 

Olaf Hajek

me — I started by simply pinning images that caught me eye. But, in time, themes emerged: Women swimming, "outsider art," ravens, surrealism, hearts, eyes, hands, books, dancers, street art, installations, illustrations, the Virgin Mary, cocktails, foxes, mice, cats, white rabbits, Alice in Wonderland… 

What does it mean?

I don’t know what — if anything. Except now I’m more aware of themes and motifs that attract me and their possible meanings — fragments of dreams I might not recognize otherwise.

And so Reds and lovely readers, do you use Pinterest? 

Are there any themes you think might emerge for you? 

Would creating a board of images (online or a literal collection of photos and clippings) help your writing? Your life?

Tell us what you think!

Nancy Martin Confesses

Jan Brogan:   As most of you already know, Nancy Martin is the highly successful and prolific author of nearly fifty popular fiction novels, including the Blackbird Sisters mystery series and the Roxy Abruzzo mysteries.   Publisher's Weekly called her  latest release, No Way to Kill a Lady,"a fizzy, entertaining adventure."  Margaret Maron says:  "Nancy Martin knows the inner workings of blue-blooded Philadelphia and she lets us in on the fun with style and panache.”


And if you are the lucky commenter today, chosen at random, Nancy will send you a free copy of her new book!  The one lucky winner will be announced tomorrow!

NANCY MARTIN: At the risk of offending the Reds, I’d like to talk about . . . pink

Specifically the idea of posting 50 Shades of Pink on my Facebook page every day for the 50 days leading up to the release of the new Blackbird Sisters Mystery, NO WAY TO KILL A LADY.  I am always scrambling for something to post on Facebook, but one day I realized I had exactly 50 days, and of course 50 Shades hit me right away.  I mean, who hasn’t heard of the 50 Shades of Gray?

C’mon, now.  You can ‘fess up.  Have you read it? Any of it?  Even a few pages? Tell Aunt Nancy everything.
Shy?  I’ll get back to you in a minute.

Let me confess:  
The biggest mistake I made when I created the Blackbird sisters was the couture. (You thought I was going to confess something else?)  I knew Nora Blackbird was broke when she took her new job as a society columnist for a Philadelphia rag, and I also knew she’d need great clothes to wear to the parties she attends every night. After considerable stewing, I hit upon the idea of Nora using her late grandmother’s collection of fabulous designer clothes.


Only thing was, I knew ZILCH about designer clothes.  Honestly, the people who make fun of middle-aged ladies who wear yoga pants all the time?  That’s me they’re laughing at. So the research to create a vintage wardrobe for Nora Blackbird has been daunting from the get-go.  I finally hit upon the idea of only using dresses that actually existed, which has made my task slightly easier.  I have books about Chanel, and I adore Diana Vreeland’s autobiography, DV. My subscription of Vogue is now tax deductible, and I scour the Metropolitan Museum’s fashion department often. 


Over the last ten years (since the release of HOW TO MURDER A MILLIONAIRE, the first book in the series) I’ve become surprisingly good at identifying the work of top designers.  I don’t wear it, mind you, but I can identify it.


My readers really enjoy Nora Blackbird’s clothes—more than I expected. I get fan mail from around the world about the duds. So during the final 50 days before the release of the new book, I have posted 50 pink dresses to whet the appetites of the readers who have been rattling my cage for a new Blackbird book. (I put the series on hiatus back in 2008.) If you want to see the pink dresses, go to my Pinterest page:  http://pinterest.com/nanmart1/50-shades-of-pink/


Another confession:  I love Pinterest.  It feeds my urge to make ideas visual.  I wish I could paint or take decent photography, but I can’t.  I know what I see in my head, though, so Pinterest http://pinterest.com/  has become my latest addiction.

Third confession:  Back in the day when I wrote romance novels (almost 40) I read a lot of erotica so I could keep things . . . er . . . fresh.  I still have Anais Nin here on my shelf, and the Nancy Friday SECRET GARDEN book about female fantasies is around here somewhere. (I got creeped out, though, in the chapter about German shepherds.  I think I have a relatively open mind, and I believe people should do whatever floats their boats as long as nobody gets hurt, but the dog thing . . . nope, I couldn’t see it.)



Surrender the pink?  Sure, if that’s the way you roll, why not? Bondage, though, weirds me out. I have a true shrieking abhorrence of anything resembling torture, so bondage is outside my comfort zone. Which is why I’m really not going to buy 50 SHADES OF GRAY.  (I did download the sample on my iPad.  But for the first 50 pages nothing happened, and if there’s anything I learned from writing romance novels it’s this: Stuff has to happen and happen fast or your reader gets bored.)

My daughter points out that her generation feels differently about bondage.  To those young ladies, getting tied up may be a welcome rest after a long day.  They have high-pressure careers, maintain long-distance friendships and take care of family, too—so they are relieved that somebody else takes charge in the bedroom. (Nancy Friday’s theory was that women fantasized about bondage because if they were tied up, they couldn’t be blamed for enjoying the sex forced upon them.  Back then, good girls felt guilty about having fun in bed. Boy, have times changed, or what?)


Another lesson learned from writing romance? Women like their sex in print, so when I set out to write the Blackbird Sisters Mysteries, I knew I had to appeal to my longtime romance readers with a few racy bits. (Which is probably why my books have never really been embraced by diehard mystery readers.) Now--even more than the clothes--readers write to me about Nora’s love life. There’s definitely pink in Nora’s world.

So tell me.  What’s your opinion about sex in mysteries? Yea? Or Nay?
And if you’ve read 50 Shades of Gray? Tell me your theory of its appeal, but here’s absolutely the most hilarious review of it:  http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/340987215 Don’t have a mouthful of coffee when you watch, trust me.

Pick your favorite pink dress, too, would you? Dior? Givenchy? Versace? Or Michelle Obama’s simple sheath dress from Banana Republic? How do you roll?



NO WAY TO KILL A LADY, the 8th book in the Blackbird Sisters Mystery Series, will be released next week, on August 7th.  A few years ago, Jennifer Crusie said, “Great clothes, great mystery, great fun.”  A blurb that still makes me happy!
Find Nancy Martin on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authornancymartin 
Her website:  http://www.nancymartinmysteries.com 

On Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/nanmart1/ 
But not on Twitter, because the whole tweeting thing just isn’t sexy. 

Social Media Round-Up

LUCY BURDETTE: Don't you sometimes feel like you're in a whirling dervish of social media snippets, with no idea about how it really works or why? I sure do. I have a fan Facebook page and a personal page and a Twitter account and now I've arrived on the Pinterest scene.

I feel like I'm always a step behind on Facebook and Twitter, though I gamely march on. But Pinterest-I love it! I was a little worried about signing on because other writers warned about how addictive it can be. And it does take a little work to set up your boards, but after that, it's just fun for me. Here's a helpful link from Janet Boyer about how to think about marketing through Pinterest. But honestly it seems like it could be great for brainstorming, or sharing recipes, or remembering and organizing events and ideas that might otherwise get lost.

So I'd love to get your thoughts about what kind of social media you love (or hate) and why. And I've asked a few of our other writing pals to comment too.

KRISTA DAVIS: I'm enjoying Pinterest because it's one-step communication. There are no messages to return. I don't have to check to see what everyone pinned that day. If I skip it for a week, nothing bad happens. It's not like I missed anything. Yet, I can convey messages with simple images. I'm having fun adding the covers of my books as well as my friends' books. I've even started a file for photos that correspond to a book that's coming out soon. Wendy Watson had the brilliant idea of adding a Pinterest button to Mystery Lovers' Kitchen. Such a great idea. Now people can pin photos of our covers and recipes without worrying about copyright issues.

RHYS BOWEN: Oh, Lucy and Krista--I don't think I could find another moment to start any new form of social media. Already in my in=box is a long line of people wanting to connect with me on Linked-in. I have yet to find the value for me of Linked-in. Or of Goodreads. Or of Red Room. But they all communicate with me, demanding time and attention.

I'm a big Facebook fan. I love the instant connection with fans and friends. When I broke my wrist a year ago I got 300 messages of sympathy within a few minutes, advice on how to scratch within the cast and ten different people offered to type my manuscript for me.

I do tweet although I've yet to see the correlation between tweets and selling more books. I write my personal blog about twice a week and of course good old Jungle Red. Oh, and when I find the time, I write two books a year as well!

LUCY: so Krista, now you're the princess of Pinterest, but you're also the Twitter queen. How's that going? Any late-breaking tips or warnings?

KRISTA: LOL! No warnings, but I'm seeing a lot of agents, editors, and publishers using Twitter these days. Authors should look up their publishers and be sure to include them with an @ on important tweets about releases and reviews. The same goes for agents and editors. They have some impressive follower numbers.

SHEILA CONNOLLY: Actually I'm finding Pinterest kind of fun, too, because you can do whatever you want with it. Although my in-depth survey indicates that the most popular items are...cat pictures. Hey, that's easy--I've got plenty of cute cat pictures, and more coming all the time.

As a battle-scarred veteran of the Media Wars, I have seen all too many
social media variations surge to the fore, with hordes of adoring fans
stampeding to jump on them, only to watch them fall by the wayside when the Next Big Thing comes along in a week or a month. It's hard to get too excited about any one of them.

Just go with the cat pictures--works every time.

HALLIE EPHRON: I know I'm in trouble when cat pictures are required. I still don't tweet, and now here's something else that I don't do. I will, I will... or so I keep telling myself. Still love Facebook.

LUCY: So tell us, how do you think about posting to facebook Hallie?

HALLIE: I think of it as the beast that needs to be fed. Honestly? It's a guilty pleasure. I post in there just about daily. The friend page AND the fan page. And catch up with what friends are up to. It's one more way that people can find me, which is not a bad thing.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I love Facebook. I post on my public page almost every day, often just about things I think are interesting, rather than all about my books. I love getting comments and feedback, and I love keeping up with what other people are doing as well.

I am tweeting, but have to admit I don't like it as much. It seems overwhelming, and impersonal. But I keep trying, because it does seem to be the big promotional thing these days. (Although someone told me recently at a book event that their publicist said Facebook was much more important. And a fellow author at my publisher said they were told not to tweet, while I've been encouraged to do so... Hmmm.) I signed up for Pinterest, but forgot my password. I haven't looked at Linked-In for months and months, even though it seems like I get invitations to link every day. And I'm dreadful about posting regularly on my own blog.

It's all just too much, and I think you have to choose what works best for you. AND I'd really like to WRITE MY DAMNED BOOK.

ROSEMARY HARRIS: I need a tutorial on facebook public versus facebook profile. I'm dangerously close to advertising on craigslist for an expert. I like fb more than twitter. I love retweeting other people's fun tweets but don't see myself sitting aroiund creating soundbites so that people will retweet mine - and apparently that's the way to get people to follow.

And I love Sharing when other people have good news - it's such a positive thing to do!

LUCY BURDETTE: But Ro, you've got over 7000 fans--you must be doing something right! How about you all? What's your take on social media?