New Release from Ruth Cardello!

Ruth Cardello is an amazing author and will hopefully becoming more involved with Kentucky Independent Writers in the future.  It was so exciting to listen to her speak about her experience as an independent author and I couldn't be happier to share a sneak peek at her latest release! 

He paused and shook his head. Jeisa slid beneath one of his arms again to help steady him.  The heat from his body spread like a wildfire through her own. Jeremy was all man now and everywhere their bodies touched, Jeisa felt just how much he’d changed.  The strong arm draped across her shoulders no longer felt like it belonged to a man who spent his life behind a computer. Boxing was only a small piece of Jeremy’s plan to physically transform himself.  He’d started running and lifting weights very soon after they’d met.  Jeisa hadn’t thought it was necessary… But oh, the results were nice.

He stumbled as they walked. Her hand flew up to steady him, coming to a rest in the middle of his hard chest and she felt him catch his breath. 

Is he thinking what I’m thinking?

No, no, no, she thought frantically.

Unlike me, Jeremy has always been painfully honest.

Remember that he’s doing all of this to win the heart of a woman.

Another woman.

As in, not me.

Her body didn’t care. She looked past the swelling and the blood and all she could see were his beautiful, sexy blue eyes. They paused for what seemed an eternity and she couldn’t look away.

What would it be like to be loved by a man who is willing to do anything to win your heart?

You could be yourself with such a man.

Love like that doesn’t follow the rules.

It is sweaty, and passionate, and the stuff that romances are made of.

An odd expression entered Jeremy’s eyes and he straightened away from her, breaking contact. “Jeisa,” he said in a gruff voice, “let’s go home.”

“Yes,” she said, and mentally kicked herself for allowing the lines between employer and friend to blur.  She was part of Jeremy’s life.

Just not in the way she wanted to be.

Pinterest--Hoarding Without the Clutter

Pinterest--Hoarding without the Clutter

Chasity Bowlin for KIW Blog

Social media is an amazing tool for writers.  It allows us to promote our work, to cross promote with other authors, to connect with our readers and to bring our readers together so that they can connect with one another.  Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, the antiquated Myspace, and now Pinterest are ways for us to be more accessible to our readers and also for us to interact with our readers and become more to them than simply the name on the cover/thumbnail.  But in this post, I want to specifically talk about Pinterest and how it can be utilized not just for interaction, but also for inspiration.  

Pinterest is, for me, the internet version of a big, fat, glossy magazine.  It’s like someone took Vogue, Cosmo, Southern Living, Veranda, GQ and a sexy dose of Men’s Health and combined them in one place.  You can search by categories such as food, home, fashion, and about a dozen others.  You can choose to view pins of only those pinners that you follow, or you can choose to see all pins in a totally random fashion.  You can also search for specifics.  For example, you go to the search box and type in Regency Fashion and you’ll find all of these pins of gorgeous gowns with empire waists and daring necklines.  You may then repin that photo of a gown to your own board.   

You can create boards for published works.  You can also create boards for WIP’s.  And as writers, inspiration often strikes in strange and wonderful ways.  Suppose you happen upon a pin of something utterly fabulous that speaks to you, that urges you to tell a story, you can create a board for inspirations.  The truth is you can create a board for anything.   At this point, I’d need five large houses, a warehouse for a closet, and an eating disorder to actually do something with all of the things I have pinned.   If your goal with Pinterest is to attract more followers, I recommend repinning recipes and men.  Nothing lures women to you like good looking men and sinful chocolate.  Memes are also a hot ticket item.  If you can make them laugh, they’ll come back.

The steps to repin photos and create boards are fairly simple.  If you can navigate Facebook, Pinterest will be easy.  You can download a “pin it” button for your toolbar which will allow you to pin photos from other websites, blogs, etc., without having to go into Pinterest first.  You can categorize your pin during this step also, so that it goes to the right board and it’s immediately organized.  Also, mistakes are easy to fix.  Say for example you repin a recipe of Dessert Crack to your Villains I’d like to Hang With board.  Simply click on the pin, go to edit and then select the appropriate board.  Easy Peasy.  Creating boards and uploading pins from personal photos is also a very simple and self explanatory matter.  It literally walks you through step by step.  

What does Pinterest offer you that Facebook doesn’t?  With Facebook, when a reader posts on your wall or sends you a message, there’s an obligation to respond in some way.  This isn’t a bad thing, but as each of us attracts more and more readers, it does become a very time consuming thing.  With Pinterest, there is no obligation to reciprocate.  Someone likes your pin, maybe they repin your book cover to their “Books I want to Read” board.  Or maybe to their, “Books so steamy they made my makeup melt” board.   It’s done.  One click, a couple of drop down boxes later and suddenly your book cover has been shared with every person who follows that reader on Pinterest.  It is a much more visual experience than Facebook, and frankly less dramatic.  While it hasn’t happened for me yet, I’ve noticed with some of the bigger authors that I follow on Facebook, they sometimes have to referee when things get out of hand with the back and forth comments.

One issue with Pinterest, and it’s not really an issue as much as a minor inconvenience, is that you have to be “invited” to join.  It’s easier to join if you have Facebook, but it is not required.  I would also caution that Pinterest is a huge time suck.  It’s an enjoyable time suck, but still dangerous.   You start out perfectly groomed and presentable looking and the next time you look up, you’ve gone all Tom Hanks in Castaway.  Hours and sometimes whole days can be lost to Pinterest because we all like STUFF.  We all have crafty urges, redecorating agendas, secret fashion yearnings, and an intense and abiding love of foods that taste good but treat us as bad as an ex boyfriend.  That is why Pinterest is dangerous.  It’s everything you want in one place and it’s free.  Use with caution!!!!!