A Very Pinteresting Birthday

19 comments
It's my birthday! (Not really; my real birthday is in a few days.) But it's my birthday month, at the very least. I've been thinking a lot about how I've been alive a whole decade and a half and that's pretty cool. I've also been thinking about how this blog has been my outlet and place of comfort here on the Internet for over three of my fifteen (!!!) years.

I can't ever stress this enough: this blog has gone on for this long because of you, my readers, and I'm so grateful.

So instead of demanding birthday presents and virtual cake like I totally would normally, I'm making an effort to give back to this wonderful, inventive, brilliant, kind community that has given so much to me.

I've decided to open up a Pinterest contest for writers, inspired by a similar contest run by writer Amanda Foody last year. It is going to be super fun.
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How it works

So if you're like me, you've seen a lot of people's inspiration boards for their novels-in-progress or writing projects on Pinterest. (If you're like me, Pinterest has basically taken over your life, but, y'know, whatever.) And more than once, you've looked through someone's board and wanted to tell them, "THIS BOARD IS AMAZING. THEREFORE YOUR BOOK MUST BE AMAZING. FINISH WRITING SO I CAN THROW MY MONEY AT YOU."

I want to reward the ingenious and inspiration-rich minds behind these boards. I want to point at these people and say, "The aesthetic is strong with this one." And I want to give writers the opportunity to receive some creative goodies to go along with their projects to fuel their brains and make them happy.

The good news? It's super easy to enter, and if you win, I will make ALL THE THINGS for you. (Seriously. There are some pretty snazzy prizes up for grabs, if I do say so myself.)

Rules

  • Submissions are open from the moment this post is published to 11:59 pm EST on July 31, 2015. So, roughly a month.
  • Since this contest is meant as a thank-you to my blog readers, you must be following this blog on either Bloglovin or GFC to enter. (No worries if you don't already follow; you can do that right now by finding either the Bloglovin or the GFC widget on my sidebar and folowing!)
  • This contest is for specific project inspiration boards, not general writing boards.
  • You may submit as many boards as you like, but please submit them one at a time.
  • Your entry will be judged based on the Pinterest board alone, so please do not submit any part of your manuscript, as I unfortunately won't be reading it.
  • Since I won't be reading any part of the manuscript, this doesn't need to be a board for a finished project! In fact, you don't even have to be currently working on it. (Goodness knows I have way too many boards for projects still in the planning phase.)
  • No erotica on the boards, please.
  • Your board should have at least thirty (30) pins on it. If the board has over 250 pins, you may still submit it, but I probably won't look at the entire thing.

Prizes

First place:

  • (Optional / If you have a Blogger blog) Blogger design featuring responsive template (not coded by me, but customized by me), possible header, and any other bits and pieces you might want to flesh out your blog.
  • An interview here on the blog
  • A fanmix (at least eight songs) inspired by the board
  • A poem (at least three stanzas) inspired by the board
  • A book cover (whatever dimensions you'd like!) inspired by the board
  • A graphic inspired by the board featuring a quote I feel is relevant

Second place:

Pick three of the following:
  • A fanmix (at least eight songs) inspired by the board
  • A poem (at least three stanzas) inspired by the board
  • A book cover (whatever dimensions you'd like!) inspired by the board
  • A graphic inspired by the board featuring a quote I feel is relevant

Third place:

Pick two of the following:
  • A fanmix (at least eight songs) inspired by the board
  • A poem (at least three stanzas) inspired by the board
  • A book cover (whatever dimensions you'd like!) inspired by the board
  • A graphic inspired by the board featuring a quote I feel is relevant

Honorable mention(s):

(I will only pick honorable mentions if I get at least 20 entries.) Pick one of the following:
  • A fanmix (at least eight songs) inspired by the board
  • A poem (at least three stanzas) inspired by the board
  • A book cover (whatever dimensions you'd like!) inspired by the board
  • A graphic inspired by the board featuring a quote I feel is relevant

Enter! Enter! Enter!

The contest is now closed to entries. Many thanks to everyone who sent a board in!

Entries received

I'll be posting links to boards that have already been submitted here, so that a) you can see examples of novel inspiration boards and b) you can confirm that I've gotten your entry. In addition, if you include a link to a blog/website, I'll link that down below as well, so that people can visit your site. (Entries are posted in the order they were received.)
  1. I Wish I May | Adelyn Sterling [blog]
  2. hail the pumpkin king | Samantha Chaffin [blog]
  3. 100 Levels of Immersed | Jamie Terry [blog]
  4. The Startling Fragility of Eternity | Topaz Winters [blog]
  5. Fragments of Aurora | Topaz Winters [blog]
  6. Never, Never | Cait [blog]
  7. Winner Takes All | Alyssa Carlier [blog]
  8. Witches Black and Silver | Alyssa Carlier [blog]
  9. The Tenjima Series | E.R. Warren [blog]
  10. Because I'm Irish | Sky [blog]
  11. Petrichor | Sky [blog]
  12. Angel Veins | Sky [blog]
  13. Matroyshka | Alyssa Carlier [blog]
  14. The Voyage of Rowena Roundabout | Alex McCarron [blog]
  15. 986 | Anne Brees
  16. Chasing Royalty | Anne Brees
  17. Thorn Among Fleas | AnQi Yu [blog]
  18. The Summer of Little Ox | AnQi Yu [blog]
  19. The Foxmont School for Boys and Girls | AnQi Yu [blog]
  20. When I Am Weak | Opal [blog]
  21. Hidden in the Shadows | Morning [blog]

Ahh! Best of luck to you all; I'm so excited to see what kinds of entries come in. (Also: I'm fifteen. I could be actual YA novel protagonist material now. What.)

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19 comments

  1. *redeems preemptive reward* Happy birthday, Christina! *throws confetti everywhere* *also places cake everywhere*


    This is such a cool idea, and I am SO looking forward to reading other people's boards! And also to reading the poetry + graphics you make because clearly those will be awesome too. I will probably have to clean up my own Pinterest boards before thinking of entering, because I change my inspiration allll the time.


    Hmm, I don't actually have many project-specific Pinterest boards -- there's the WTA board, and also the secret Matryoshka board which has wrong character names everywhere, and also the other secret Mulan + Swan Lake board which (a) has fewer than 30 pins and (b) does not have a title. Hmmmm.


    I know what to do! *abandons Camp NaNo project for Pinterest*


    P.S.: That image halfway through is a Pixabay error image, for some reason? Just thought I'd give you a heads up.

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  2. Oh my god HOLY BIRTHDAY CATS, BATMAN.

    Also, you are just the sweetest most brilliant human being ever. I am so excited to see the results of this contest! What an amazing idea. I seriously cannot wait to start stalking other people's boards. ...that probably came out wrong but you know what I mean.

    (And... yeah, I'm probably gonna throw some of my boards at you. Just because.)

    At the risk of sounding really old (I'm not that old I swear), 15 was one of my favorite years. May it be everything you hope it will be and more. <3

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  3. Thank you so much, Alyssa! *twirls in confetti* *also eats cake*


    Ahh, thank you! I'm also super excited about seeing people's boards. And I'm also so looking forward to putting people's prizes together. We writers must stick together, yes?


    Oooh. Do enter! The more the merrier :D Although hmm, I'm not sure what Thomas will have to say about you abandoning him ;)


    PS: Oh, thank you for letting me know! That's embarrassing :3 I've changed it to a different image, and it seems to be working fine now.

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  4. Oh my goodness. I think HOLY BIRTHDAY CATS, BATMAN is a thoroughly appropriate response to this occasion (especially the Batman part).


    Ahh, thank you so much! I'm so looking forward to seeing how this will end up. (And eeek I love your boards and you know that, so.)


    And thank you for the birthday wishes, truly. With a gif like that to start it off, I think my fifteenth year HAS to be fabulous whether it wants to be or not ;)

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  5. (I'm sorry, I know I wasn't invited to this conversation, but *eh hem* secret Mulan + Sawn Lake board what.)

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  6. Oh my gosh! This is the cutest idea ever! I'll try to enter. :)


    Happy birthday (month), darling. <3

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  7. Well, assuming I abandon my Camp NaNo project long enough, it won't be so secret soon and you all can see it.

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  8. *chokes* That is the most on point question ever. He definitely would not be pleased, but seeing as one of the boards is for HIS book, he really has no cause to complain. (He probably will anyways. Brat.)

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  9. Well, he's a well-intentioned and pretty adorable brat, so I'm willing to put up with him :)

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  10. This... is worth the hype.


    (Also: I believe we're... project buddies? I'm attempting to come up with a cooler name to describe the fact that our much cooked-up projects are launching but a day apart from each other. I am rather horrible at names in general, so I'll get back to you on that.)


    I'm entering two projects, if that's alright with you - one for Frozen Hearts and one for another WIP still in the drafting stages. (Neither of them have 30 pins, but they will be added to over the course of the competition.) And I am sort of ridiculously excited to see what all the others do for their boards. The prizes up for grabs are quite enticing, I must say. ;)


    And of course, before I forget: happy, happy birthday, darling. I'm sending something small your way soon; I'm afraid I'm not all that good at gifts, but hopefully you don't mind.

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  11. OMG THIS IS SUCH A GOOD IDEA!!! i have entered *dances in anticipation* Congrats on your birthday! *sprinkles you with cake crumbs* Fifteen is a spectacular age and you're safe to have dragonish and sword adventures, BUT WATCH OUT FOR NEXT YEAR. The vampires and werewolves and dystopian tragedies will be coming. ;-)


    It was super hard to pick a project, but I went with my Peter Pan retelling because CREEPY NEVER LAND. XD

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  12. Eeeek! I'm so glad you think so.


    (YES to the name 'project buddies'. I am ALL THE EXCITE about Half Mystic and I can't wait to see where it goes.)


    Entering two projects is great, and pin count should be fine as long as both boards have 30 pins on them by the end of the month. Ahh yes, I'm looking forward to seeing all these boards (although I think they'll make my decision profoundly difficult).


    And thank you so much for the birthday wishes! (What is this about a gift? Oh my goodness, Topaz, you're too kind.)

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  13. OMG I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE EXCITED (and that you've entered)! Thank you so much. I will twirl around in your virtual cake crumbs and prepare for my dragonish + sword adventures. (I should enjoy them while I can. The vampires and werewolves and dystopian tragedies don't sound too fun.)


    Oooh, Peter Pan retelling! CREEPY NEVERLAND AHH. I can't wait to look at your board.

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  14. Happy Birthday! I'll have to dust off my Tenjima writing board and submit it.
    I hope you have a wonderful birthday!

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  15. Thank you so much for the kind words, E.R., and for stopping by! (And ahh, I'd love it if you entered! Any board that goes along with YOUR writing must be awesome.)

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  16. This is fantastic! I'm so excited! Thanks for doing this. Oh, and HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

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  17. Thanks muchly, Sky! I'm so glad you're as thrilled as I am :D (I can already tell judging this contest will be HARD.)

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  18. Ahhh! I hope your birthday month is going wonderfully! I just took a look through all the boards and they are so wonderfully fabulous!

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