NOT YOUR USUAL SUSPECTS

A group blog featuring an international array of killer mystery, suspense, and romantic suspense writers. With premises and story lines different from your run-of-the-mill whodunits, we tend to write outside the box. We blog several times a week on all topics relating to romantic suspense and mystery, our writing, and our readers. We welcome all comments and often have guest bloggers. All our authors can be contacted separately, too, using their own social media links.

We find our genre delightfully, dangerously, and deliciously exciting - join us here, if you do too!

NOTE: the blog is currently dormant but please enjoy the posts we're keeping online.


Julie Moffet . Cathy Perkins . Jean Harrington . Daryl Anderson . Nico Rosso . Maureen A Miller . Sandy Parks . Lisa Q Mathews . Sharon Calvin . Lynne Connolly . Janis Patterson . Vanessa Keir . Tonya Kappes . Julie Rowe . Joni M Fisher . Leslie Langtry

Monday, April 29, 2013

My Pinterest Addiction Saves the Day! Again.

There's this little website a few people have heard of....Kidding! It's PINTEREST! My crazy enthusiasm is in direct correlation to my obsession with this site. A friend of mine sent me an invitation to join Pinterest a while back when the site was just getting off the ground. I registered, then left it alone, unsure what to do with such a strange animal.

Then, while on twitter (where I live and breath and haunt) I saw an agent posting links to recipes. I don't cook, but they were pretty pictures - from Pinterest. Then, one of my favorite authors shared pins of funny things that inspired or encouraged her. It got my attention. I wandered back to my account and looked at my very pitiful and mostly empty boards, then left again, but within a few months everywhere I turned was another post, update or tweet about the site and I took the hint. There was something about Pinterest that attracted everyone. I was missing it. So, I gave it another try. (I HATE missing out on things).

I logged in, took a deep breath and started a new board. I gave it a lame title and I searched for things that went with the manuscript I was working on at the time. Four hours later....<-- see what happened there? I had a nice arrangement of things that inspired me and my story. As the days went by, if I struggled with the plot, I looked at the board. I used all the visual clues I saved up to deepen my internal picture of the island where my story takes place. I read the little funnies I thought my characters might say, and I found a renewed vigor in my voice. Now, I'm not completely crediting Pinterest with my success, I mean, I had a little something to do with it...I hope, but that fateful board led me to the completion of my very first cozy mystery novel. That same cozy mystery landed me a gig with Carina Press! Not too bad for a site I didn't know what to do with for months.

As it turns out, I'm a visual person too. Who knew? For years, I've thought of myself as limited to words and imagination. Using a new site to match visuals with my ideas opened doors for me and taught me things about how I think and what I believe and how badly I need new clothes! I now have dozens of pin boards (You can see my Pinterest here) and I've created one for each of the books I started working on. I'd love to share the board for my upcoming cozy, Murder by the Seaside. If your curious about the board that kept me going, that was the one. That's where it all began AND as an added bonus, when the publisher contacted me looking for the tone and feeling of my book - they were putting together a cover. (A COVER!!) I used words as well as possible to answer their questions, and then I pointed them to Pinterest! Hey, my board says things with pictures that I can't always capture in words - at least not without rambling, which I do, as you see :)

If you're on Pinterest, look me up! I love finding new pinning pals to follow :)


9 comments:

Anne Marie Becker said...

I started a Pinterest account months ago, and dabble here and there, but am afraid to get sucked in. LOL I think I'll give it another try! (In fact, I've liked you and repinned several of your fabulous pins. :) )

Thanks for the reminder about this fun tool!

Elise Warner said...

Your post caught my interest and I'm going to take another look at Pinterest. Thanks.

Julie Anne Lindsey said...

Ann Marie! I'm excited to see you on Pinterest too! Thanks for checking out my pins :) (boy did that sound ornery!)

Julie Anne Lindsey said...

Elise! I hope Pinterest will make you smile. It cracks me up or makes me swoon daily :) Enjoy!

Toni Anderson said...

I'm on Pinterest but because I'm visual I try really hard not to hang out there too much! It's beautiful but I get a little freaked out by copyright issues. This is why I try and use my own photos if I can. Of course, this is impossible sometimes because Daniel Craig just won't hold still for the camera :)

Julie Anne Lindsey said...

Toni! I have a secret board full of Stephen Amell (Arrow) photos. I go there when I need a getaway LOL *My Happy Place*

Shelley Munro said...

Great board. I've used Pininterest for a while, but I haven't had time to pin much recently. I've used the boards for inspiration for several of my books.

Marcelle Dubé said...

Wow, Julie -- you've opened a door into another world. I'm not sure I want to go there! Focus, I keep telling myself!

Unknown said...

Before I read this post I had no idea what Pinterest was about, but now I'm going to look into it. Thanks so much for the post!

More Popular Posts