Larissa Reinhart's Blog, page 239

Flying Evil Monkeys & Japanese Stories on the Displaced Nation

Come visit me today on the Displaced Nation's Random Nomad interview. I had some fun chatting about our experiences in Japan and what led me to becoming a "displaced" person. Don't miss my horror story that explains my deathly fear of monkeys! Read about it by clicking here.

Expat Movie Review: JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI

In the entertaining documentary "Jiro Dreams of Sushi"(2011) we are ushered into the rarefied world of a sushi master where one perhaps suspects zen-like secrets of perfect sushi preparation will be conveyed in hushed tones and somber declarations. What we get is a portrait of a very typical Japanese man devoted to the old virtues of hard work, perfection, and simplicity. 
Jiro Ono began working when he was 7 because he had to. His parents basically abdicated responsibility to support him and so he was forced into the world of work where he has remained to this day at the ripe old age of 85. He loves work so much he hates holidays and would rather be at his little sushi shop near a Tokyo subway station than anywhere else, including and especially his home, it seems. 
And yet he has a decent, if somewhat distant, relationship with his two sons, who have both followed him into the sushi business. But in this as in so many other ways he is a typical Japanese working man, if more of the old school than the current generation. 
His work is his life and it is what defines him, period. His devotion to his craft is admirable and, at the same time, ordinary in its Japanese-ness. He completely eschews the lofty pretensions and indulgent idiosyncrasies of the modern chef-cum-celebrity. He just loves making sushi and thinks incessantly of how to improve his product and how it is consumed (even to the point of dreaming about it).
Of course there is ample coverage on how he carefully selects fish and other ocean creatures, his rice, and how all of this is prepared. Most of the work is now done by his older son or his staff, but he still acts as a sort of master quality control engineer. One of my favorite tidbits was how he prepares octopus, which is notoriously rubbery. He solves that deficiency by having some poor apprentice knead and knurl the octopus for at least 45 minutes, by hand. My fingers cramped at the thought but my mind marveled at the elegant, if tedious, solution to the problem. 
The heart of the story for this man devoted to work is the relationship with his sons, especially his eldest, who has the heavy burden of taking over for Jiro after he leaves the scene. Their relationship is rooted in the business, but in Japan this affords them more time together than is typical. And they really seem to enjoy being with each other, exhibiting a comfortable ease with one another even as they know that the older son will be hard-pressed to successfully maintain his father's legacy.
I really enjoyed seeing the mundane aspects of Japanese everyday life and culture as experienced in Jiro's restaurant and was inspired by his commitment to perfection, quality, and giving joy to his customers.  I hope you enjoy it, too. 
Trey Hoffman After getting his M.A. in Japanese Art History, Trey Hoffman eschewed university life for Japanese business. He's worked for four Japanese companies in the U.S.; for a U.S. state office in Japan; and for a Japanese City Hall in the JET program. A father and husband, Trey enjoys teaching his kids about other cultures and introducing them to bizarre foods.

Yaki Soba: the Ultimate Festival Food to Eat at Home

Yakisoba -- ramen style noodles stir fried with vegetables and meat -- are one of the most common foods found at festivals in Japan. They're also a cheap snack or meal at the food court counters in department stores and supermarkets. It's also easy to make at home, and although the festival/food court variety can be of a dubious nutritional nature, you can make a healthy version as easy or as complicated as fits your cooking style.
Festival cook frying up meat & veggies
There are instant varieties of yakisoba in both dried and frozen/refrigerator sections. The instant yakisoba is your basic cup o' noodle type bought for 99 cents or thereabouts. You can add veggies and meat for a quickie meal that gets the job done, although not well. However, the kind you can find in the freezer section of Asian supermarkets are pretty good and commonly eaten in Japan. Defrost them in the fridge and you have fresh noodles that can be cooked with a little water with a seasoning packet for the sauce. Saute veggies and thin slices of meat and you have another quickie meal that's much better than the instant noodles.
One type of Nama "Fresh" noodle
found in fridge or freezer sections at Asian markets
That's the kind of "kids meal" I make when the girls and I are eating alone. Super quick, easy, and a child (and grownup) pleaser.


Another version is to buy dried noodles or use fresh soba noodles if you can get them. I can even buy dried "chuka soba" noodles at my local Kroger, which is a good and healthier substitute than real ramen noodles. Real ramen noodles are fried before drying (which is why they taste so delicious). In a pinch you could use thin spaghetti.
Dried ramen noodles:
Chuka Soba is not buckwheat "soba" noodles!
Note the yellow/white colorBoil the noodles according to package directions. Chuka soba and ramen will cook fast -- 3 to 5 minutes -- so I cook my veggies and meat while the water is coming to a boil. You have a choice for the sauce -- what makes yakisoba taste like yakisoba -- buy it premixed or make it yourself. The bottled sauce is a great shortcut. You just squirt it on the noodles mixture for a quick cook. It's a specialty item though, so you'd have to look for it in the Japanese sauce section of an Asian supermarket. A popular brand of Yakisoba sauce.
This bottle is from Japan, hence the Japanse script.
Behind it is an American-version bottle for Okonomiyaki sauce just to give you
an idea of what the American version of would look like.Yakisoba (cooked noodles) (serves 3-4)1 T vegetable oil (divided)1 chuka soba package of noodles8 oz of thinly sliced meat; traditionally pork or uncured bacon but you can use chicken, shrimp, pork rib, bacon, or sirloin. I've seen recipes that use hamburger although I've never tried it. Seems kind of weird to have crumbled meat, but whatever floats your boat.About 2 -3 cups of chopped veggies: 1-2 c. sliced cabbage is standard; onion; peppers; carrots; bean sprouts. Scallions, eggplant, zucchini, and mushrooms will work. Any veg that holds up with sautéing and doesn't take too long to cook. You can also add finely chopped garlic, but don't let it scorch.salt and pepper4-6 Tbs of yakisoba sauce (to your own taste)
Traditionally it's served with pinkish-red pickled ginger (beni shoga) and ao-nori (powdery dried seaweed) but whatevs.
Homemade Yakisoba sauce:3 Tb oyster sauce1 t soy sauce1 t sugar1 t sesame oilsaltfresh pepper
Yakisoba:If you're using dried noodles, set the water to boil and just before it boils, heat 1/2 T oil in a large skillet (altho this would be the time to pull out that wok you got in 1989). Stir fry your meat and sprinkle with salt and pepper; remove just before cooked through to prevent overcooking. Add additional 1/2 T oil if needed (depending on your meat). Cook your veggies until al dente or as you like, but don't let them get too soft. Add cabbage last. 
Get your noodles boiling while the veggies are cooking. Drain them and add to the veggies. Add your meat back in. Add the yakisoba sauce by taste. Stir and flip everything around so it's covered in sauce and hot.
You're done. Quick and dirty, my favorite kind of recipe. My child can cook yakisoba!Send me your favorite Quick & Dirty recipes! I love to try new ones and would love to include yours!

We Came, We Saw, We Ate: Japan Fest; Festivals to Recapture the Expat Experience

The past weekend was Japan Fest in Atlanta. Atlanta has hosted Japan Fest since 1981 in different forms. Sponsored by the Japan-American Society of Georgia and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce, it's one of the biggest Japanese festivals in the U.S. now, taking over an entire convention center for crowds exceeding 19,000. We've enjoyed Japan Fest for many years, but after returning from living in Japan with our children, we find it an important way for our children to reconnect with the culture that they miss.

Japan Fest Atlanta 2012 With Okinawaan exhibitorIf there are festivals like these in your area, be sure to visit. Like many countries, Japan has diverse cultural aspects that lends to a variety of fans. The festival has something for everyone. It's also a great way to find out what's going on in your area in relation to your host country.
Aikido Center of Atlanta  Yamaha demonstration Atlanta Bonsai Society Ikebana Anime enthusiasts
Booth with traditional festival foodBesides the wide spectrum of Japanese culture -- martial arts, crafts, sake and beer, tea, flower arranging, bonsai, taiko drumming, company demonstrations, anime -- there are food and traditional Japanese festival booths. That's what my family loves. Trying to recreate the festival experiences we miss. The children even want to wear their yukata, summer cotton kimonos that are still commonly worn to festivals in Japan.
Playing yoyo fishing game a common festival game Yoyo balloons caught

traditional Japanese toys
And the food... We get to sample some of our favorite foods and drinks we miss.

The past two years, the festival has also been a great fund raiser for the Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami relief.
From a poster at the festival:
A message from Japan to the US thanking our military
for helping after the earthquake
"You are the best friend ever!"How about festivals in your area? Are there any you'd recommend? Share the dates and places!

Risk Taking Heroines

I'm still on my blog tour, which means a small hiatus from my ex-pat centered posts. Today's post comes from Sherry Isaac's Wildflowers blog called HAIL THE RISK TAKERS! To read the full post go here.

When I begin playing around with a new story idea, I start with a “what if” scenario, but then immediately begin imagining my heroine. My heroines come from varied backgrounds, look and speak differently, but they all have one thing in common. They are risk takers. In fact, all my favorite heroines in books, movies, and musicals (Yes, musicals!) are risk takers. And I didn’t even realize this until I sat down to write about my favorite heroines. Huh.

But did I hear you say, aren’t all heroines risk takers? And I’d say, no. I don’t count the gals who are thrown into a situation and deal with it the best they can. I’m talking about the girls who take the bull by the horns and play offense.

Now I’m a fan of Jane Austen. She writes a great love story. PERSUASION is probably my favorite. I swoon for Captain Wentworth and I love Anne, but she will never make my heroine list because she’s not a risk taker. Our heart breaks for her because she’s so full of self-sacrifice, but there are times when you want to slap her.

In comparison, Jane of JANE EYRE is a risk taker. She doesn’t have much choice in her early life, but I love how crabby she is about her circumstances as an orphan. She gives her horrible relatives the nineteenth century version of the Forget You. She’s willing to risk her heart with Mr. Rochester, seek the truth about his (Spoiler Alert) crazy wife in the attic, and then dump him for having a crazy wife in the attic. And then return when he’s at his worst (and crazy wife is dead). Risk taker. Love that Jane.

Lucy from the LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE (and other Narnia tales). Does she flinch at the sight of another world through a cupboard? Maybe a little, but not enough to stop her from following and helping the fawn and dragging her siblings back to save Narnia from the evil White Witch. Named my daughter for her.

Honor Harris from THE KING’S GENERAL by Daphne du Maurier. She’s a foolish risk taker as a teen lover to Richard Grenville. She stands up to his nasty sister Gartred, walks for miles in the middle of the night to tell him she’s supposed to marry someone else, and has no problem making out with him after getting sick from roasted swan at a party. That takes guts. And then turns Richard down when she becomes crippled. She’s so prideful. Later, she’s willing to face down soldiers (to the detriment of her relatives) to hide Richard’s son and Richard. And in the end, she’s willing to risk a broken heart. Honor makes Scarlet look weak. She can’t walk but she can kick some English Civil War butt.

Moving forward in publishing time, my next risk taker is Claire Randall from OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon. Did I hear you sigh without even mentioning the name Jamie Fraser or the word kilt? From her background as a nurse in the war, to keeping her head after falling through the “way back machine” stones, to acting on her instincts in marrying and saving Jamie, and her pig-headed moves to try to get back home, Claire Randall makes one risky move after another. Again and again and again in each subsequent novel, too.

Best risk taker heroine in a musical? Annie from ANNIE GET YOUR GUN? Maria from WEST SIDE STORY? How about Anna from THE KING AND I? Think of the historical implications of a nineteenth century widow taking her son to live in Siam (Thailand) and stubbornly facing off with the king on issues related to personal freedom, female liberation, and slavery? He’s a king! Dang that girl has guts. Plus she can sing and dance.

You can see why my heroine, Cherry Tucker from PORTRAIT OF A DEAD GUY, had to be a risk taker. She doesn’t always make the best decisions. She can be headstrong, opinionated, and mouthy. She has issues with falling for beautiful men. But she’s willing to put herself on the line to seek justice. And a good plate of hot wings.

Rocking Your "Otherness": The Creative Benefits From Living Abroad

Today we have Sabrina Gail visiting the ExPat Returneth. Sabrina is a writer and fellow traveler. Her novella, FIRES OF JUSTICE, debuts on October 17.
Fall semester junior year I woke up one day to discover my crew had all applied to be somewhere else for Spring semester and my ex-boyfriend lived on my ceiling. Scrambling to cope, I found myself in Vienna, Austria learning German, living with the Countess and having my otherness blast off my skin like neon in the darkness. Growing up, feeling different was something I worked hard to avoid—unsuccessfully I might add. My goal had always been to fit in, conform, be like the "in-crowd" and maybe I'd be okay, I'd belong.
Living abroad changed all that for me. My experience in Austria got me addicted to the otherness rush for a while. As soon as I got home, I turned around and got myself to Italy and then later the UK where I lived—by definition and by choice—as not one of the crowd.  I was a visitor, a tourist, someone from a different place and people found me interesting BECAUSE I was other. 
Abroad, knowing I was an outsider allowed me to distance myself psychologically and emotionally from slurs and snark and snide comments that would have had me running for cover in the States. In the UK, when that seriously hunky dude I met at a party looked down his nose at me proclaiming loudly "I don't like Americans," it was way too easy to snark back "All 250 million of us?"  Having someone dislike me for something as stupid as an accent or a birthplace drove awareness through my gut that really, that's what most people's nasty, judgmental opinions are—unfounded and uninformed. Balance that with the cockney woman at the Fish and Chips shop at the end of my block who waxed poetic one day on how much she liked my accent. My brilliant but glib response--"Huh?" 
Her answer had my jaw slapping against my chest. "Because when I speak, everyone makes assumptions about me from my accent,"—UK has an alarming number of accents, all with their own stereotypes—“when you do, we don't have a clue so we have to get to know you."  Doesn’t that just explain it all?
The accent—my freedom—her cage. When I came home, did I find myself reinserted in the cage? Perhaps at first, which explains my eagerness to go back abroad. Over that time, I got used to, and then learned to take pride in, my otherness, in the things that make me, well, me.  
I came home humbler, more creative from having some of my limits ripped apart having to look at things from multiple angles and a lot less judgmental.  What is true in one country about how the world works is not so in the other. Common sense isn’t when you cross the border. 
It made a better person and a better writer. Not stuck in one set of rules of the world works, makes it easier to build new world increases the compassion needed to write and love flawed characters and being open to all possible story lines. Characters often lead a writer in new and surprising places.
So with a warm pint of beer in one hand and a gelato in the other, I salute otherness, the part of me that flourished abroad.


Sabrina Garie is on a journey to create the most kick-ass heroine romance fiction has ever known and the hero who can take her. My debut novella Fires of Justice launches on October 17 from www.ellorascave.com. A believer that big, audacious goals spice up life, she relies on coffee, red wine and laughter to make those goals (and her characters) come alive. When not at the computer, she wrangles vegetables and extra helpings of homework into her fashion-loving progeny, kowtows to a fat cat and reads, a lot. Since it is more fun to travel in packs, come along for the ride. Catch the train at www.sabrinagarie.com.Twitter: www.twitter.com/SabrinaGarieFacebook: www.facebook.com/sabrinagarieauthor

Humor Writing on Mysterious Musings

Book launch day found me on mystery writer, Julia Buckley's, Mysterious Musings...
Mystery Writer Larissa Reinhart on Coffin Portraits, Japanese Adoptions, and Funny Brits

Larissa Reinhart's new mystery, Portrait of a Dead Guy, is out today!  Here's our interview about her book.

Hi, Larissa!  Thanks for agreeing to be on the blog, and for discussing your book, PORTRAIT OF A DEAD GUY, with me.
You write funny!  They say that writing humor is the hardest kind of writing.  How did you choose to write a humorous narrative, and how do you maintain your funny narration and dialogue?

To be honest, that’s just how Cherry speaks in my mind. She kind of talks out the side of her mouth and uses these descriptive phrases. I love humorous books, so I probably absorbed a lot of humor through reading-osmosis. If I’m having a bad day, I like a good dose of PG Wodehouse or Jasper Fforde. If only I could reach UK-humor level... Brits are hilarious people. I love their dry wit. I’m not so subtle.

Two of my favorites! The premise of your book is unusual .  A struggling artist snags the job of painting a recently-murdered man, in his coffin, as a memorial for the rather odd family.  Therefore, your heroine Cherry Tucker has to spend a significant amount of time with a stiff.  Did this situation strike you as funny or horrifying?

It strikes me as funny, but when I explain the plot I get a lot of “are you a lunatic?” looks. I think I’d rather paint a stiff than take on a killer. That would be horrifying!

One of my favorite characters is a billy goat named Tater, who seems to make it his life’s ambition to annoy visitors (or maybe just Cherry?).   Do you have some experience with goats and their whims?

My personal goat stories are fairly innocuous. However, goats have a love/hate relationship with my sister. As children, any time we were near goats they would flock to her, knocking her down, and attempt to eat her clothes. To this day if we take our children to a petting zoo, she refuses to have anything to do with the goats. She was horrified to hear I had a goat in my story. But I believe in making lemonade from other people’s lemons.


Haha!  Speaking of sisters,  I like the relationship between Cherry and her sister.  Cherry is fiercely ambitious, but Casey “couldn’t find ambition if it drew her a map and hired a Sherpa.”   Do you have sisters, and if so, did you draw from the relationships to write about these women?

I have one sister who is nothing like Casey. She’s a hard worker and a great mom. But I can relate to the sniping and one-upmanship between the siblings. My sister and I don’t do that anymore, but we had some memorable arguments in high school. Because their mother abandoned them as children and they then lost their grandmother when they were in high school, I see the siblings as emotionally stunted. However, they’re all very creative. Cherry’s a talented artist, Casey is an amazing cook, and Cody is a skilled mechanic. Unfortunately, Cherry’s the only one who wants to make her mark in the world. Or start paying her own bills.

There are a number of men in Cherry’s life—specifically her  ex-husband, Todd, to whom she was married “by accident,” and of course the handsome Luke.  It reminds me of the interesting triangle Janet Evanovich creates between Stephanie Plum, Ranger, and Morelli.  Have other people compared you to Evanovich?

Read more at Mysterious Musings!

I Love a Crabby Heroine

I'm still on the blog tour for PORTRAIT OF A DEAD GUY's release week. I visited RomCom & today's post is from RomCom's Special Sneak Peek of PORTRAIT OF A DEAD GUY.


Honor Harris from THE KING’S GENERAL, by Daphne du Maurier. Claire Randall from OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon. Emma Woodhouse from EMMA by Jane Austen. What do these heroines have in common? They sprint toward trouble. They’re very stubborn. Their perceptions often lead them off course. And sometimes they can be crabby. They’re also a lot of fun to read. You just never know what they’re going to do or say or in what kind of trouble they’ll find themselves.

These are my favorite kinds of heroines. That’s why I made one of my own. Cherry Tucker. She’s an artist, so she’s got a strange, er, creative way of looking at the world. Like in her decision to obtain a commission to paint the coffin portrait of a murdered man and to then try to figure out the man’s killer. She can be obstinate and ornery, particularly around Luke, her old flame, who’s back in town for his stepbrother’s funeral. When it comes to trouble, she doesn’t just sprint toward it. She seeks it out with her Remington Wingmaster. And crabby? That can be blamed on her inability to rid herself of her ex-boyfriend and flaky family.

Excerpt:

My bright yellow pickup glowed like a radiant beacon in the sea of black, silver, and white cars. I opened the driver door with a yank, cursing a patch of rust growing around the lock. Standing on my toes, I reached for the portfolio bag on the passenger side. The stretch tipped me off my toes and splayed me flat across the bench.
“I recognize this truck,” a lazy voice floated behind me. “And the view. Doesn’t look like much’s changed either way in ten years.”
I gasped and crawled out.
Luke Harper, Dustin’s stepbrother.
I had forgotten that twig on the Branson family tree. More like snapped it from my memory. His lanky stance blocked the open truck door. One hand splayed against my side window. His other wrist lay propped over the top of my door. Within the cage of Luke’s arms, we examined each other. Fondness didn’t dwell in my eyes. I’m never sure what dwelled in his.
Luke drove me crazy in ways I didn’t appreciate. He knew how to push buttons that switched me from tough to soft, smart to dumb. Beautiful men were my kryptonite. Local gossip said my mother had the same problem. My poor sister, Casey, was just as inflicted. We would have been better off inheriting a squinty eye or a duck walk.
“Hello, Luke Harper.” I tried not to sound snide. Drawing up to my fullest five foot and a half inches, I cocked a hip in casual belligerence.
“How’s it going, Cherry?” A glint of light sparked his smoky eyes, and I expected it corresponded with a certain memory of a nineteen-year-old me wearing a pair of red cowboy boots and not much else. “You hanging out at funeral homes now? Never took you for a necrophiliac.”

Read more at RomCom...

A Day in the Life of Cherry Tucker

From A Day in the Life of Cherry Tucker on Dru's Book Musings.

Hey ya’ll, and thank you Miss Dru for having me on your literary blog. Which is a little strange, considering I’m an artist and all, but hey, book people like art, too, right? 


If any of you readers are in the market, I’m a portraitist. I live in Halo, Georgia, but don’t let the small, Southern town fool you. I’m classically trained. Even went to school at SCAD, Savannah College of Art and Design. Could have probably moved on to the big city lights of Atlanta and had a studio or something, but I choose to move back home. My family -- minus the ones that are dead or run away -- still lives there and somebody’s got to keep an eye on them. But selling art in a small town is as formidable as selling freezers to eskimos. Halo likes to buy their art from the guy hawking velvet paintings in front of the Piggly Wiggly. I do get some commissions. I did a nice portrait of Snug the Coonhound for Terrell. You might have seen that. I’ll paint most anything if it keeps me from working the night shift at the Waffle House. So if any of y’all are interested let me know.

Actually, I just heard through the prolific Halo grapevine that the Bransons (Not just a Branson. The Bransons. Like in JB, Central Georgia’s King of Ford Dealerships and catfish restaurants) wants a portrait of their son, Dustin. Actually it’s Miss Wanda, JB’s wife, who wants the portrait of her stepson. Which would make sense except Dustin’s dead. Murdered actually. No surprise to us locals who have know that thug-wannabe was destined for the county jail or an early grave since preschool. But a coffin portrait does make an odd choice for a memorial. Gives me the heebie-jeebies, but a commission is a commission, and it’s not like I’ll have to ask Dustin to sit still. Considering he’s dead and all.

However, word is that JB offered the commission to his niece, Shawna Branson. Yeah, that ---, well, you know the type. An Amazonian, flame-haired, femme fatale who steals boyfriends, cupcakes, and reputations. That girl can’t paint her own nails, let alone a portrait. She just wants to prove she’s better than me. So I’m going to paint the best dang portrait of a dead guy I’ve ever done just to show the Bransons what qualifies as quality art. Of course, it’s the only portrait of a dead guy I’ve ever painted, but who’s counting? 

And another little problem that popped up is dead Dustin’s stepbrother, Luke Harper, who just waltzed back into Halo after taking off for the military. You probably haven’t seen that tall, dark drink of water for seven or eight years. At least I haven’t, not since we broke up. Yeah, he’s hot enough to steam shrimp and acts the southern gentleman, but don’t let that business fool you. The man’s an enigma wrapped in a mystery. Particularly about his reasons for asking around about his murdered stepbrother. The man’s better at skulduggery than the Pentagon.

But what I’m dying to find out is what that foreigner, Mr. Max Avtaikin, is doing in Halo. Rumor has it -- and in Halo, rumor is as close to fact as you’re gonna get -- that he’s got something to do with the proliferation of gambling going on in town. And by gambling I mostly mean poker. Some may say I hold a grudge against the poker population because it ruined my near-miss marriage with my other ex, Todd McIntosh, but they’d be wrong. Todd’s poker addiction saved us from making the mistake of our lives, i.e. getting hitched in Vegas. I just wish I could convince Todd of that fact.

So what to do first today? Convince the Bransons to give me the commission to paint their murdered son? Dodge two ex-boyfriends in one small town? Head to my Grandpa’s farm where I’d have to run from a goat in order to get to my sister’s homemade fried chicken? Hunt down an illegal poker ring? Or stay home an embellish some clothing with my Bedazzler?

Small towns have got more going on than you’d think.

PORTRAIT OF A DEAD GUY released this week! Available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle; Barnes and Noble in paperback and Nook; and on Kobo for other e-reading devices.

A Writer's Love of Pinterest

I'm at Terry's Place talking about using Pinterest for writing research. For my expat readers, not only do I have boards dedicated to novel research, but I also have boards on Japan and Japanese food. For those interested in Japanese earthquake news, there's a pinner who pins daily a map of Japan with earthquake spots on it.
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There’s been a lot of debate lately about Pin­ter­est and how well it works in mar­ket­ing for writ­ers. If you go to Repinly, an offi­cial site of Pin­ter­est, you can find cur­rent sta­tis­tics on pop­u­lar cat­e­gories, activ­i­ties, and pin­ners. Under the Repinly stats on pop­u­lar pins, books don’t even rate a per­cent­age. “Film, Music, & Books” only makes three per­cent of the Pop­u­lar Boards pie chart. How­ever, con­sid­er­ing the #1 pin­ner — with 3,251,754 fol­low­ers — has a board on books, Pin­ter­est is still valu­able for writers.

But, you say, that’s just one more thing I have to do as a writer. I know. I’m with you on the whole time ration of things to do vs. writ­ing. Bear with me.

Check out Rob Eagar’s arti­cle on Pin­ter­est for mar­ket­ing your book in Writer’s Digest. Beth Hay­den also praised Pinterest’s mar­ket­ing appeal in her 56 Ways to Mar­ket Your Busi­ness on Pin­ter­est. Accord­ing to Hay­den, in “Jan­u­ary 2012, Pin­ter­est drove greater traf­fic to web­sites than LinkedIn, Google Plus, Red­dit, and Youtube com­bined.” In both arti­cles, Eagar and Hay­den give help­ful hints on how to use Pin­ter­est for marketing.


I thought I would share how I’m using Pin­ter­est as well, not because I’m a black-belt in Pin­ter­est mar­ket­ing, but because I love the site. I hope that it helps me with mar­ket­ing, but I love it as a great place to do research.

Read more at http://terryodell.com/terrysplace/?p=1028#comments.