Playing on Pinterest

It seems like I always come late to the social networking parties... but, I have finally signed up for a Pinterest account. (It's like it's 2011, or something!)  I have had a fun evening over there putting together a Thorn of the Kingdom inspiration board.

Of course, I started writing TOTK in 2003.  A lot of my inspirations are dated now, and some I have shared on the Bibliotéque before, but I thought you might like to see them anyway.  I hope to keep adding to the board if I see something that looks TOTK-ish in the future.

Check it out at www.pinterest.com/poohba_writer/

I'm still trying to figure out what people do on Pinterest (other than post Crock Pot recipes).  So, if you have any tips and tricks, please let me know!

What I've been up to lately

Faithful readers, you must have all thought I'd fallen completely off the Blogosphere.  And, I guess I kind-of did.  It's been, what, more than two years since I've posted anything here?

Writing has been on the backburner lately, but I'm making an early New Year's resolution to change that. It's looking more and more like Thorn of the Kingdom is not going to see the light of day by the traditional publishing route, so I am looking at my options for self publishing in 2015.

In the meantime, I decided I'd show you what I've been working on for so long. I've just come from posting the first three chapters of the latest (and hopefully last) revision of TOTK on FictionPress.com, where it all began. Please read, enjoy, and let me know what you think.

Misadventures in Social Media

That is to say, I haven't done much blogging lately. It's amazing how, once you get out of the habit, real life gets in the way.

However, I've spent the evening tonight going over several month's worth of "Poohba Mail" and felt like I should post an update to answer three of the most common questions people have been asking me:

Q: When is "Thorn of the Kingdom" coming out?
A: I wish I knew! We still haven't found a publisher yet. I've had editors say really nice things about it, but the perfect match hasn't happened just yet. My agent and I are still looking and we'll keep you posted when we have news.

Q: Why did you take "Phillip's Rose" (A.K.A. "TOTK II") down?  
A: I took "Phillip's Rose" down from FictionPress for a lot of reasons. For one, it featured characters who are in the original "Thorn of the Kingdom" and, with all the reports of plagiarism on the site, I just didn't want to leave them exposed like that. But, more importantly, I wrote "Phillip's Rose" more than 8 years ago. I feel like I've progressed a lot as a writer since then, and, frankly, there were parts of the story that I just felt embarrassed about. I know I can do better, and you readers deserve better from me.  

Q: Wasn't your story once called "Queen of Glass"?  
A: Well, no. You're thinking of Sarah Maas's story, which was wildly popular and I wish I had read while it was up on FictionPress. Fortunately, I'm getting a second chance soon, though, because Bloomsbury is publishing Sarah's (renamed) epic "Throne of Glass" this August! I've gotten to know Sarah a little bit from working on the "Let the Words Flow" blog (which has since morphed into Publishing Crawl, and I know she's really excited about it. It's great to see yet another FictionPress alum do good.

I hope that answers some of your burning questions. Please let me know if there's something else you've been meaning to ask. And, I apologize for disappearing from here for years at a time. I'll try to update a little more often in the future.

— Poohba

NaNoWriMo 2010 is Here!

It's November 1st, which means, of course, that it's the beginning of National Novel Writing Month. My project for the month is a complete change of pace from Thorn of the Kingdom. It's a light romantic comedy set in the present day at a high school band camp. So far, I'm 3,215 words in, which means I'm ahead of the game. We'll see if I can get to 50,000 before November 30.



As far as TOTK goes. I don't have much new to report. It's making the rounds at publishers, but so far we haven't found just the right editor to take it on. So, keep your fingers crossed that that happens.

Ask the Audience

We're turning the tables today at Let the Words Flow. Today is your day to answer questions about writing!

In which, I post on another blog...

I wanted to let you know that I posted my first blog entry on Let the Words Flow earlier today. It's about building a readership on FictionPress, but I think a lot of the tips could translate pretty easily to any kind of publicity.

Please read it and let me know what you think!

In which I am late... as usual...

I know it's been a LONG time since I've posted here. Grad school will do that to you. The good news is, I am almost finished! Assuming I pass both my classes this last semester, I will be DONE! (Yay!)

That means more time for writing. But, more importantly, more time for querying!

I also have some big news on the FictionPress front, although if you read Sarah J. Maas's (S.J. Maas), Mandy Hubbard's (MandyHubbard), Savannah J. Foley's (Svonnah-la-fay), June Hur's (J.E. Wyatt), Renee Carter's (Pen-Ink), Alexandra Shostak's (frozeninmotion), or Rachel Simon's (bringmayflowers) blogs or FictionPress pages, you probably already know about it, since I am the last of the group to make this announcement. The deal is, we have started a new blog, called Let the Words Flow, that is geared towards FictionPress writers (and former writers) who are serious about getting published. All of the contributors got our starts on FictionPress and are now either querying agents, have an agent, or have books out on the shelves.

It's an exciting thing to open a dialogue about how you go from an online story to a "real" book. We're hoping you will take an active part in the conversation. So, please check out Let the Words Flow, and let us know what you think!