Pinterest

I’ve always been a bit dubious about getting involved with Pinterest, at least from a writing perspective.  I’ve got nothing against the site, and I think somewhere to pin pictures is a good idea.

My initial reservation was about time; whether I would be able to make it worthwhile alongside all the other social media writers are expected to use.  Having played around with the site, I don’t think that’s an issue with Pinterest.  Most social media demands regular status updates.  Pinterest doesn’t once the initial uploads are there.

My next reservation was whether I would find it useful – or perhaps more importantly, whether readers would gain anything from it.

Anyway, Pinterest may or may not be helpful, but I’ve decided to take the plunge regardless.  Here’s a link to my boards: http://www.pinterest.com/andrew0609/

So, what am I using Pinterest for?  How can pictures help a writer?

Well, the obvious is to have a ‘board’ (folder) for my book covers.  I’ve already put one together, here.

I have a board for each of my books, too (or, at least, that’s the long-term plan.  At the moment there are only boards for a few of them):

Snuff

The Doe and the Dragon

Dana’s Children

Each board contains pictures of my settings.  I often write historical novels, and pictures of the archaeology or of the sometimes obscure locations (particularly my favourite, remote north Wales) can, I hope, give readers an idea of what the places look like.  Photos of roundhouses, for example, can show where and how the Celts appearing in many of my stories, lived.  In short, I hope pictures on my boards will help readers get inside my imagination.

A lot of writers also use Pinterest to give readers pictures of their characters.  These are often photographs of people – film stars, models etc – who look like how authors imagine their characters appearing.  I do that for my own purposes – I’ve have various pictures on my computer, and I think it’s amazing how something minor in a picture – a mole, or the shape of glasses, or a hairstyle – can give me ideas to put in a story.  However, as a lot of my characters meet grizzly ends I don’t feel comfortable sharing pictures of real people I’m inflicting pain and suffering on, so my Pinterest boards don’t include characters.

Snuff’s Publisher: Damnation Books

Snuff’s contracts have been signed and exchanged, so I can now announce that the novel’s publishers will be…

Damnation Books

I’ve been with Damnation Books before; they published ‘The Torridon Witches’ last year and I’m delighted to continue.

Damnation’s sister publisher, Eternal Press, published two of my other works, ‘The Wood’ and ‘The Shoot’, a few years back.

A big thank you to Kim and her colleagues at Damnation for taking on yet another Richardson!

Acceptance – ‘Snuff’

I’m delighted to announce another novel acceptance!

‘Snuff’ is a story of two archaeologists: Shauna and Tessa are kidnapped and forced to take part in fights to the death for a paying audience. 

Although the story is violent – given the subject matter it has to be to work – I tried very hard to make it a plotted novel about a struggle to survive and overcome impossible odds, rather than simply ‘splatter’.

As usual, I’ll refrain from naming the publisher until contracts are signed.  However, it’s a house I’ve worked with before and I’m very happy to be with again, so I don’t foresee any problems.

‘Snuff’ is actually a story I wrote several years ago, but it’s taken me a long time and three or four rewrites to get it to the tone I wanted.

Many thanks to Philip McCormac, who as usual read an early draft.  Several of his suggestions appear in the revised version.

And now, the editing process begins.  That’ll keep me quiet for a while!