I’ve been a member of Pinterest for quite some time, actually, but I’ve always been a low-volume user.  But I know quite a few authors out there who relentlessly pin images to inspiration boards for everything from WIPs to published novels to story kernels that may never see the light of day.  And if they’re lucky, they have fans who just as relentlessly (I use that term in the best possible way) produce and re-pin fan-art.

I want that.

Whether or not I ever get that is a moot point if I don’t start the ball rolling myself.  Therefore, I’ve now unveiled a board called The Song of the Ash Tree.

I spent most of yesterday seeking images to fill my board.  This was both immensely fun, even satisfying at times, and exceedingly frustrating.  The easy part was picking some gorgeous landscape photos.

Ta-da!

The difficult part was finding Norse-ish looking warriors who aren’t wielding massive, impractical axes, covered head to toe in chain mail, or with distinctly elfin ears.

This was HARD, let me tell you.

If I found some dude who wasn’t a beefcake in a winged helmet, he likely had pointy ears or wore a ridiculously long sword strapped across his back.

If I found a woman who wasn’t wearing a chain mail bikini, she was likely wearing full plate armor.

None of these things work in my books.

What I want looks a lot like the Vikings show on the History channel (light, leather armor and their nice, practical axes, too), but I don’t want a board full of pictures or illustrations of Ragnar and Lagaertha–because I want Raef to look like Raef, not someone who suspiciously looks a whole lot like Travis Fimmel, even as awesome as he is.

Plus, and here’s the stumbling block that is nothing but my own fault, as I’ve discussed before, I don’t have a definitive picture of Raef in my head.  Or any of my most important characters.  And I’m completely okay with that.  But I also want to give my readers and potential readers something visual to sink their teeth into.

But I’ve made what I hope is a valiant attempt to create a Pinterest board that gives you a glimpse of what I SEE when I open the pages of my book.

And someday, I hope to have a fan who likes to make beautiful art.

Hint, hint, fans.  I’m waiting for you with open arms.

Pinterest: HERE!